ATTEMPTS are being made to rescue a sperm whale that is believed to have become tangled in rope in one of Scotland's deepest lochs.
The 9m-long animal was spotted in distress in Loch Eriboll, near Durness, Sutherland.
Coastguard and British Divers Marine Life Rescue Team volunteers have been monitoring the whale and are expected to attempt to free the mammal.
The whale had been seen earlier swimming slowly in the loch.
Volunteeers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Team (BDMLR) say they are woking closely with the Scottish SPCA and HM Coastguard to monitor and assess the whale.
"We have specialist disentanglement equipment ready to use should it be confirmed that the whale is in some way caught in lines preventing it leaving the loch," said the BDMLR which said the animal could also be ill or injured.
The team, had a mechanical problem with its vehicle while travelling to the loch and had plans to assess the whale at first light on Friday.
A spokesperson for Shetland Coastguard, which is co-ordinating the operation, said: “The whale is less than 100 metres from the shore. It is very close to the mouth of the loch and we are concerned it will come ashore. It appears to be entangled and in distress so we would ask people to stay away from the scene so as not cause any more distress to the animal.”
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has asked members of the public to take care along the rugged coastline if they are trying to find a vantage point to see the whale, and told people to leave the rescue effort “to the experts”.
The Scottish SPCA said it had an inspector on site to monitor the whale and would return to assess the situation at first light on Friday.
In 2016, members of BDMLR were able to free a humpback whale from the same loch after it became tangled in creels used to catch prawns.
The loch is 9.9 miles long and has been used for centuries as a deep water anchorage as it is safe from the often stormy seas of Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firth. It is named after the village of Eriboll on its eastern shore.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here