A POST-mortem examination was to be carried out yesterday on the whale that died on a Cornish beach.
Rescuers were scrambled to Shorthorn beach, Carlyon Bay, near St Austell, on Monday evening following reports of a stranded 20m (65ft) fin whale.
The endangered mammal – the world's second largest species – was severely malnourished with a cut to one eye, possibly having been hit by a vessel.
Coastguards set up a 300m cordon, lined by crowds of up to 500 throughout the rescue attempt.
British Diver Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) vets said it was impossible to refloat the whale, which had beached at least once that day, because she was too ill.
Faye Archell, from BDMLR, said its breathing had also accelerated and they had planned to euthanase it, but the whale died naturally at about 9.15pm.
On Tuesday the Cornwall Wildlife Trust's (CWT) Marine Strandings Network alongside experts from London's Institute of Zoology and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) visited.
The carcass was towed from the beach by a tug boat on Tuesday evening and expected to be incinerated after the post-mortem at an unidentified location.
Coastguard sector manager Matt Pavitt, 35, said: "It was a beautiful creature from the middle of the ocean and a once-in-a-lifetime chance for people to see it up close."
Onlooker Lee Hancock, 37, from Duporth, said: "It doesn't look like a real animal."
His wife Helen, 36, added: "This is something we will always remember. It has been quite emotional really."
Ken Johnson, 64, from Charlestown, said: "You feel so helpless because there are hundreds of people here and we can't do anything to help the poor thing."