A fifteen-feet-long whale was found entangled among fishing seines along the seashore at No.37 Village, West Coast Berbice early yesterday morning.

Alive when discovered by fishermen, efforts were made to free the animal but it subsequently died, reliable sources disclosed. The carcass was reportedly brought to Georgetown by officials of the Wildlife Management Authority late Friday afternoon.

This is the second occurrence of a whale being trapped in fishing seines off the Atlantic coast in recent weeks. Late last December, a six-year-old male sperm whale measuring 45 feet and weighing approximately 30 tonnes was discovered dead after its carcass was washed ashore at the Kitty seawall. That whale was first spotted in the Mahaicony area, where it was caught in the seine of a fisherman who had immediately reported the sighting to the relevant authorities after his efforts to free the gigantic mammal had proved futile.

The agencies had initially sought to have the carcass brought over the seawall and taken to the Linden-Soesdyke Highway for burial, with the intention of subsequently retrieving its skeleton for storage in a museum for educational purposes. However, based on the advice of experts from the Caribbean, Venezuela, Suriname and Canada, a decision was taken to take skin samples from the mammal before burying it in a 22-foot grave a short distance from where it had washed ashore.

Efforts to contact officials to find out what they intend to do with the carcass of the whale which died Friday proved futile up to late last evening.