Orca Sighting Off Cornwall
Wildlife explorer Steve Backshall has described observing two of the United Kingdom's last surviving orcas off the coast of Cornwall as one of his "greatest British wildlife moments."
Male killer whales John Coe and Aquarius represent the last remaining members of the West Coast Community pod.
The two bulls were spotted near Lizard Point on Wednesday and were filmed by Backshall, who resides near Penzance.
Captain Keith Leeves encountered the orca brothers approximately six miles out in Falmouth Bay while captaining a wildlife cruise. Referring to them as "the last of their kind," he said the experience moved him to tears.
History of the Pod
During the 1990s, the pod consisted of 10 orcas and they were commonly seen around the UK and Ireland.
Since 2016, when a female orca known as Lulu was found deceased in the Inner Hebrides, only John Coe and Aquarius have been observed.
The brothers were last sighted off Cornwall's west coast in May 2021.
Backshall's Experience
Backshall reported spending half an hour observing the orcas from his boat on Wednesday.
"These two utterly majestic bull male orca were cruising around, super calm," he explained.
"There were a couple of moments when they appeared to be jumping and diving, we thought they could have been feeding on something relatively close to the surface.
It was just the most overwhelming, emotional, beautiful experience and even more so because they are such well-known characters."
He estimated the orcas to be "probably in excess of 60 years of age" and noted they belong to a pod "which has been stalking our shores for a long time."
Backshall also mentioned Lulu's death, stating she was found entangled in fishing gear with high levels of contaminants in her tissues.
"It is incredibly sad and also adds to the uniqueness, that poignant sense that we're witnessing these two individuals cruising through the Cornish seas," he added.
"That's not a sight we're going to see forever."
Additional Expert Insights
Wildlife experts confirmed the first-ever sighting of orcas from Iberia in Cornish waters in July.
Rebecca Allen of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust stated it was the first time members of the pod, which inhabit the Straits of Gibraltar during winter, had been recorded off Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Sarah Matthews from Dolphin Zone, which identified the mammals, said the pair are believed to be "the last of their very, very tiny family."
Captain Leeves' Reflection
Reflecting on his encounter with the orca brothers, Leeves said:
"What an iconic moment. How privileged and honoured we were to be able to interact with these two iconic killer whales here in our Cornish waters."
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