Papa Westray: Entanglement thought to be the cause of death for washed up killer whale in Orkney

A killer whale found on Papa Westray is thought to have died after being entangled, became unable to reach the surface and so drowned.

The Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme posted an update on their social media page with details of the necropsy that was performed at the site.

The wrote that the antemortem rope marks around the tailstock strongly suggested entanglement as a cause of death.

They added: “The carcase was already quite autolysed but had been a reasonably healthy animal in good body condition which had been recently feeding.

Papa Westray: Entanglement thought to be the cause of death for washed up killer whale in Orkney

"There was no marine debris or fish remains in the stomach but quite a lot of seal, based on the chunks of fur and blubber remains from at least three different individuals.

"No rope was found on the animal, so it’s not possible to say if this animal became entangled in active fishing gear or discarded/lost material, but based upon the lesion pattern it is likely the animal became entangled prior to death, was unable to reach the surface and drowned.”

The group also warned that although entanglements were not deliberate, and some fishers were proactively engaging with work aimed at mitigating the impact of fishing on the marine ecosystem, this was not enough.

They wrote: “More needs to be done however- strategies to have less rope in the water and better management of gear conflict are urgently needed.

"This group of killer whales could be particularly at risk given they are frequently sighted in areas with high mobile and static fishing effort.”

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