WHALE MEAT AGAIN: Coastguards Recover Giant Whale Carcass Floating In Sea

The video shows the heartbreaking moment a hugely-inflated whale carcass is recovered from the Icelandic coast.

The whale is believed to have drowned after becoming trapped in abandoned mussel-fishing gear on the ocean floor.

Its huge size is understood to be the result of gasses that have built up in the sea mammal's body after death.

Video footage of the recovery shows the Icelandic Coast Guard finding the whale's body in Stakksfjordur Bay on 25th January.

A small inflatable is seen gently nudging the carcass towards the rescue ship, where it is fixed to a winch by its tail and towed towards shore.

The Coast Guard said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: "The crew of the ocean patrol vessel Baldur was called out and asked to go to the place to free the whale and bring it outside Stakksfjordur.

"The crew was successful in freeing the carcass, but it turned out that there is equipment, tows and lines in the area that whales, seals and other marine mammals can easily get attached to, in addition to the risk of ships and boats entangling the equipment in the propeller."

After coastguards towed the dead whale, they brought it out of the tidal currents and set it adrift about 15 nautical miles northwest of the Gardskagi Peninsula.