‘Exploratory and curious animals’: mysterious rise in orca sightings off Northumberland coast | Marine life

The Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland, have long attracted admirers of the natural world keen to spot resident guillemots and puffins.

But as recently as last week, a much larger black-and-white animal began delighting wildlife watchers. Orcas are showing up more regularly than ever before.

In the past, fishermen working in these waters may have seen orcas far out to sea; but this year and last year there have been sightings more regularly and much closer to shore, with dolphins also becoming much more common.

Marine mammal experts said it was very difficult to say why orca and dolphin sightings had increased significantly off the Northumberland coast, but it could be a welcome sign that the marine ecosystem was becoming healthier.

Andrew Douglas, owner of Serenity Boat Tours, said when he first saw the orcas last year, “he was like a little kid… he was crazy excited.”

“And I look at everyone around me,” he said, “and the smiles are shining and you just think to yourself, that’s what it’s all about.

“The big dorsal fins of the males are absolutely huge, they make you smile, it’s really cool.”

Since then, he and members of his team have spotted pods of orcas several times; He had only seen orcas once before, when he was 20 years old.

Now people who take their tours often ask the same question: “When will we see the orcas?” But, he said, “these things are unpredictable, so you never know.”

While he says the Farne Islands are an attraction in their own right, he has seen it “get a lot busier” since his orca sightings. “Having Orca doesn’t increase things by half,” he said.

While he’s not exactly sure why orcas are being spotted more often, he thinks the government’s ban on sandeel hunting may have helped.

“This is the best thing the government has ever done,” he said. “They banned it about two years ago and it immediately made a big difference.

“You can’t nip it from the bottom of the food chain, not just from orcas but from dolphins and other things, you need the bottom of the food chain for the rest of the things to work, and that’s made a big difference for the birds as well, so I think that’s one of the big things.”

Sandeel are “tiny, tiny fish” that feed those at the bottom of the food chain, he said, and when you take that out, animals higher up the chain are struggling to survive.

“Business is just starting to come back,” he said. “So now you’re starting to see a lot more mackerel, a lot more herring, so I think these orcas are attracted to all those foods.”

Crewman Aaron Fordy, who was born and raised at the Seahouses where the boats operate, has seen the orcas four times so far and can remember specific dates off the top of his head.

“You’re used to dolphins and porpoises and things that are much smaller,” he said, “and then you get an orca with huge, big dorsal fins, they stick out like a sore thumb, just black and white in a sea of ​​blue, really amazing.”

He said he and his crewmate “were both very happy” on the first voyage.

“We’re just jumping around, we’re really excited to see them because of course it’s a first experience for us as well,” he said.

They sent videos of the whales to researchers at the Shetlands, and instead of the same pod returning, several different pods were seen.

Honorary research fellow of the Scottish Marine Science Association, Dr. Conor Ryan said there was “no really clear picture” to explain the increase and it could be due to a number of factors such as better publicized sightings, orcas moving towards the coast or increasing populations.

But he warned that orcas were struggling to breed in polluted British waters and the Shetland population was on the verge of extinction.

He also said the ban on eel fishing was “a very logical place to look for an explanation.”

“By eliminating the bottom part of the food chain, we reduce the biomass of the entire system, so there is less energy, less calories available to everyone in the ecosystem, and the ones that are really hurt by that are usually the top predators,” he said.

Studying whales is “a good litmus test of how the ecosystem is doing,” he added.

“And in general,” he said, “if you’re getting large predators returning to an area, that’s a good sign of a healthy ecosystem.”

Researcher Julia Sutherland, of the University of St Andrews, said orcas were “extremely mobile animals” and “this may be a combination of increased presence, but also a slight increase in reporting thanks to social media”.

However, he added: “What we know about killer whales in the UK is that we have a huge lack of knowledge compared to other parts of the world. “It is quite difficult to draw truly concrete conclusions at this stage.”

Also from the University of St Andrews, Dr. Luke Rendell said “the orca population around the UK is actually one of the most polluted in the world and therefore they don’t have great breeding potential”, but added “they are investigative and curious animals”.

“Some may simply be exploring and expanding their knowledge, while others may be a reduction in food sources they’ve previously been at and a need to explore more.”