The humpback whale was successfully freed by volunteers after becoming tangled in ropes off the Isle of Skye.
The whale was spotted on the morning of Thursday 30 January 2025 by Rigg on the north of the island by the Organic Sea Harvest salmon farm.
It was rescued by British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) volunteers the following morning after their Large Whale Entanglement Team (LWET) worked through the night formulating a plan for the difficult rescue.
When cut free, the animal was reported by onlookers to be exhausted and confused but eventually swam off, quickly regaining strength, later seen diving and resurfacing.
It is estimated that six humpback whales are involved in engagements in Scottish waters alone annually.
This comes following another humpback whale disentanglement by the LWET on 4 November 2024 in Loch Fyne off the Firth of Clyde on the West Coast of Scotland.
This previous rescue was due to the whale becoming tangled in anchored cred lines, quickly swimming off after.
The BDMLR’s LWET attends incidents classed as large-scale with its volunteers travelling from across the UK to respond to each reported incident, costing the charity thousands of pounds for each rescue.
“Kilt Rock, Isle of Skye, Scotland – Landscape photography” by Giuseppe Milo (www.pixael.com) is licensed under CC BY 2.0.