From Wales to Whales

I suppose it seems reasonable to start by briefly explaining the title of this piece.

There's not much to it in fact. We came to Coll over 3 years ago from Wales (the North Welsh borders to be precise). Our home there, being a million miles from the sea, meant that marine life was in short supply. Our home now on Coll couldn't be more different, with the highest of spring high tides bringing the sea to within about 20 feet of the house! Marine life in all its forms abounds including whales and we see Minke whales and Killer whales (orcas) from time to time.
That, in a nutshell, explains the title. But this piece is about one particular whale that came pretty much to our doorstep. This one was big, and I mean BIG. It was a Sperm whale, it was pure white, and sadly, it was dead.

We came to Coll for a variety of reasons one of which was to seek privacy. As one who relishes a near 'hermit-like' lifestyle, and who wishes to remain somewhat reclusive for most of the time, the arrival of an enormous monster such as this right by the house potentially threatened our existence here as the attention it might draw would be in complete conflict with the desire to be left alone. Fortunately, my fear of droves of uninvited sightseers descending on us proved to be unfounded and now after 3 years all evidence of the whale has gone anyway.

It all started on Saturday March 28th 1998. We had taken the keys to the house only a week before and in that week we had already been surprised at the diversity of flotsam that gets washed in. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight that greeted me that morning as I looked out of the kitchen window. I had decided to keep a journal of interesting events from the day we took over and here is the entry for that day.

'Sat 28th March 1998 - Awoke this morning to find a whale washed up 300 yards from the house!! Draped over the rocks it's difficult to measure but I paced it (awkwardly) at roughly 10 - 11 paces (say 30 or more feet long). It's all white and I get the impression that it's just a thick skin. There's a long 'tusk' protruding from it and several large boney discs (part of spine?) lying around. It smells a bit and will no doubt get worse. Praying now for an easterly wind!! I'll leave it for the gulls.'

The first thing I decided to do was to get a few photographs. I then pondered on how best to get rid of it. Feeling sure I had seen film of Eskimo people burning whale fat I tried putting a match to it. That didn't work - it made no attempt to catch light and on reflection, I guess it's good that it didn't. Something that size would probably burn for months on end and light up the whole sky. Not very good for preserving our privacy. Given that there was precious little I could do, I decided to just photograph the decay process over time and to salvage what bones I could as keepsakes. Its arrival triggered odd thoughts in my head and I found myself chuckling inwardly at that old schoolboy joke about the mother who sent her child to the fishmongers to get something for their dinner and added "ask him if he's got any whale meat in. If so, get a couple of pounds and ask him if he'll throw the head in for the cat"!!

It moved about a bit as subsequent tides shifted its position and slowly it gave up its treasure of bones, the discs and vertebrae being fairly numerous. The large 'tusk' I referred to in my journal entry was, as suspected, a jawbone. Sadly there was only the one and unfortunately it had broken but nevertheless it's pretty impressive. No teeth I'm afraid.

It was a few months later that Charlie, the RSPB warden, came down for a chat and I took him across to see my prize. He was pretty enthusiastic about it and as we explored the carcass we spotted a certain 'appendage' now exposed on its underbelly leading us to conclude that it was a male. Suffice to say that this whale, like my field gates, was pretty well hung! More bones were becoming exposed and I promised Charlie he could have the skull should it appear. However, I was not convinced that the skull was there and indeed it never did show up, presumably lost at sea for who knows how this whale came to meet its end and how long it had been afloat before arriving at my doorstep. As the months ticked by the decay process continued until after about a year it was all gone and I had retrieved all the bones, some of which can be seen at Charlie's' RSPB visitor centre, notably that huge jaw bone plus some discs and vertebrae and a few others which in my ignorance I can't name or identify.

Thankfully, the wind never did blow the smell towards the house and believe me, it did pong a bit. If it had been fresher when it arrived maybe it would have kept us in fish suppers for a year or two. Instead, the gulls feasted on it as nature showed us its way of recycling...

J.L.D