Rescuers have freed a humpback whale that was caught up in a rope at a fish farm off the Isle of Skye.
The mammal was spotted by a member of the public being in difficulty at the Invertote salmon farm on Thursday morning.
British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) sent members from across the UK after the alarm was raised and said it has now been freed with the help of the local community and emergency services.
The exhausted whale will continue to be monitored.
Organic Sea Harvest (OSH), which runs Invertote, posted on social media: “We’re delighted to confirm that the humpback whale entangled at our salmon farm has been freed.
“Our farm staff, supported by expert divers from BDMLR, have worked tirelessly since discovering the whale just after 7am yesterday.
“This is the outcome we had all hoped for and worked towards.”
OSH said the whale appeared to have been previously entangled and was “carrying old ropes of a type not used by OSH”.
OSH added: “It was this existing entangled rope which caught on to 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.”
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OSH previously said marine mammals, including dolphins and whales, are a “common sight” near salmon farms, but that it is “extremely rare” for them to come into contact with them.
In November, BDMLR’s large whale disentanglement team successfully freed a humpback whale that had become entangled in creel ropes in Loch Fyne.
Humpback whales are found in oceans around the world.
They can grow to around 18 metres in length and weigh up to 40 tonnes.
