Killer whales hunting off Fair Isle

04/07/2011 16:32:52 Killer whales put on spectacular display to mark the opening of new bird observatory

June 2011. A pod of killer whales arrived close to the shores of the little island community of Fair Isle. This was a fitting display for Britain's remotest human outpost, which saw the official opening of a £4 million building to mark a new era for Fair Isle's world famous bird observatory on 2nd July.

The first person to spot the whales was Fair Isle Bird Observatory (FIBO) seabird staff member, Dr Will Miles.

Eight orca
"I was surveying a guillemot cliff, recording feeding rates, when in the corner of my eye the sea was cut by a black and white back. Had I imagined it? I stared at the spot, waiting... in a swirling vortex of fins and spray, the water suddenly erupted as eight killer whales hit the surface all at once," he explains.

"They were huge, powerful and feeding, and staying close in under my watch point - incredible views, mind-blowing, and I felt the adrenalin begin to kick. Struggling to clutch my phone, and nearly losing it down the cliff, I dialled the Bird Observatory to share the sighting."

Soon to join him was FIBO assistant warden, Jason Moss. He takes up the story: "As the shout of ‘Orca in Furse' rang through the Fair Isle Bird Observatory dining room, the split-second decision of whether to run to a vantage point or jump into a van was a big one and, on this occasion, I made the right choice! Reaching the tip of the Yessness Peninsula with Jane Reid and Becky Langdon, two of the orcas gave us the show of a lifetime, one after the other drifting slowly through the crystal clear water right under our feet. An utterly magical, unforgettable experience!"

After that, everybody ran out from their lunch to see the killer whales, which by this time had circled round the east cliffs and moved into the South Harbour.

Spectacular
FIBO warden, David Parnaby, describes the climax of the event: "The one thing guaranteed to empty the observatory is a ‘phone call to say that there are killer whales showing and today's sightings coincided nicely with the whole Obs sitting down to lunch - needless to say, the soup was abandoned as all the guests and staff went dashing out to try to catch a glimpse.

"We were amazed at the spectacle they put on, first of all off the north of the island, but then again in South Harbour where four of the killer whales surrounded a seal on a tiny piece of rock.

"To be close enough to the killer whales to be able to hear them breathing as they came to the surface was incredible and it was a real moment of high tension as they circled the seal. Although there was a lot of sympathy for the seal, everyone was amazed to see a wildlife spectacle like that so close up. It was very typical of Fair Isle that the whole event was witnessed by all the schoolchildren, most of the islanders and many guests; everyone wants to see something like that if they get the chance.

"We know how lucky we are to live somewhere as amazing as this for wildlife and we see some pretty special things every day, but there's no doubt that this sighting will really stick in the memory."

The killer whales were first spotted at the shores of Fair Isle around 1.30pm and remained in the vicinity for two hours before departing south towards Orkney.

Heading south at the same time, but unfortunately a few hours behind, aboard the Fair Isle ferryboat, the Good Shepherd, was Sea Watch research director, Dr Peter Evans. He arrived on the isle to be greeted by a mass of glowing, grinning faces full of joy at their afternoon experience.

"Killer whales have long been a regular feature of Shetland's coastal waters, particularly between May and October," said Dr Evans, "But close cliff-top observations of orcas going after harbour seals are nevertheless still a rare event. "Often they will hunt seals around twilight but of course summer in Shetland has very little twilight.

Northern community of Orca
"These killer whales belong to what has recently been termed by researchers the "northern" community, occurring around the Northern Isles of Scotland and north Scottish mainland. Individuals can be recognised by distinctively shaped or nicked fins and the shape of the saddle patch. We recognise some of the whales seen yesterday as individuals that have occurred at Fair Isle previously as well as around both Shetland and Orkney. The pod was seen between Orkney and the Caithness coast earlier this summer. Killer whales can range over hundreds of kilometres and being fast swimmers can cover a lot of ground in a short time."

Killer whales are widely distributed around the Atlantic seaboard of northern Europe. In the UK, they are commonly sighted in northern and western Scotland. Killer whales are thought to congregate along the continental shelf in this region in the winter months and to start coming further inshore from May onwards, possibly following prey species - seals in the case of the Shetlands and Fair Isle.

This year, the first killer whale sightings were reported early with the first record in the Shetlands dating back to 5 March and 25 March in Fair Isle. In April, killer whales started to become a regular occurrence on northern Scottish coasts as well being sighted in Shetland and Fair Isle. May and June have seen a fairly even distribution of sightings all around Northern Scotland.

There were 12 separate reports of killer whales in May with of a total of 35 animals; eight sightings and 23 animals in June. With peak numbers generally occurring in June, sightings should start to decrease as we move on through July.