Highland Council has belatedly agreed to dispose of a rotting whale carcass on the northside of Wick Bay.
A specialist contractor is due to come north on Sunday to remove the putrid minke whale was washed ashore on March 12.
Community representatives said its pleas to have the decaying mammal removed were ignored by the council.
Nearby householders, locals and visitors using the popular Wick North Head footpath have had to put up with the smell of the carcass for weeks.
Environmental hazard
Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council member Alastair Ferrier has been spearheading efforts to have it removed.
He said: “I’m grateful that the council has finally agreed to do something but it should have acted a few months ago.”
Mr Ferrier, who lives 100yards from the carcass, said: “It represents an environmental hazard.
“The odour coming off it has been quite horrendous.
“The other day, I went for a walk with my dog past it and the smell meant I had to turn back – it was making me retch.”
He continued: “The stink from it has meant local residents cannot sit outside in their gardens.”
The ongoing decay and the warmer months have been increasing the nuisance it is causing.
Mr Ferrier said the community council’s request at the end of March was knocked back, with the local authority citing the cost, risks to employees and its location among the reasons it would not act.
Mr Ferrier said he had asked what the cost would be, and pointed out that the footpath is on the John O’Groats Trail.
He added: “They were concerned about the risks to council staff – we wondered what were the risks to children, walkers or others who could come into contact with it.
“We didn’t really get these questions answered and things just dragged on.”
Mr Ferrier said local Highland councillor Raymond Bremner had been “very helpful” in forcing a u-turn.
Ian and Marilyn Duffy whose house at South View said they will be “mightily relieved” to see the back of it.
He said: “It’s not so bad for me but Marilyn works from home and she can’t get away from the smell.
“It’s been so bad that we can’t even open our windows and it’s been gradually getting worse with the warmer days.
“We can’t wait until we finally see the back of it.”
Path restricted
He received an email earlier this week confirming that the local authority has hired a specialist contractor to remove the carcass this weekend.
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “Following the initial grounding of the carcass, it unfortunately moved further inshore more recently and the council proceeded to arrange the removal actions by contractors.”
The carcass is being removed and disposed off by a licenced company which specialises in the removal of carcasses.
Public access will be temporarily restricted on part of the Wick North Head path on Sunday from seven on Sunday morning while the work is carried out.
An alternative route is available through Murray Avenue and Broadhaven Road.
Conversation