ALL SMILES: Mother and son killer whales at Kamogawa Sea World in Japan. Picture: AP PHOTO/ITSUO INOUYE

First ever killer whale sighting off Norfolk, at Sheringham

by Alex Hurrell , Reporter Saturday, February 11, 2012
1:14 PM

A Norfolk mammal expert said today he was “thrilled and excited” at reputable reports of the first-ever killer whale sighting off the county’s coastline.

CELEBRITY STATUS: A wild relative of Keiko, star of the movie Free Willy, has been spotted off Sheringham. Keiko is pictured at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Picture: AP PHOTO/JACK SMITH

The animal was spotted breaching the water off Sheringham on Thursday morning, February 9, by two local bird watchers, including long-serving former Norfolk bird recorder Giles Dunmore.

Mr Dunmore and fellow birder Phil Vines were scanning the sea with telescopes at about 8.15am, looking for unusual ducks and geese heading for Norfolk from the frozen continent.

Mr Vines called out that he had spotted a harbour porpoise but when Mr Dunmore trained his telescope on the area to see it, he picked up something much further away.

“I can’t estimate how far out it was but I suddenly saw an area of disturbed water and then this black hump came out of the sea and a great big, black dorsal fin - then it disappeared. It was heading eastwards,” said Mr Dunmore, 68, from Beeston, near Sheringham.

Help log Norfolk’s mammals

The Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service (www.nbis.org.uk) holds a copy of the Norfolk mammal database which includes records from the late 1800s onwards of mammal sightings of all species, from rabbits to whales, made by members of the public or collected during surveys within the county.

Dave Leech, county mammal recorder, said: “This is obviously a very valuable resource for conservationists and we’d welcome submissions of more records for common as well as rare species to help us monitor the health of Norfolk’s mammals.” Dr Leech can be contacted at: dave.leech@bto.org

“I yelled out and Phil was desperately trying to see it. A few seconds later he yelled out too, with a fine Anglo-Saxon expletive.”

Mr Dunmore stayed at the site until driven indoors by the cold at about 10am, but neither man saw the whale again.

Mr Dunmore, a retired chief planning officer with Broadland District Council, has seen killer whales off Tenerife and Alaska. He said the mammal’s dorsal fin “like a backwards-sloping triangle”, was particularly distinctive. He believes the Norfolk animal was a female.

Male killer whales, or orcas, can grow up to 9.5m long (31ft) and females 5.7m (nearly 19ft).

Mr Dunmore contacted county mammal recorder Dave Leech to discuss the sighting and will now be submitting a detailed written report and field sketch of the incident so that it can be officially recorded.

Dr Leech, who is based at the British Trust for Ornithology in Thetford, said a check of records stretching back to the beginning of the 1900s showed that there had never before been a killer whale sighting off Norfolk.

“Giles is an experienced person who has seen them before in other countries and as far as we are concerned, it’s a reputable record,” he said.

“I was very excited, thrilled and shocked when he rang - and I wished I was at the north Norfolk coast right there and then.

“Within UK waters, the majority of killer whale sightings are on the Atlantic seaboard and the northern North Sea - sightings in the southern North Sea and English Channel are rare.”

In total, 14 cetacean - whales, dolphins and porpoises - species had been recorded in Norfolk, but most had only been seen a handful of times, often found stranded on beaches, like the 40ft sperm whale discovered dead on Old Hunstanton beach on Christmas Eve. By far the commonest species off Norfolk was the harbour porpoise.

The killer whale’s diet included seals and so areas like Blakeney Point could provide rich hunting grounds but Dr Leech thought it more likely that the men had seen an individual which had drifted off course.

The submitted sighting records would be sent to the Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service, at County Hall, which held a database on all mammals seen in Norfolk and was a valuable resource for conservationists.

Dr Leech said he would also be passing the information to the Sea Watch Foundation and Marine Conservation Society.

Mr Dunmore said he had been unaware that his discovery was a “first” for Norfolk but he has previous experience of making the natural history books. In 1970, while bird watching in Cornwall, he recorded the first-ever European sighting of the American Veery thrush.

