Irish villages in row over 50-tonne whale carcass

The jaw bones of a giant 18-metre whale are now being hidden after a row between two villages over who owns the 50-tonne carcass.

The female Fin Back whale is lying on the sandbank off Courtmacsherry, in West Cork, where she died last Thursday.

However, the whale's giant jaw bones have already been removed by locals and are being stored in "a secret location" in Kilbrittain after the row over who had the rights to the whale carcass.



It is understood the jaw bones were removed over the weekend by a number of men using a chain saw.

Kilbrittain locals insisted the whale died in their section of the harbour, while residents in the nearby village of Courtmacsherry proposed preserving the jaw bones and mounting them as a memorial in their town hall.

Last night, Kilbrittain resident Finbarr O'Mahony vowed that the entire whale skeleton, and not just the jaw bones, will eventually be put on display in Kilbrittain. "It will go on display. And not just the jaw bone. We want to put the entire thing, the whole whale, on display, right here," he said.