Stranded minke whale refloated by rescuers off Fife coast Published duration 21 April 2017

image copyright PA

Wildlife experts have refloated a 20ft (6.1m) whale that was found stranded on a beach in Fife.

The minke was spotted on a beach west of Elie by a passer-by just before 16:00 on Friday.

A team from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) led the operation to refloat the mammal at high tide.

An initial attempt failed when the whale re-beached itself, but a second attempt appeared successful.

A BDMLR spokeswoman said: "The whale's body condition was fair and it was not injured so we decided to refloat it on the high tide.

"We had pontoons in place but when we refloated it, it swam in a circle and re-beached itself.

"They found it and got it onto the pontoon again. It was still fairly strong and in a state to swim off the pontoon.

"We think it might just have got disorientated with the tide, so this time the RNLI followed it out to sea.

"We've had volunteers walking up and down the beach, and so far there's no sign of it so hopefully it will be OK."

image copyright BDMLR