An amateur photographer has managed to capture the moment a seagull snatched an octopus out of the sea.
Ken O’Keefe, 62, snapped the rare sight as he stood on the shore looking for dolphins.
The seagull dived into the sea around 100 yards from shore and caught the helpless octopus on its third attempt, on December 2.
It then dropped the mollusc on the beach at Kinghorn, Fife, and flew away – but a passing woman lobbed the octopus back into the sea.
Dad-of-two Ken, from Glenrothes, Fife, was out with his camera for two hours hoping to see dolphins.
Ken said: “My attention got caught by the seagull.
“It tried to pull the octopus out to start, then circled around and managed to catch it on its third dive.
“The seagull flew about then dropped it on the beach, but didn’t go back for it.
“That was the only thing that happened that day, but it made up for the time spent.”
Ken, a retired police officer, has been photographing wildlife in the area for two years but said he has never seen anything like it.
He said: “I’ve been regularly photographing the Fife coastline for the past two years – it’s been a main hobby.
“I’ve shot dolphins from Kinghorn, which are quite regular, but I’ve never seen something like that.
“People I spoke to haven’t seen it either. Maybe fish or things – but never an octopus.
“Apparently an octopus can survive for around 30 minutes out of the water.
“This one was unceremoniously hurled back into the sea by a woman using a stick around the 30 minute mark and the tide didn’t wash it up again so just maybe it survived.”
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