A porpoise was found washed up on Blankenberge beach on Thursday.
It was reported that the mammal was still alive when stranded on the sand, but by the time attendants from Sea Life Blankenberge arrived, it had tragically died.
A local resident, who noticed the creature around 9:20 am, alerted the Sea Life Blankenberge team. The porpoise, a male which weighed between 30 to 40 kilograms and measured 1.5 metres in length, was filmed whilst it was still alive in images and videos provided by the eyewitness.
However, when the rescue team appeared just fifteen minutes later, the porpoise had perished.
Another incident where a porpoise washed up the beach near Nieuwpoort in 2006. Credit: Belga / Isabelle Vanhassel
Firefighters were dispatched promptly to remove the carcass, which was then sent to the Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels. An autopsy will be carried out there in order to determine the cause of death.
Since June, Sea Life Blankenberge has been put in charge of collecting porpoises. Speaking about this event, a spokesperson for the park said. "This is the first time we’ve been alerted about a living porpoise. It was likely very weak when it stranded. It had injuries near its mouth and cuts on its sides."
