West coast entanglement
Last week the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS, www.strandings.org), a partner in the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA), received a call about another whale entanglement – this time a minke…
Update on the entangled Forth humpback whale, April 2019
This post was written by Ellie MacLennan, SEA project co-ordinator. On Tuesday 26th February a commercial fisherman working in the Forth contacted the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA), concerned for the…
‘Hauling Up Solutions’ – Scottish creel fishermen attend successful bycatch and entanglement workshop in London
Written by Ellie MacLennan, SEA project co-ordinator. Last week myself and five creel fishermen from Scotland were invited to attend ‘Hauling up Solutions’, a two-day cetacean bycatch and entanglement workshop…
How do you train to disentangle large whales?
This blog was written by Ellie MacLennan, SEA project co-ordinator and member of the UK Large Whale Disentanglement Team (LWDT). Two weeks ago the Scottish contingent of the UK Large…
UK entanglements – a recent article from the Natural History Museum
This article was written in collaboration with several SEA partners and highlights some of the entanglement data gathered in recent years from the Hebrides, and the impact these incidents can and do have…
Exploring an unusual mass mortality event in the North Atlantic
This blog has been written by National Museums Scotland Curatorial Preparator and SMASS colleague Georg Hantke. It details his summer tour of the Scottish coast collecting samples from the unusually high number…
A whale of a time in Orkney and the far north east
Last week I returned to Orkney, visiting Scrabster on route and the far north-east coast of mainland Scotland to meet with more fishermen to discuss the marine life they encounter,…
Is marine animal entanglement in Scottish waters really a problem?
As I work my way around the coast interviewing fishermen about their experiences, knowledge and perceptions of marine animal entanglements, some have questioned just how big a problem this might…
A minke and a great multi-organisational team effort
Marine animal stranding and entanglement rescue and recovery attempts often require a team effort, bringing together lots of different individuals and organisations to share their resources and expertise. Last week members of…
Encountering a whale entanglement – a Fisherman’s story
This blog was written by a creel fisherman operating off the west coast of Scotland and details a whale he was involved in disentangling several years ago. It is a…