A humpback whale entangled in ropes on a Skye fish-farm has been freed by volunteers from British Divers Marine Life Rescue.
BDMLR first heard of the animal’s plight at 7am on 30 January, and by mid-afternoon the first members of its large whale disentanglement team were already arriving at the western Scottish island from around the UK, with more joining them overnight.
Also read: Another humpback whale freed off Skye
Local BDMLR medics had been monitoring the 9m whale and working to ensure that members of the public did not approach it, while the Organic Sea Harvest salmon farm suspended its operations and reassigned staff to assist with the rescue effort.
Underwater footage taken during the afternoon had revealed that what the team-members had originally taken to be a single loop of rope was in fact a double wrap, with one length around the whale’s head and another trapping its left pectoral fin.
This looked likely to make a difficult task even more challenging, because the ropes would have to be cut in sequence to prevent the whale swimming away with line still attached.
The volunteers reached the site in a small boat at first light the next day and determined that the whale's size, strength and likely stress levels would make an incautious approach dangerous.

However, they managed to cut the sections of rope as planned, freeing the fin and then the head, although it took until 10.30am to complete the work.
Initially the whale appeared too exhausted to respond to its new-found freedom. Then it set off north, “swimming strongly, diving and returning to the surface”.
“During the rescue it became clear that the whale had previously been entangled and was carrying old ropes of a type not used by Organic Sea Harvest,” stated the fish-farm. “It was this existing entangled rope which caught onto the farm moorings as it swam by.
“Thankfully the BDMLR team were not only able to free the whale from the salmon farm, but they were also able to free it of the other ropes it had been carrying.
“Marine mammals, including dolphins and whales, are a common sight near salmon farms, but it is extremely rare for them to come into contact with our sites.”
BDMLR also paid tribute to the Coast Guard, the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme and drone operator Anthony Rigell for their support during what it described as a “difficult rescue”.
Also on Divernet: HUMPBACK WHALE BACK AT SEA AFTER SCOTLAND STRANDING, JULY BRINGS RARE AND UNUSUAL WHALE SIGHTINGS, BDMLR READY AS DOLPHIN STRANDS IN CORNWALL, MASS DOLPHIN STRANDING ON ANGLESEY