#MarineWildlife - A pilot whale calf had to be put down after stranding off the North Antrim coast - just days after a rare whale died while beached in the same region.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that the unweaned juvenile pilot whale became separated from its mother, and was severely malnourished.

"Regrettably for this animal, given that it would be fully dependent on its mother at such an early stage in its life, the inevitable conclusion was that the animal would be unable to survive alone," said a spokesperson for the NI Department of Environment, who had been monitoring the calf in inshore waters near Portballintrae for close to two weeks.

When the whale calf was reported stranded on rocks in Portballntrae Bay on Monday 16 September, the stand-by vet was called in to euthanise the marine giant.

The sad occasion happened just two days after a juvenile Sei whale died after beaching near Waterfoot in Co Antrim.