The remains of a porpoise were found washed up on an Angus beach.
The mammal was reported to the Scottish Marine Stranding Scheme, which issued an appeal for people to confirm the species and condition.
It was suggested it was a harbour porpoise lying on the beach just north of the Seafront Splash alongside Montrose Golf Links.
A harbour porpoise is one of the smallest marine mammals, and it stays close to coastal areas or estuaries.
British Divers Marine Life Rescue attended in the afternoon but were unable to find the animal.
It is thought it may have been washed back out to sea with the tide.
One resident said: “I went to look and walked for miles.
“I couldn’t find it and presumed it was taken out to sea on the tide.
“I spoke to local dog walkers and they said it had been coming in on tide for the last week or so then it was washed out again.”
The harbour porpoise is the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers.
They are frequently seen in shallow bays, estuaries and tidal channels, rarely at depths greater than 200m.
There are seasonal concentrations of harbour porpoises off south-west and western Ireland, west Wales, the west coast of Scotland, Northern Isles and eastern Scotland.
A spokesman for the Sea Watch Foundation said: “Despite the fact that the harbour porpoise is probably the most common small cetacean in UK waters, it is thought to have undergone substantial decline in numbers over the last 50 years, with the species becoming rare in the southernmost North Sea and Channel.
“Although reasons for this status change are not known for certain pollution, disturbance, lack of food and entanglement in fishing nets have all been implicated.
“The species is exposed to a variety of human activities.
“It was formerly hunted in drive fisheries in the Baltic and off the coasts of Holland and the Faroe Islands.
“The major current threat appears to be fisheries conflicts.
“Incidental catches occur in a variety of fishing gear, including bottom set gill nets for hake, cod, turbot and sole, fixed nets or traps for cod or salmon, herring weirs, trawls, drift nets, and purse seines for cod, herring or plaice.”