A 31-FOOT Humpback Whale that died recently in Scotland and is the subject of an ITV documentary is now in a huge freezer in Knighton.

Fishermen reported a whale in distress caught up in ropes near the village of Helmsdale on the East Coast of Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands on Thursday, June 4.

A rescue operation was mounted, but choppy seas and stormy weather made it very difficult and sadly the seven ton creature died on June 6. The whale’s body was later recovered and is now the subject of a natural history programme for ITV, made by Big Wave productions working in conjunction with scientific experts and the Scottish Stranding Network.

FM Caine and Sons from Knighton, experts in fallen stock, had been waiting for a call to pick up a whale from anywhere around the UK coast for about a year.

Matthew Caine, who was tasked with picking up the whale, said it is the most unusual thing he had picked up.

He said: “It was a strange one and it took some work, but it all went to plan and now we just have to store it until whenever we are told.

“It is in a 40ft freezer and it is quite a weird story really. Everyone in the area is talking about it.”

For the last year there have been nitrogen freezing tanks at the site ready for a pick up.

The call came through on Sunday night and Matthew Caine and Johnny Lewis set off from Knighton with an articulated lorry to travel over 500 miles to pick up the dead animal.

When they reached Helmsdale there were TV crews waiting for them, lots of spectators and a huge crane before the creature was lifted into the sealed lorry container and then the two men made their way back to Knighton.

They arrived at just after 6am on Tuesday morning. Waiting for them was a large crane, TV cameras, a team of specialist freezing experts and a big freezer container.

A special tray had to be made to get the whale into the container after it had been lifted from the lorry trailer by the crane.

The small family business is run by Michael, Matthew and Ben Caine,  employs just under 20 people and has been serving the needs of farmers, breeders and growers within a 100 mile radius of Knighton since 1919, but in that time has never had to deal with such a large creature.

The firm is far more used to cattle and sheep with an average cow weighing half a ton. 

The whale will now stay in the container until everything is put into place for it to be returned to the sea in South Wales where the scientific experiment will continue.