Work starts on whale's disposal

The sperm whale beached on Tuesday and died

Work to dispose of the carcass of a 40ft sperm whale has begun.

The body of the 40-tonne adult male was dragged out of the sea and cut into two pieces to prepare it for removal from Alturlie, near Inverness.

The deep diving whale was seen swimming in circles in the Inner Moray Firth, before it beached on Tuesday and died.

Highland Council said it hoped the animal would be placed on a transporter and taken away for disposal later on Thursday.

A spokeswoman said: "The whale has been pulled from its resting location on to the shore line and out of the tidal zone with the aid of webbing and mechanical machines.

"Specialist contractors are co-ordinating a disposal team, which will commence the disposal process this afternoon and hopefully this will completed by the end of today."