Tears of joy for orca fan after close encounter with the 27s – on his 27th birthday
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A lifelong wildlife fan was given the ultimate birthday treat when he had a close encounter with killer whales off the north coast of Caithness.
James Copeland was overcome with emotion after coming face to face with the orca pod known as the 27s – on the day he turned 27.
It was the first time he had seen killer whales in the wild, fulfilling an ambition he had held since childhood when he received an orca toy.
Admitting he had been left speechless as a large male killer whale surfaced within a few metres of him near Thurso, James said: "My jaw just dropped. I was in tears."
The factory worker from Gillingham, Kent, travelled to Caithness last week for his first Orca Watch. The event, organised annually by Sea Watch Foundation, was held online this year with a small group of volunteers collecting data locally.
James went on every ferry trip from John O'Groats but when the killer whale sightings came they were from the shore at Reay, Holborn Head and St John's Point on Friday evening and into Saturday morning.
He was given guidance by Moray-based Steve Truluck, one of the Orca Watch local correspondents for Caithness, and local sea watcher and wildlife photographer Karen Munro.
“I’ve grown up loving orcas," James explained. "The first toy I got when I was a kid was an orca, so almost from day one I’ve just been obsessed with orcas.
“Growing up, I sort of gave up on the dream of seeing an orca because I didn’t want to see any in captivity – I don’t agree with that at all.
“So I sort of gave up on seeing orcas in the wild and just concentrated on big cats. Then, when I was about 13, I started hearing reports that there were orcas up in Scotland and I was like ‘no, that can’t be right’. I didn’t believe it.”
A TV nature programme showing orcas in Shetland convinced him otherwise – but he still felt it was unlikely he would ever see them for himself.
The farthest north he had been in Scotland before was the Cairngorms.
“I spent the whole week around Steve and all the others that know what Orca Watch is about and I’ve made some great friends at Orca Watch," James said.
“I remember on Thursday night we were saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if the 27s pod turned up on my 27th birthday?’ We were just joking around.
“On Friday we were watching minke whales off of the Pentland Venture ferry. I saw a minke whale breach – it came right out of the water – but I didn’t even have time to pull my camera round."
An orca alert came through while James was on a trip back from Orkney.
“I thought, 'I’m not going to see orcas – never.’ I got really deflated. I think a few others were feeling like that as well.
"And Steve got a call from Karen Munro – a great person. I owe this to her and to Steve.
“There had been an orca sighting and Karen was keeping tabs on them.
“We were coming back and I just wanted the boat to hurry up. My heart was jumping out of my stomach, I was getting so excited.”
They took up position at Reay, as the 27s had been tracked heading eastward along the north coast.
“To start off with I was playing around with the camera settings but then Steve said, ‘Put your camera down, you don’t want to miss it. After you’ve seen them, then pick up your camera.’
“So I put my camera down and a big male orca came round the corner – you could see its fin breaking the surface.
“I always said to my dad that if I ever saw an orca in the wild I wanted it to be a big male, just because of the size of them.
“Their dorsal fin is the same height as me – I’m 5ft 11in or 6ft, and the dorsal fin of a fully grown mature orca is about 5ft 11in to 6ft.
“It was just amazing to see that animal. I was speechless. I was like ‘wow’.
“By this point we knew they were the 27s, and we were just cheering. Most people by then knew it was my birthday.
“The 27s are like the Hollywood pod – they’re the pod that everyone wants to see because they throw seals in the air and play with porpoises and throw them in the air.”
A further sighting came at Holborn Head.
“We saw this male orca, number 72, coming round the corner," James said. "They had spread out because when orcas are hunting, if the pod has two males, you normally have the males on the flanks.
“So number 72 was coming straight towards us and we got down on a rock and this big male orca came within metres of my feet.
“I just looked at Steve and I couldn’t say anything, because I was shocked. My jaw just dropped. I was in tears.
“I like doing wildlife photography and normally I do a lot of stuff with badgers and foxes, because that’s what is more local to me, but they have never made me cry. Orcas are the only animals that have made me full-on cry, just with emotion. I can’t stop talking about it.
“You wouldn’t even be able to write that in a movie. Nothing tops it. It was just amazing.
“Five of us spent the whole night following orcas.”
They caught up with the pod again at St John’s Point around daybreak.
James said: “We were just watching over as the sun was coming up and we had orcas coming towards us, and then they started hunting fairly close to us.”
Steve said: “James told me on the Thursday that it was his 27th birthday the next day. So I jokingly said, ‘Tell you what, let’s see if we can get killer whales for you tomorrow, and hopefully it’ll be the 27s pod.’ And would you believe the 27s turned up on his birthday.
“Every time I come to Orca Watch there is always a really amazing story. James was crying when he left here, he had such a good time.
"James was just over the moon. He was absolutely desperate to see killer whales.
“For me, it’s about showing people the killer whales and seeing their reaction. When you see a 27-year-old man crying, it’s job done as far as I’m concerned.”
Related story:
Steve Truluck's Facebook page is SteveTruluckAtSea
