We’ve all seen whales in nature programmes and some of us have been lucky enough to see them in person while whale watching.

Until I met Driggsby I had only seen large whales on screen and dolphins and porpoises in person. I had never truly appreciated the enormous size of whales until Driggsby was mounted on the wall in Tullie House and having her up there makes me appreciate the oceans even more.

Driggsby is a fin whale, part of the order cetacea. These whales are recognised as one of the 90 species of the order but 84 per cent of cetaceans are toothed whales, like orcas, dolphins and sperm whales. The remaining 16 per cent are baleen whales, this includes the largest animal on the planet, the blue whale and of course the fin whale.

These giants of the sea are rarely seen in Cumbria, but fin whales migrate south from Iceland and we believe that it is during this migration that tragedy struck.

After some study we have worked out that Driggsby, even though she is pushing 12 metres long, is only a juvenile, being around a year old. This means she will have been migrating from her birthing ground toward a warmer climate.

Unfortunately, as is the case with many sea creatures, there was a hidden killer stalking her. When Driggsby was found there were no obvious injuries and thus the conclusion was drawn that her death may have been caused by plastic and other pollutants in the ocean.

As for how the pollutants entered her body, the horrible truth is that she may have ingested it through her mother’s milk or while feeding on small fish and krill. Baleen whales have a unique feeding method where they open their huge mouths and swallow sea water.

Then as they force the water from their mouths their baleen frills catch and sieve the fish and krill ready to be eaten.

Any plastics or micro-plastics are swallowed too, or if a fish has eaten some previously the poison is still in their system too.