The whale was sprayed with water to keep it wet

Rescuers had at first thought the animal which became stranded at Llangrannog, Ceredigion was a dolphin.

But experts later confirmed it was in fact a rarely seen Sowerby's beaked whale.

The animal, the second whale to be washed up on the Welsh coast in four days, was treated for several hours by the RSPCA and a beached whale expert.

The mammal was discovered at Ynys Lochtyn by a member of the public on Monday at 1226 (BST).

Coastguard officers sprayed the mammal with water to keep it wet.

The RSPCA used flotation equipment to get the whale back out to sea at high tide.

Earlier, RSPCA spokeswoman, Judith Haw, said: "There's a possibility it's been there some time so that not good news for the animal.

This giant fin whale was washed up in south Wales

"But we're trying to get it back into the water."

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said Sowerby's Beaked Whales have a blue-grey upper surface, with a white stomach.

They have a small dorsal fin and a long, slender beak. Males have protruding teeth midway down the beak.

They inhabit the North Atlantic and Baltic and feed on fish and squid.

They live alone or in small groups are rarely seen, but are commonly stranded.

At the weekend workers removed the body of a 60ft, 30-tonne fin whale which had become washed up on mudflats near Newport, south Wales.

The carcass was cut up so that it could be taken away from the site at St Brides, West Usk and incinerated.

Hundreds of people went to see the animal - second only in size to the blue whale - after it washed up on Thursday.