The annual controversial slaughter of 2,000 baby gannets on a remote Outer Hebridean island began at the weekend.
The guga hunters from Ness on Lewis have returned to carry out the ancient tradition.
But recent bad weather meant that this weekend was the last chance for the hunters to land on the rocky outcrop of Sula Sgeir for this year’s cull.
The Scottish SPCA wants the annual hunt banned and has previously stated that “brutalising animals in this way under the guise of tradition has no place in modern society”.
The centuries-old hunt – where the birds are clubbed to death – is carried out each summer on Sula Sgeir, 40 miles north of Lewis.
There is only one place to land and the recent sea swell was making the trip doubtful. But the boat Heather Isles M managed to get the hunters on the rock and returned to Lewis on Saturday.
The hunting of sea birds was outlawed in 1954 in the UK, but the community continue to be granted the only exemption under UK and EU law allowing them to hold the annual hunt.
The Scottish Government has said it is satisfied the methods used to kill the birds are not inhumane if done competently. The RSPB has also not raised objections.
However, the Scottish SPCA rejected arguments that guga hunting should be granted special dispensation on the grounds of tradition.