A pod of orcas swim just off the coast of East Orkney this week
Credit: Graham Campbell
The average Briton’s closest encounter with an orca might once have been through the film Free Willy.
But the majestic killer whale is increasingly being spotted in the UK, with a major citizen science project identifying three new “pods” that are present near the north coast of Scotland year-round.
The orcas are thought to be living off the area’s healthy seal population, with a Scottish government study launched to examine their diets and movement patterns.
PhD student Julia Sutherland, of the University of St Andrews, began her work last September and will spend four years examining the orcas’ habits.
The orcas were spotted swimming off the west coast of Cornwall on Wednesday
They belong to the only UK group of killer whales usually found in the Hebrides
This is the first time in a decade killer whales have been spotted so far south
The West Coast Community can be distinguished from other groups of killer whales by their unusual sloping eye patch and larger size, experts explaned