Orcasome Sightings this Week!

After the Whale Watch Explorer on Tuesday had excellent sightings of a Minke Whale, Common Dolphins, Basking Sharks, Harbour Porpoise and a Sunfish all within one square mile of ocean, it was going to be difficult to top that on Wednesday!

We left the Tobermory drizzle behind and headed out towards the sunny skies above Coll. It wasn't long before we spotted a Sunfish up at the surface and some large Basking Sharks nearby. After lunch we found a juvenile Minke Whale feeding and a large group of ~12 porpoises rounding up fish.

As we continued to search for another Minke Whale, a very large dorsal fin was spotted in the distance. There was no mistaking what it was - a large male Orca. With a lot of excitement from the Crew and Passengers on board Sula Beag we followed the male and his female companion out to the open ocean towards the Outer Hebrides. As we got closer we realised the male was well-known to us, believed to be one of the dominant males in the Hebridean pod. He was first identified in September 1992 and given the identification name 'John Coe'.

John Coe was spotted off the Pembrokeshire Coast on the 1st June, the furthest south he has ever been recorded. Who knows what he has been up to in the intervening 12 weeks! We all felt very privileged to be in the presence of the Orca and you couldn't ask for a better leaving present for our guide Laura on her last day. Magic!

Sarah, SLS Guide