IT’S been some years since the minke whale washed up on a Shetland beach. The distressed mammal had been caught up in plastic at sea and came ashore at Scalloway Harbour. Pete Bevington remembers that day well.

He’s at his home in the village of Hillswick with his dog, Sedna, a Great Dane named after an Inuit sea goddess, and after brewing tea, he continues with his story and explains the perils of ghost fishing.

“The whale died on the beach in a big pile of rubbish,” he says, grimly, adding that he has a photograph of the creature.