Overview

• A 3.80-meter beaked whale stranded in the tidal flats at Munkmarsch on the North Sea island of Sylt.
• Bystanders tried in the morning to push the animal back into deeper water but were unsuccessful.
• Licensed seal hunter Thomas Diedrichsen shot the whale on site, stating it would have died without the shots.
• Diedrichsen described the whale as severely emaciated, disoriented, and likely suffering a fungal infection at the mouth.
• He said the animal had been seen for two days on the island’s east side and was swimming in circles, and the carcass is to be removed by wheel loader.