Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Humpback whale washed up in Sutherland ‘ran out of energy’ trying to get free from fishing ropes

The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme say it was not the first time the young whale had become entangled.

A humpback whale on the sands of Loch Fleet, Sutherland.
A humpback whale washed up at Loch Fleet in Sutherland earlier this month. Image: SMASS/Facebook

A dead whale that washed up on a beach in the Highlands suffered an agonising death after becoming snared in fishing gear.

A report into the incident also highlighted a “real concern” that such entanglements are having a “significant impact” on the population of humpback whales in Scottish waters.

The juvenile humpback whale was found on a sand bank at Loch Fleet nature reserve, in Sutherland, on May 4.

The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) said today that there has been a “spate of fatal entanglements” reported this past few weeks.

In a report, the SMASS said: “We are confident the cause of death was drowning due to entanglement, and based on the lesion pattern, most likely in rope around 12mm in diameter.

“No rope remained attached to the carcass – only abrasions and bruising where the rope had dug into the skin remained.

“The extent of these lesions suggested the animal had struggled to get free for several hours before running out of energy and drowning. There was around 100 litres of fluid around the lungs, likely aspirated seawater.

“This young animal was otherwise in very good body condition and had been feeding well but not recently.”

Humpback whale in the Moray Firth.
Humpback whales, like this one pictured in the Moray Firth, are at increasing risk of marine pollution, researchers say.

‘Not the first time’ whale entangled

The necropsy showed it was not the first time the whale had been entangled, as there was evidence of old, healed scars on the tail and tailstock where the rope had dug in.

“Somehow, the animal had become free and the wounds had had time to heal, this time sadly it was not so lucky,” the report adds.

“As with many of the entanglement cases reported to SMASS, carcasses wash up without any material attached – it seems they are cut out at sea and only tend to wash up when there is an onshore wind. Although we can’t be 100% positive about the origin of the rope which entangled this animal, the pattern would be  highly consistent with creel rope.

“Humpback entanglements reported to SMASS are rare – fewer than 20 cases over the past decade – but, of those we were able to examine, entanglement was the cause of death in every single one of them.”

Humpback whale entangled in fishing gear.
Marine life entangled in fishing gear is an all-too common sight. Image: NatureScot

Action needed to reduce entanglements

Recent research by the Scottish Entanglement Alliance – made up of academics, NGOs, government officials and the fishing industry – suggests around 95% of entanglements go unreported.

Researchers said creel fishers are working with them to identify ways to limit harm to marine mammals, but stressed more is needed to be done “urgently”.

SMASS added: “There is also a real concern that mortality due to entanglement is having a significant impact on the populations of humpback whales in Scottish waters.”

Humpback whales were once hunted to the brink of extinction in Scottish waters, but in recent years the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust has noticed an increase in the number of sightings.

It is unknown whether this represents a genuine increase in population size, a range shift into Scottish waters, or more vigilant reporting from members of the public.

However, research published earlier this year suggested more than 30 whales are snared by fishing gear in Scotland every year.

Conversation