Scotland

Although studying killer whales around Scotland is very challenging, it is also proving to be highly rewarding with an interesting picture of overlapping distinct communities beginning to form.

During the summer months killer whales are occassionally seen in inshore waters around Shetland, Orkney and Caithness. To date we have identified 38 individuals, which we believe to be a large proportion of this community based on the high number of re-sightings between years. Individuals from this community have been re-identified off Southeast Iceland, the Faeroes, St Kilda and North Rona. The ID shots of selected distinctive individuals from this community can be seen below. For the latest killer whale sightings around Shetland check the Nature in Shetland website. 

This community of killer whales can be seen hunting harbour seals and one of the aims of our research is to investigate the impact of killer whale predation upon Scotland’s declining harbour seal population. They have also been seen preying upon eider ducks, grey seals and river otters.

In October large number of killer whales are seen in the North Sea often feeding around pelagic trawlers on mackerel. We have been working from the Shetland based fishing vessel the Adenia to study this population. The large groups that we see of up to 200 individuals and the low numbers off re-sightings between years suggest this is large population of several hundred individuals. Genetic samples collected from the fishing boat match samples from whales that have stranded along the migration route of the Northeast mackerel stock, suggesting this community of killer whales follow the migration of the mackerel year round. ID shots of a selection of distinctive individuals are included below.

On the west coast of Scotland the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust have been collecting data on a small community of ten killer whales, which are seen each year and throughout the year. Individuals from this community have never been seen in association with the individuals that are regularly seen around the Northern Isles and also appear to be morphologically distinct. The ID shots of the individuals that make up the West Coast Community are included below.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO-IDENTIFICATION IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT

001 'John Coe' West Coast Community	001 'John Coe' West Coast Community
002 'Floppy Fin' West Coast Community	002 'Floppy Fin' West Coast Community
003 'Nicola' West Coast Community	003 'Nicola' West Coast Community
005 'Comet' West Coast Community	005 'Comet' West Coast Community
006 'Lulu' West Coast Community	006 'Lulu' West Coast Community
007 West Coast Community	007 West Coast Community
008 'Aquarius' West Coast Community	008 'Aquarius' West Coast Community
009 'Puffin' West Coast Community	009 'Puffin' West Coast Community
010 West Coast Community	010 West Coast Community
012 Northern Isles Community	012 Northern Isles Community
013 Northern Isles Community	014 'Bigga' Northern Isles Community
015 Northern Isles Community	019 'Mousa' Northern Isles Community
021 Northern Isles Community	027 Northern Isles Community
032 'Busta' Northern Isles Community	034 Northern Isles Community
062 'Hulk' Northern Isles Community	064 Northern Isles Community
065 Northern Isles Community	066 Northern Isles Community
067 'Ossa' Northern Isles Community	072 Northern Isles Community