Killer whales spotted swimming off coast of Cornwall
A pair of killer whales have been seen swimming in British waters.
The ‘magnificent’ orcas were spotted off the west coast of Cornwall near the Minack Theatre in Penzance on Wednesday.
Conservationists say the whales, named John Coe and Aquarius, are in a pod of eight orcas and are the UK’s only resident killer whales. They believe it is the first time they have been seen this far south.
They were identified by members of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust by the shape and notches of their dorsal fins and patches of colouration near their eyes and on their backs.
The trust’s marine conservation officer Abby Crosby said: ‘Photographs validated the record and identified these rare and beautiful individuals.
‘This is the first official orca record in our databases with associated photos in over a decade, and further proof of the value of our coastal seas in supporting these magnificent creatures.’
Aquarius and John Coe form part of the West Coast Community, a specialised pod of eight individual orcas that can be distinguished from other groups by their unusual sloping eye patch and larger size.
They are regularly monitored but some have not been spotted in recent years and there have been no calves observed since monitoring began in the 1990s.
According to the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, the pod faces the risk of extinction as a direct result of human activities.
This includes exposure to high levels of now-banned PCB chemicals which have caused poor health and infertility within the pod.
Ms Crosby 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.’
Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family.
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