Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

Video Credit: CEN/@concello.deponteceso

This is the 50-foot beached fin whale which has become the sixth dead whale on the same stretch of Spanish coast in four weeks.

The body of the male fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) was found on the Balares beach in the Ponteceso municipality of the Galicia region in north-eastern Spain.

The whale reportedly measured around 16 metres (52 feet) long and Lois Garcia Carbadillo, the Mayor of Ponteceso, says a local resident had spotted it in the morning and called the authorities.

The whale was already dead when it was found and Carbadillo said an autopsy will be carried out to discover the cause of death.

Picture Credits: CEN

Startling images show the huge mammal lying in the shallows at the beach and onlooker looking at the animal on the sand.

The mayor said the municipality were interested in keeping the whale’s skeleton after the autopsy and warned local residents against approaching the dead animal.

He added: “We will follow the advice of biologists and the authorities in order to follow the protocol for these kinds of situations from the medical point of view.”

Local media report six whales have been found beached in Galicia in the last four weeks and Alfredo Lopez, president of the Coordinator For the Study of Marine Mammals (CEMMA), said the whales’ appearance on the beaches might have been caused by a change in their route.

He suggested the whales could have changed their routes from more southern Spanish waters to the northern Spanish coast of Galicia.

The cause of death of the whale is still unknown and the investigation is ongoing.