The maritime branch of the Guardia Civil, with the help of several local divers last night, rescued a stranded, beaked whale on a Torrenueva Costa beach.

The creature was obviously desorientated when it appeared off the beach and ended up stranded. However, a volunteer managed to keep curious bystanders back so as not to frighten it.

It was during the later afternoon that beach goers spotted the whale just off the beach in very shallow water. This kind of whale, which has the appearance of a dolphin, is infrequently sighted as it prefers deep waters. There are also very few in these waters.

The whale was having difficulty manoeuvering because is was slightly injured and had ended up trapped near a breakwater at the eastern end of the main beach. The Guardia Civil officers couldn’t reach the whale and were finally able to literally tow it back out into deeper water, thanks to three civilian divers who managed to get a rope around its tail it and pass it to the officers onboard their launch.

The first diver to see the zifio (Spanish name for the whale) saw that it was try to go round the breakwater but was suffering cuts made by the rocks that make up the structure.

The 4-metre-long creature, with an approximate weight of 700 kilos, was exhausted and ended up rolling in the surf, which was when the diver called the Guardia Civil. In the meantime he managed to convince th people who had gathered to make videos etc, that they were frightening the animal and should move back from where it was.

The night had already fallen when the combined efforts of the police and the divers managed to tow the animal far enough out to free it.

(News: Torrenueva Costa, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)