Memorable wildlife spectacle as orcas make their way along north coast of Caithness and Sutherland
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A pod of orcas created a memorable wildlife spectacle as they made their way along the north coast of Caithness and Sutherland this week.
Delighted onlookers turned out at Thurso Bay and other vantage points on Wednesday as the pod known as the 27s travelled from east to west, coming close to the shore in some locations.
Early on Thursday the killer whales were spotted off the north Sutherland coast.
Sea watcher and wildlife photographer Karen Munro, who lives at Scrabster, followed the orcas' progress and said she was fairly confident that there were seven in the pod.
"The last 10 days have seen a number of different orca sightings around the Caithness and north Sutherland coast," Karen said.
"On April 20 the Icelandic pod known as the 19s were photographed passing Dunnet Head, while on the previous day the crew of the Pentland Venture were treated to a wonderful sighting of a different pod, including a young calf.
"Then on Wednesday we had this year's first confirmed sighting of the 27s pod. The orca watchers of the north of Scotland are very familiar with this pod as they have a tendency to stay close inshore at times, allowing people some wonderful close-up encounters – and this was no exception.
"Gary Youngson was the first to spot them when they were close in to rocks at Scarfskerry, making westwards, mid-afternoon.
"From here the pod, including two large bulls, continued to follow the coast along to Brough, Dunnet Head, Dwarwick and Castletown before giving some wonderful close-up views at West Murkle where they made at least one seal kill, if not two.
"Then, much to the delight of many, they continued on their journey around to Thurso, Scrabster and Brims Ness, making as far as Forss by dusk. They were spotted in Talmine Bay on Thursday morning at 6.30am by sea watcher Nadine Aikman."
Photographer Mel Roger was among those who captured images of the orcas in Thurso Bay.
Pods are named after their matriarch's individual ID number in the Scottish Killer Whale Photo Identification Catalogue, which, along with recent sightings, can be found on the Caithness and Moray Firth Cetacean Sightings Facebook page.
Karen points out that April, May and June are usually the best months to see orcas around the Caithness coastline. Sea Watch Foundation's annual Orca Watch runs from May 28 until June 5.
The aim is to collect as much data as possible on whales, dolphins and porpoises in the waters around Caithness, north Sutherland, Orkney and Shetland, with people encouraged to join in land watches, boat trips and talks.
The base for the event is John O’Groats, although watches take place around the Orca Watch area, both from land and from the John O’Groats ferry.
After being cancelled in 2020 because of Covid, Orca Watch went ahead in a limited way last year with a small group gathering data which was shared in a series of online presentations. Organisers say they hope that Orca Watch 2022 will be "back to how it was pre-Covid".
Related stories:
- WATCH: John O'Groats ferry crew joined by orcas in Pentland Firth: 'I think they were as happy to see us as we were to see them!'
- Tears of joy for orca fan after close encounter with the 27s – on his 27th birthday
