Two whales wash up on Scottish beaches after becoming "entangled in rope"
Experts believe the whales' injuries are consistent with the issue
Last updated 8th Oct 2024
Two whales have washed up on Scottish beaches within a week of each other and the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) believes the most likely cause of death is rope entanglement.
A 9.60m long female humpback whale washed ashore in Granton, Edinburgh and SMASS say it had skin abrasions highly consistent with rope entanglements.
A week later, a 5.75m long female minke whale washed ashore in Johnshaven, Aberdeenshire.
SMASS were unable to carry out a full necropsy, but, tissue samples, measurements and detailed pictures taken by volunteers lead them to believe entanglement is the most likely cause of death.
A SMASS spokesperson said: "Both of these were sub-adult animals in moderate body condition, suggesting they had been successfully feeding prior to becoming entangled.
"The humpback whale had bruising and abrasions across the throat pleats and around the pectoral fin consistent with some sort of rope.
"The minke whale had much more obvious signs of entanglement, with a deep encircling laceration around the tailstock and twin linear lesions on the underside of the fluke consistent with a rope which was under tension and had dug so far into the into the tissue it had almost amputated the fluke, most likely whilst the animal was still alive.
"As we often find, neither whale stranded with any material remaining attached, meaning it is not possible to say if this was active fishing gear, marine debris or rope from a non- marine source but the lesions were consistent with the type of injuries we've seen caused by creel rope.
"This also highlights the significant welfare and conservation issues caused by entanglement in floating rope around Scotland."
The organisation say they have now received 12 reports of entanglement this year, including other species like basking sharks and grey seals.