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Orcas in the Firth of Forth (1 Viewer)

B

Brian Egan

Well-known member
Hi
A pod 5 or more Orcas have been seen in the Firth of Forth near the Forth road bridge at Hound Point.
It is reported that they have been seen taking young seal pups.
This is the same place a Humpback whale spent a number of days at a few years back and where a Minke has been seen recently also.
Cheers
 
I went down today but did'nt have long so I missed out but did see a rather nice adult Iceland Gull. The Orcas have been seen just east of the bridge. I ended up at South Queenferry because access under the railway bridge is restricted because of work going on. Dalgety bay is worth a look. I will have another bash tomorrow.
 
I hope you see them Woodchatshrike, they will be worth the time spent looking. One of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. According to the link below they have been around for 2 weeks.

What is going on in the sea though?
Look at the 3 unusual reports in the just last few days on the seawatch foundation news page. Including the Beluga in my neck of the wods.

Sorry forgot the link.

http://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/news.php
 
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Orcas

Hope this group sticks around, as im in Scotland next weekend for the Rugby 6 nations, updates on these whales would be very helpful?
Cheers,
Earl Gray. :hi:
 
Long way from Hereford but I am sorely tempted (more tempted than I am for the diver) and the possibility of me becoming unwell, hence a couple of days of work, could be a real possibility if they are seen regularly. Might call in at the diver on the way back as an afterthought, and the robin, and the shorelark........ooooh I'm beginning to feel a bit unwell already :)

Nick
 
Tha pager is reporting 1+ still present today between the Forth Rail Bridge and Hound Point.

I'm hoping to give it a go at the W/E so any local info would be appreciated.

Thanks

Martyn
 
Tim Allwood said:
I too am keen to see these

any info would be very gratefully received - Orcas would make a trip to the diver a goer.

Tim
Click to expand...


It's a good 4 hours from Harrogate. I looked it up on multimap.

The Orcas are also hard to see. Some folk were there all day and did'nt see them.
 
I actually saw them I decided to go birdwatching today did Cramond first then hopped on the 43 bus down to Queenferry & saw them for like 3 or 4 mins. They were just as we saw them on the News far out near the bridge. I t was magnificent my first time seeing a Killer Whale in the wild. Sadly no photo's
 
Euan Buchan said:
I actually saw them I decided to go birdwatching today did Cramond first then hopped on the 43 bus down to Queenferry & saw them for like 3 or 4 mins. They were just as we saw them on the News far out near the bridge. I t was magnificent my first time seeing a Killer Whale in the wild. Sadly no photo's
Click to expand...

Are they currently between the birdges Euan or are they between the rail bridge & Hound point? Secondly are they closer to Lothian or Fife?
 
Steve G said:
Are they currently between the birdges Euan or are they between the rail bridge & Hound point? Secondly are they closer to Lothian or Fife?
Click to expand...

Just out of the railway bridge I saw them
 
Does anyone know if killer whales have a tendency to stick around long-term, (I'm moving house this weekend so no chance of trying for them until midweek :C). Or is it anyones guess whether they're likely to be there or not?
 
Is there any truth that locals in the area,have hearing the Orcas singing Vera Lynns classic; "Seal Meat Again" ?
 
We went down on Saturday and eventually had reasonable views but quite a bit of frustration on the way. We started at South Queensferry where I saw one surface twice and Sue saw it once. It was definitely closer to the Fife shore and my views were poor. Sue's was a little better as she picked up white on it. We were then seeing nothing at all and Andrew was fractious, so we tried the north side in the afternoon.
Eventually we got to see one or two whales several times from Carlingnose Point looking towards the tugs at Hound Point. I had nice views of the head shape and dorsal fin, plus a bit of white. A satisfactory end to an otherwise frustrating day.

Rob
 
Laurence H said:
Does anyone know if killer whales have a tendency to stick around long-term, (I'm moving house this weekend so no chance of trying for them until midweek :C). Or is it anyones guess whether they're likely to be there or not?
Click to expand...

I would think it is anyone's guess, although I would suspect that if the prey is plentiful they may hang around a while. Mammal-eating Orcas tend to be more nomadic than fish-eating groups, which tend to be more resident, perhaps due to the fact that mammal prey, like seals, may get wise to Orca hunting tactics, thus forcing the whales to move on to new feeding grounds.

I am, however, basing this on the situation in the Pacific northwest of Canada and it may be different over here.

Good luck anyone who goes for a look, they are stonking animals!
Cheers
Jono Leadley
 
Still at least one showing reasonably well today between the bridges, viewable from North Queensferry. The water was completely flat which helped.
 
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