'No sign' of refloated minke whale off Fife coast

Volunteers who refloated a whale stranded on a Fife beach say they are hopeful it has now made its way back to deeper water.

The 20ft (6.1m) minke was spotted on a beach west of Elie at about 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 was made later in the evening.

The BDMLR believe the whale has now swum away and out of danger.

A spokeswoman for the organisation said: "One of the rescue team from last night has been out and walked the coastline where the whale was refloated from last night and there is no sign of it.

"Hopefully it managed to get out into deeper water and we won't see it again."

The whale is thought to have been in good condition and uninjured. A BDMLR team used pontoons to refloat it.