Adult Whale Dies After Being Washed Ashore in France's Calais Port, Reports Say

PARIS (Sputnik) - A 19-meter female whale weighing almost 15 tonnes was washed ashore in the port of the French city of Calais, where the mammal died from its wounds, French media reported.

The incident took place on Saturday, when a fin whale was found stranded on the beach near Calais port, France Bleu radio station said. Members of the local Animal Protection League went to the scene to try and rescue the mammal.

"It [whale] was probably looking for a place to beach itself, but was injured on the port's breakwater structures. At first we thought that we could save it, but an hour later it died," the league's representative told on air of France Bleu.

On Monday, the whale's remains will be transported from the shore during high tide for an autopsy, according to the media. For a whale to enter a port is very unusual, French wildlife activists noted.