Council reveals costs for burial of whale

Mayo County Council spent €8,200 in machine hire costs to bury the carcass of a large fin whale that washed ashore at Ross Beach near Killala earlier this year.

The local authority said the costs of the burial on February 9 last related totally to machine and plant hire costs. The council was responding to a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Western People. No costs were borne from consulting with expert organisations.

The work carried out by the hired machines involved the excavation of trial holes at the north Mayo beach in order to find a viable burial site for the large fin whale that weighed between 40 and 50 tonnes.

Then, the whale needed to be transported to the selected burial site approximately 150 metres from where it had beached. The large, deep burial pit was then excavated and the carcass was placed in before the site was backfilled once more.

The final cost for machine/plant hire over five working days was approximately €8,200.

Mayo County Council said it incurred no expenditure in the hiring of expert consultants. They worked with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) throughout the process.

“Contact was made with the IWDG who had examined the whale carcass at an early stage after the stranding,” it said. “IWDG published a Large Whale Stranding Protocol some years ago in order to facilitate a speedy response to large whale strandings which are becoming very common in Irish coastal waters. The disposal of the remains was carried out in accordance with this protocol and following discussions with IWDG.”

The council said members of staff attended the site and supervised the burial as part of their normal work duties and therefore, there were no specific costs incurred over and above normal payroll costs.