20-tonne whale carcus astounds Irish locals

A 20-tonne whale astounded Irish beach-goers when it was washed ashore Monday showcasing her red, swollen tongue seeping from its mouth.

A Northern Ireland fisherman spotted the 13-metre giant and was taken aback when he spotted a red floating object in the sea which turned out to be a whale's extremely swollen red tongue.

The carcass - surrounded by flocking seagulls - was seen floating two kilometres from the shoreline on Portstewart Strand at high tide at 2 am.

The National Trust, who manages the beach, was in charge of moving the giant whale, which proved to be a tricky task, using three excavators.

Senior scientific officer at the Department of the Environment's marine division, Joe Breen told Belfast Telegraph that the sheer scale of the beast made its removal a problem.

"It took all three diggers to lift the whale onto a low loader."

Mr Breen later revealed it was an adult female sei whale.

When a Northern Irishman spotted a large red object floating in the sea about almost 2km from his home he assumed it was a red buoy.

But he was taken aback when he discovered the mystery object that later washed up was a whale carcass with an extremely swollen red tongue.

The 13m carcass of the juvenile fin whale was swept onto the shore at Portstewart Strand on Monday.

A resident told local media that he and locals were "transfixed" by the size of the mammal's extremely swollen tongue and how far it "stuck out of its mouth like a half-inflated giant red balloon."

Tracy Platt, scientific officer with regional operations, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, spoke of how the whale's tongue became so enlarged.

"Quite often when we come across whale carcasses the tongue has swollen and the gases inside have pushed it out," she said.

It is reportedly the third whale to have washed up in Northern Ireland over the past eight years.