A killer whale enthusiast has shared some tips on the best places to spot the mammals as a pod seen near Fraserburgh moves on.
The pod was spotted near Kinnaird Head, Fraserburgh on Saturday May 7 and left a week later – drawing in a crowd of excited spectators.
Known via the matriarch’s identification number, which is 169, the group is known as the “169s”.
The pod contained six mammals including two mothers and their babies which were later joined by another two males before they left on Sunday.
Many pods travel between Iceland and Scotland throughout the year, coming into Scottish waters for food from April until July.
Enthusiast Steve Truluck travelled to Fraserburgh after trying to follow a pod from John O’Groats hoping to catch a few photos.
Although he missed the group, he was delighted when the 169s turned up. He said: “To my amazement, this pod turned up literally first thing in the morning the next day May 6.
“Obviously I put the word out and it’s gone mad at Fraserburgh, there’s so many people who have been going out.”
‘Definitely something going on in Fraserburgh’
An author of the Scottish Killer Whale Catalogue, Mr Truluck said he had noticed a pattern over the years in Fraserburgh.
“So what we do is follow these orcas wherever we think they are and try and get photos of them.
“You can look at the photos, you can look at the shape of the dorsal fin, the marks on the dorsal fin and the marks on the saddle patch behind the dorsal fin and also the eye patch that are all unique to the animal.
“Obviously this is an ever changing thing so the whales they scratch each other more and more as they get older, they get more and more dense in their fin and all the rest of it and so from that we need to keep updating the catalogue and keep getting photos.
“And part of that is obviously over the years you see a pattern emerging of what these animals do – they’re creatures of habit.
“So for two years I’ve been saying, I don’t know what it is but there’s definitely something going on in Fraserburgh, normally in the first two weeks of May.”
The pod of orcas was spotted nearly every day for a week which Mr Truluck said was “unheard of”.
The 47-year-old added: “Fraserburgh is definitely a key area in Scotland for these killer whales.”
Some of the best places to spot whales
Mr Truluck said it was never easy but here are a few key spots in Scotland to try and see some orcas:
- From April to July Duncansby Head near John O’Groats
- First two weeks of May – Kinnaird Lighthouse in Fraserburgh
- Between April and June – Orkney, Pentland Firth and Caithness Coast.
- July – Shetland
- Greyhope Bay in Aberdeen is also a good place during orca watching months.
Fraserburgh possible meeting place for orcas
The pod is now on the move and was joined by two Icelandic male killer whales before they left.
While there is a lot that is not known about the mammals, Mr Truluck said Fraserburgh could be a meeting space for the orcas after spotting three pods in the area last week.
He said: “There’s other animals that are often seen with this group we know have been seen in Iceland and these guys always seem to hang out with others that are from Iceland.
“Again there’s loads that we don’t know, I was amazed that they hung around for a week so we’re always learning.”
Mr Truluck said it is thought the pod are migrating between Scotland and west of Iceland.
