Tonnes of marine pollution cleared from the Summer Isles

Kayakers clean beaches around the Summer Isles earlier this year.

Tonnes of rubbish and marine pollution have been cleared from a number of islands in the north west Highlands.

Plastic, ropes, fishing nets and pieces of metal were gathered in a beach-clean in the Summer Isles, led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Up to eight tonnes of waste are being transported from the islands to the mainland on a boat formerly used as a ferry on a crossing of the Cromarty Firth.

The Summer Isles, a small archipalego of islands to the west of Ullapool in Wester Ross, frequently fall victim to large amounts of marine pollution.

Earlier this year, a group of kayakers helped to clear tonnes of pollution from the seas around the island.

Marine pollution poses threats to both marine wildlife and animals that forage along shorelines, including birds, seals and deer.

In 2017, a seal pup was saved after getting tangled up in a length of plastic net in the Western Isles.

A red deer endured a horrific death on the Isle of Rum after getting trapped in a piece of fishing gear while foraging on a sea shore.

The five-week-old grey seal pup was found on a beach near North Tolsta on Lewis.

David Yardley, local area coordinator of British Divers Marine Life Rescue, and helper Lyndsey Dubberley managed to free the animal.

In the same year, deer on the Isle of Rum were found entangled in lost or abandoned fishing gear.

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Tonnes of marine pollution cleared from the Summer Isles