Whale Stranding on Tiree in September 2023: EIR release

Information requested

You asked for:

• When the stranding of the sei whale was reported in September 2023 and by whom?
• Why the whale was not claimed by the Scottish Government?
• Why a necropsy of the animal was not carried out?
• Why the whale was not collected by the National Museums of Scotland?
• Please provide a copy of the proposal for disposal which was produced.
• Please advise of what, if any, advice was sought from SEPA.
• Please provide any further documents associated with the stranding and or its disposal.

Response

• When the stranding of the sei whale was reported in September 2023 and by whom?

The sei whale stranded at Vaul, Tiree and was reported to the Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme (SMASS) at the University of Glasgow on 5 September 2023. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested, therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested because the stranding was reported to the SMASS team.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about the reporting of the sei whale, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

• Why the whale was not claimed by the Scottish Government?

On behalf of the Crown, the Scottish Government has first claim on all ‘Royal Fish’ found dead and stranded on the shoreline of Scotland. Where the Scottish Government does not wish to claim a Royal Fish, the local authority may wish to arrange for disposal of the carcass. Further guidance can be found at: Marine Scotland (www.gov.scot)

• Why a necropsy of the animal was not carried out?

At the time of the whale being reported, the SMASS team were responding to another strandings case. Given the logistical challenges, it was not feasible for them to attend the sei whale in time to carry out a necropsy. Although a necropsy was not carried out, trained volunteers attended the stranding and collected a selection of samples for analysis. Details of the stranding will be published in the 2023 annual report that will be made available on the SMASS website in due course.

• Why the whale was not collected by the National Museums of Scotland?

In the case of rarer species, the National Museums of Scotland or other organisations may request the whale skeleton for their collection. This option will be considered by the Scottish Government in collaboration with the relevant local authority and the interested party. In this case, the National Museums of Scotland did not request the whale skeleton for their collection.

• Please provide a copy of the proposal for disposal which was produced.
• Please advise of what, if any, advice was sought from SEPA.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested, therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because financial assistance was not sought from the Scottish Government in relation to this stranding.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about the proposal for disposal of the sei whale, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

• Please provide any further documents associated with the stranding and or its disposal.

The Scottish Government holds one document that references the stranding event. This is the SMASS interim report for the period of 1 July – 30 September 2023. This information will be included in the SMASS 2023 annual report which will be published in summer 2024.

An extract from the interim report of the information within the scope of your request is as follows (redactions have been applied to text out of scope of the request):

Table 1: Summary of stranded animals reported July to September 2023. This shows the total number of animals reported per species along with of those, the number of cases were necropsied (third column) and sampled (fourth column).
Species Total

Species	Total number of cases reported	Number of cases necropsied	Number of cases sampled
Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis)	1		1

There were single strandings of [Redacted] sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) [Redacted]were recorded.
A further [Redacted] were sampled by SMASS staff and volunteers, [Redacted] and a sei whale. For those animals not suitable for further examination or sampling, the main reason were the advanced level of autolysis.

Live Stranding: Successful refloat

Maternal Separation/Starvation

Meningoencephalitis

Physical Trauma: Bottlenose Dolphin Attack

Physical Trauma: Entanglement

Physical Trauma: Other

Physical Trauma: Possible Grey Seal Attack

Pending case update

Pending PM

Samples Taken

NE: Advanced Autolysis

NE: At Sea

NE: Carcase Incomplete/Scavenger Damage

NE: Carcase Not Found

NE: Carcase Unrecoverable

NE: Morphometrics Taken

NE: No volunteers available

NE: Removed by Tide

Total

Sei whale

1

1

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