A HUMPBACK whale which washed up dead on an East Lothian beach last week had "been entangled in rope for several weeks if not months", marine experts have confirmed.

The 30ft-long whale was found at John Muir Country Park, near to Tyninghame, last Tuesday and was moved by Dunbar RNLI to Skateraw, near Torness Power Station, that evening for an autopsy to take place.

That was conducted by members of Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme the following day and they have now issued an update following the autopsy.

In a post on Facebook, the group said: "A really unfortunate case, this animal had definitely been entangled in rope for several weeks if not months, based on the scarring evident in the skin and underlying tissue.

"The rope had cut deep into the blubber layer, in particular around the pectoral fin where this had caused a severe chronic infection.

"The animal was in poor body condition, thin, with little free lipid in the blubber layer. It also had a very high parasite burden, most notably of spiny-headed worms, in the intestine.

"This all built a grim example of the impacts of marine entanglement in these larger baleen whales.

"Once the animal had become entangled, it would have had to spend much more energy dragging rope and any attached gear with it through the water.

"In this case, the rope was stretched tight over the back just behind the head, and this also probably stopped the animal from feeding normally.

"As a result, the whale lost condition and was therefore more susceptible to the effects of infection and parasitism, which debilitated it further.

"We found evidence in the lungs that it had eventually drowned, either through exhaustion, or because it became further entangled."