Blogposts: 2025

Humpback whale, Lealt, NE Skye. This humpback whale was reported entangled on the morning of 9th February in a fleet of active crab creels. It was successfully released that afternoon by local creel fishermen Bally Philp and Haydn Mackenzie who through SEA completed a disentanglement training course led by David Mattila, the coordinator of the International Whaling Commission’s Global Whale Entanglement Response Network in October 2019 alongside 18 other Scottish commercial creel fishermen. This disentanglement was a great example of the vital role fishermen can and do play in entanglement mitigation, and the importance of understanding not just the animals involved, but also being familiar with the fishing gear and ground. Subject to funding SEA hopes to run more disentanglement training for fishermen, to benefit whales and communities throughout Scotland. Read more about this rescue here and here.

Sperm whale, Isle of Raasay. First spotted entangled by local drone operator Anthony Rigell in the Raasay Sound on 27th February, BDMLR’s large whale disentanglement team attempted to free the whale over the following three days, but due to poor weather conditions were only able to remove approximately 5m of the entangling rope. On 3rd March the 14.1m adult male sperm whale live stranded and later died on the Isle of Raasay, where a further 132m of rope was removed from its head and jaw which had prevented the whale from feeding. SMASS necropsied the whale over the following two days and found that the ropes around the head and jaw, believed to be an endline of a creel fleet, had cut 4-5cm into the tissue. The ropes around the lower jaw (4-5 wraps) had cut almost down to the bone. This was a chronic case, where the whale had been entangled for a period of at least 3 to 4 weeks and was severely dehydrated and emaciated as a result. You can watch a short film about this case by James Appleton here. Further findings of the necropsy are available here.