The carcass of a young whale which became stranded on a Fife beach will be examined in an effort to find out how it got into difficulty.
Medics put the juvenile minke to sleep on Sunday after it beached on Pettycur Bay.
The 12ft female calf became trapped as the water began to recede at high tide.
It had already been on the sand for several hours when rescuers made the decision to put it down.
Separation from its mother meant its chances of survival were deemed low and it was feared that if refloated it would starve and become stranded again in a few days.
Volunteers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue rushed into action when a member of the public reported the whale at around 7.30am.
Shortly after noon they announced the tragic end to the drama.
It was then Fife Coast and Countryside Trust’s responsibility to deal with carcass, which will be analysed by the Scottish Marine Animals Stranding Schemes to establish why the young mammal beached.
Robbie Blyth, head of operations at the trust, said: “A young minke whale was washed up between Pettycur Bay and Burntisland over the weekend.
“Sadly the whale had to be put to sleep and Fife Coast and Countryside Trust will be removing it today [Monday] for standard testing to try to establish what happened.”
