A sperm whale recently freed from entanglement by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) has tragically died just a few days later.
The whale had first been spotted on Thursday 27 February in the Sound of Raasay, a small channel between the eastern coast of the Isle of Skye and the smaller island of Raasay, located off the northwest coast of mainland Scotland.
A team from BDMLR’s Large Whale Disentanglement Team (LWDT) arrived later the same day to assess the whale’s condition, however, poor weather prevented the team from approaching the animal until the next day, when they found the whale was entangled with multiple ropes, some of which were trailing 10-20m behind the animal as it swam.
On Saturday 1 March, the weather and sea conditions eased sufficiently that the LWDT were able to cut five wraps of the ropes and one of the trailing lines. Despite two wraps of the rope remaining, the whale became noticeably more active and the team report they were hopeful that with its improved mobility, the remaining rope would eventually fall off.
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Sadly, on Monday 3 March, BDMLR received a report of a sperm whale that had grounded close to shore off Raasay Island – believed to be the same animal that the LWDT had partially disentangled.
With the whale now stranded at low tide, it became evident that the ropes had wrapped around the animal’s jaw and head, although it was still at this point breathing.
A member of the public cut the remaining ropes but by the time BDMLR’s medics could arrive on the scene, the whale had stopped breathing, and did not recover.
Early speculation into the whale’s cause of death suggest that the rope was so tightly wrapped around the whale’s head that it had become malnourished and weakened by its inability to feed.
Once weather conditions permit, the Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme (SMASS) and Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) will take samples and conduct post-mortem studies to determine the cause of death.
The British Divers Marine Life Rescue is a charity staffed entirely by volunteers. To make a donation to support their work head to the charity’s Just Giving page; or visit the BDMLR website to learn about becoming a Marine Mammal Medic (no experience required)
