A team from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group is examining a dead sperm whale which has beached at Streedagh in Co Sligo.
The whale, which is about 12 metres long, is one of three which washed ashore from counties Galway to Donegal in the past week.
A spokesman for the Irish Whale & Dolphin Group says it's very unusual to have this number of beached sperm whales in a small geographic area in a short space of time.
The whale will undergo a post mortem to try to determine how it died and see if there is a common link with the other beached whales.
Staff from Sligo County Council are at the beach with diggers to assist the operation, and are currently examining what options are available regarding the disposal of the whale.
On Sunday, a sperm whale was discovered washed ashore in Mace Head near Carna in Connemara, while last week another sperm whale was washed up in Co Donegal.
