Whale of a sight for ranger Darran
On Saturday, April 21, Darran Dixon, the Falls of Clyde assistant ranger, went to Greenock with the hope of seeing orca whales in the Clyde estuary – this is his account of what happened.
When I heard the news that a pod of orca whales were in the Clyde I thought it was going to be one of those occasions where I was so close, yet so far from seeing them.
After work I decided to take a chance and drove to Greenock with the hope that they were still around.
As soon as I turned onto the esplanade I saw crowds of people looking excited, then all of a sudden a male orca – known as a bull – came up from the depths to breathe.
After parking up, I was lucky enough to walk along the esplanade with the crowds for about an hour, as the pod slowly made their way out to deeper waters. The pod, which consisted of one male, four females and a youngster, are part of a community that are usually seen around Orkney and Shetland in the far north of Scotland.
The pod were monitored throughout the day by British Divers Marine Life Rescue, and it was confirmed that they had headed out into deeper waters by late evening.
During their time in the Clyde, they were seen catching a seal and teaching hunting techniques to the youngster.
This was a fantastic experience and I really enjoyed the fact that so many people had lined up to witness one of the world’s greatest predators right here in Scottish waters, so close to hand.
Seeing how excited people were about nature just goes to show how lucky we are to live in a country with such a diverse range of wildlife.’