Whale stuck in Baltimore Harbour

Gardaí are asking the public to stay away from Baltimore as crowds of up to 500 people have already gathered at the picturesque village after a 40 ft fin whale was found to be trapped in the harbour this morning after coming into the beach on a low tide.

It is feared the whale could die after a vet's examination revealed that she is seriously ill. 

Already there are plans to take the whale to the beach by boat and let her die there, from where it will be up to Cork County Council to dispose of the body. With plenty of holidaymakers in the area, the numbers coming to see the whale grew and local traffic increased, creating congestion in the small fishing village.

"It was an amazing sight to see the whale there, you could see the top part of his body and the blowhole. Some local fishermen were trying to bring it out of the harbour early this morning but there has been no success yet.

"There were helicopters overhead and the huge crowds were looking down over the wall to get a glimpse of the whale, " said Kay Quinn from Skibbereen who bought her children down to see the fin whale.