An Orkney wildlife photographer shared his “incredible” encounter with an orca pod – with a large bull “showing off” for the crowd on the pier.
Graham Campbell has been photographing the pod, known as the 27s, off the shore of Orkney for years.
The lifeboat volunteer and harbour master at Kirkwall spotted the pod near Holm Pier on Tuesday.
Mr Campbell said this was the first time he has ever been so close to an orca, with a large bull coming over to investigate before calling on his pod.
The calls from the male can be heard clearly on a video Mr Campbell shared online on his encounter.
Orca pod sighting was a ‘special moment’
After spotting orcas in the distance on Monday, the keen photographer spent about an hour looking for them.
But, he “got lucky” on his day off and witnessed the male orca “showing off” next to the pier.
He said: “The big bull in the video came in towards us at Holm Pier and he came right in about and swam back and forth three or four times just right below.
“I could hear him calling on the group, there was a group of seven further out and he was calling on them, you could hear him squeaking and blowing right below us.
“It was an incredible encounter.”
The 58-year-old says he has photographed the pod before but this was the first time he has heard them calling out.
He also witnessed the bull scaring seals off a nearby skerry and calling on the others to know the hunt was on.
“I got lucky,” he said. “We get quite a few sightings of them but that was one of the better ones, one of the special moments being so close.
“I think that’s the closest I’ve ever been, and he was showing off for us.”
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