The UK's only resident orcas, which were spotted in Cornwall earlier this month, have been tracked making an epic journey that saw them travel over 100kms a day to reach the west coast of Scotland.
The journey has prompted one marine expert to state that this is an extraordinary example of why you can't keep killer whales in captivity.
The two orcas, John Coe and Aquarius, were spotted off the Cornish coast by Nature photographer Will McEnery-Cartwright near the Minack Theatre at Porthcurno on the south coast of Cornwall at the start of this month.
Will’s sighting on May 6 was confirmed by experts as John Coe and Aquarius, with it believed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s marine team to be the first record of the UK’s only resident population of orcas travelling that far south in the UK in over a decade.
At the time, Abby Crosby, marine conservation officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said the photos were further proof of the value of our coastal seas in "supporting these magnificent creatures”.
The pair have now been spotted 895km away from where they were sighted at Minack at Dunvegan Head off the coast of the Isle of Skye.
The most recent sighting by Scotland-based skipper and conservationist, Steve Truluck, on May 14th, prompting the expert whale watching guide to Tweet: "Over 100kms/day. That's why you can't put Orcas in captivity!”
John Coe and Aquarius are identified by the shape and notches of their dorsal fins and patches of colouration near their eyes and on their backs.
These distinctive features make it easy for them to be recognised and can be used to track these individuals around the UK’s coastline.
The two orcas form part of the West Coast Community, a specialised pod of eight individuals that can be distinguished from other groups of killer whales by their unusual sloping eye patch and larger size.
Although they are regularly monitored, some individuals have not been seen in recent years and there have been no calves observed since monitoring began in the 1990s. According to the Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust’s website, the pod faces the risk of extinction as a direct result of human impact. This includes exposure to high levels of now-banned PCB chemicals which have caused poor health and infertility within the pod.
Abby added: “This pod, and the issues it faces with infertility and future extinction, should be a huge wake up call to the public that we must protect these creatures better in our waters."
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