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17 comments

the report is of wild Orcas and you show pictures of captive Orcas and you have totllay anthromorphised them by putting human attritutes sorry a cheap shot EDP. You must have pictures of woild Orcas somewehre?

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Ron Luton-Brown

Saturday, February 18, 2012
Oldowl, whats wrong with calling women `ladies`? Its both polite and respectful, don`t know anything about whales.

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Tarquin Tuggit

Tuesday, February 14, 2012
oldowl - for goodness sake get a life! I know plenty of ladies and a cat is a killer by its own natural instincts! And a killer whale is a whale that kills - or do Tesco now have a branch in the North Sea where whales do their shopping?

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smithrob

Monday, February 13, 2012
It may be the first one to have been seen but perhaps not the first one to be there; remember the seal attacks reported in the local press last year?

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Paul Radbourne

Monday, February 13, 2012
In recent years orcas are regularly observed in the North Sea, three times last summer, Belgian and Dutch coasts...... and from what I remember as well the English coast in April '11! It is a pity the journalist decided to accompany an article like this with an image of captured orcas, 'all smiles' is incorrect information! Captivity should be ended, it is a retarded form of entertainment and inhumane.

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whalewatchers

Monday, February 13, 2012
Lets see, I large aggresive predator that devours what it likes without showing any feelings or remorse - as long as it gets what it wants, when it wants it the world is fine. Can anyone verify that Murphy wasn't out swimming!

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smithrob

Monday, February 13, 2012
Methinks "oldowl" is suffering from condescendingitus and also politically correctness irritability. Orca or killer whale are both acceptable names for this predatory, magnificent mammal.

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NorthStarRaven

Monday, February 13, 2012
I hear the dutch have put an offer in for the Orca, with a statement "we own everything else off the Norfolk coast, so we might as well buy your Orca"

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Farquarson-Smythe

Sunday, February 12, 2012
I also saw this killer whale on friday,it was being ridden by Lord Lucan.

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ncfc

Sunday, February 12, 2012
I also saw this killer whale on friday,it was being ridden by Lord Lucan.

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ncfc

Sunday, February 12, 2012
Nothing to do with windfarms, it's an advance guard from Tesco's!!!!

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Ian

Sunday, February 12, 2012
"...A few seconds later he yelled out too, with a fine Anglo-Saxon expletive.” love it :)

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Fiona Battigan

Sunday, February 12, 2012
freewilly in norfolk?!!!! prob see jordan and jodie marsh in east anglia soon!!!!!!!!

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jmm

Saturday, February 11, 2012
Just a thought... could it be possible that the "harmonics" from the various wind farms are drawing in these unusual type of mammals?? I do not know but the experts tell us how there is no danger or maleffects from them, yet unusual things seem to be happening..

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canuk

Saturday, February 11, 2012
I thought these were called Orca. Calling them Killer Whale is really not needed - I suppose it would be like calling a cat Killer Cat as opposed to ..... Cat? Language IS important. I'm fed up with people who call black people "dark" and women "ladies". Norfolk is really behind the times sometimes when it comes to understanding the uses of literacy. I suppose the first person to say "free willy" will not be far behind....

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oldowl

Saturday, February 11, 2012
Interesting that ever since Morgan, the young female orca was 'rescued' in 2010 there have been a number of orca sightings much further south than usual. Prior to Morgan the last sighting was almost 50 years ago. Are the more recent sightings related to lack of herring further north (the usual diet for Norwegian orca is herring although they have been known to eat seals if necessary). Or is there some connection, given their intelligence, social bonding, are they looking for their lost calf? The story here is good, unfortunately the photos that accompany the story, mainly the "All Smiles" could lead people to believe that captive orca have a 'happy life', which couldnt be further from the truth. The 2 orca are not smiling, their facial structure doesn't allow it, bit like the myth of bottlenose dolphins who always appear to be smiling!! they are either performing a trick or waiting for food.

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Jackie Swift

Saturday, February 11, 2012
As much as i doubt this story,it would not be a bad thing in as much as a killer whale might eat alot of the seals that blight our coastline .

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ncfc

Saturday, February 11, 2012