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    Killer whale spotted off Norfolk coast

    By Adam Parris-Long | Yahoo! News – Tue, Feb 14, 2012

    Two bird watchers caught a glimpse of a killer whale off the coast of Norfolk, in what is thought to be the first for the county.

    Giles Dunmore and Phil Vines came across the rare spot birdwatching in Sheringham, Norfolk at 8:15am on 9 February. Evidence suggests this is a first as the records are yet to include a killer whale sighting in Norfolk.

    14 whales, dolphins and porpoises have been spotted off the Norfolk coast- but never a killer whale.

    “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,” Mr Dunmore told Norwich Evening News. “It then disappeared, it was heading eastwards”.

    “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,” he said.

    Chances that the sighting was a killer whale were regarded as “highly reliable” by Norfork mammal recorder, Dr David Leech.

    "Killer whales do have quite a distinctive dorsal fin,” Dr Leech told the BBC. “Some of the dolphins can be much harder to tell apart and some of the whales too.”

    "With that and the experience of the observer and knowing that they had good optical kit, because they were using telescopes to watch the birds, I think in combination that sounds like a really quite a reliable source."

    Male killer whales measure seven metres in length on average, with female species typically ranging between 5.5-6.5m.  
     

    68 comments

    • AllanCMc
      AllanCMc  •  Paisley, Scotland  •  3 months ago
      I would have loved to have seen that.
      • A Yahoo! User 3 months ago
        well get your idle #$%$ out of bed and take a peek
      • Mark NZ
        Mark NZ 3 months ago
        I was fishing off the coast here in the South Island NZ (Timaru) 4 weeks ago with my 12 year old son. We saw 4 or 5 of them out at sea . Tom was about to cast his line again when two came right in front of us only 15 metres off the beech. He would have cast on top of them if he had not stoped. They are wonderful things.
    • SANDIE ANN
      SANDIE ANN  •  Birmingham, England  •  3 months ago
      I love whales they are so beautiful and intelligent creatures.
    • ROBIN
      ROBIN  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      Surprise, surprise, finally the killer whales have discovered there is an untapped supply of seals available in the cold waters of the North Sea.....Call Sir David Attenborough at once..
      • Brian
        Brian 3 months ago
        When they have finished where you are please send them to the east coast of Ireland. There are thousands of the vermin awaiting over here to be dispatched. The French have the right word for them - phoques.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 months ago
      I'm so happy let's leave them be and let's not hurt them
      • P CLARKE
        P CLARKE 3 months ago
        Big round of agreement from me!!!!
      • MADMAX
        MADMAX 3 months ago
        I AM HAPPY TO LEAVE THEM BE AS WELL, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE PREDATORS AND DO KILL A LOT OF MARINE FAUNA. BEAR THAT IN MIND TOO.
    • Michael© CE Freedom Party ...
      Michael© CE Freedom Party ...  •  Manchester, England  •  3 months ago
      Pretty cool that, just goes to show what is around our coasts.
    • ray
      ray  •  3 months ago
      Let's hope the fishermen leave them alone, the fact that they're coming so close in land looking for food could be a sign that us humans have overfished the seas, there are a large number of seal colonies off Cromer and Sheringham that's probably what they're after.
    • Mike
      Mike  •  Brighton, England  •  3 months ago
      Why doesn't Ahbu Katarda go swimming off the Norfolk coast.
      • ray
        ray 3 months ago
        because they don't do water.
    • "*"
      "*"  •  3 months ago
      The whales are probably on their way to the seal colonies around there, for a light brunch.
    • CU812
      CU812  •  Birmingham, England  •  3 months ago
      My x-wife was in Sheringham on that day......Just saying is all : )
    • Malcolm S
      Malcolm S  •  3 months ago
      Whale meat again, don't know where, don't know when ...
    • ob1
      ob1  •  3 months ago
      Dont let Bernard Mathews catch one.
    • easy
      easy  •  3 months ago
      "it was heading eastwards" GOOD JOB TO. If it was heading WEST, it would have been ON THE BEACH.
    • zzz
      zzz  •  Maidenhead, England  •  3 months ago
      they're gonna need a bigger boat
    • Angela
      Angela  •  Manchester, England  •  3 months ago
      Yipee! I am so pleased to see creatures swimming happy and free in our waters. I hope that one day that all sea mamals are safe and that the fishing reforms being proposed to the European parliment this year by the WWF go in favour of protecting these magnificent animals. Please sign the petition!!!!!!
    • Twyford Admant
      Twyford Admant  •  London, England  •  3 months ago
      Saw a Basking Shark once one mile off the beach at Orford Ness in Suffolk whilst trawling in the 60's.
    • COLIN
      COLIN  •  Edinburgh, Scotland  •  3 months ago
      Don't think that is the first time they have been down there. Off the Northumberland Coast they are very common and as the Whale Swims it's not very far to Norfolk!!!!!
    • cowkiller
      cowkiller  •  Brighton, England  •  3 months ago
      Don't let the Japs know or it will be harpoons at the ready and soya sauce
    • MICHAEL
      MICHAEL  •  3 months ago
      Lucky bird watchers. They often follow the basking sharks in but are rearely seen form the beach. However I did see two close in shore overlooking Harlech back in the 70's
    • Neocon Spotter
      Neocon Spotter  •  3 months ago
      They aren't Whales..They are ORCAS..Killer Whale name comes from the fact that certain sub-species hunt Whales for prey..While others do not prey on mammals, but are fish eaters..Both are identical in appearance, but are genetically different & are believed not to have cross bred for possibly 10,000 years? They also tend to give each other a wide berth.
    • JOHN
      JOHN  •  Wigan, England  •  3 months ago
      It was really no Jags swimming home to Hull.
     Post a comment
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