By WDC Volunteer Ruby
It’s one of the more exciting facts of life that you can start a day with an idea of how it’s going to go in your head, but what actually happens is often completely unexpected and different.
As it was still only our second week as residential volunteers at the Scottish Dolphin Centre, we were in the midst of training, spending the morning practising our tours of the historic ice house, when we got a call from the SDC Officer, Cath, informing us that our priority for the day should be to try and get a glimpse of a pod of Orcas that were being sighted in the area. With our orders understood, myself and my fellow volunteers, Alice and Orsi, grabbed snacks and tea and piled into Orsi’s car.
We weren’t exactly sure where we were going but just that we were to head in the direction of Macduff and Cath would update us with any news of sightings from other whale watching enthusiasts. Our first call from Cath directed us to Findlater castle, but after just beginning the walk towards the cliffs edge we received another call to head for Banff where they were still being seen. So, back in the car we got and this time I was feeling the excitement at the thought that (for the first time) I was actually going to see an Orca today.
Wondering where we should pull in, we approached a lay-by with a load of people with binoculars and cameras and realised we’d found the spot. We quickly hopped out of the car and grabbed our own binoculars to have a look. With the help of some local whale spotters, we found the three Orcas swimming towards the East. We were lucky to catch them just as they had finished eating and were heading back in the direction they had come. I’ll never forget the feeling when I saw my first Orca, the dorsal fin towering above the surface. We watched them splash their tails, which could have been them attempting to stun herring to feed on.
Seeing the Orca with my own eyes gave me a different perspective. I was reminded of how wild the seas around the coast of Scotland appear, that these huge animals roam the coasts at high speed, and we managed to get a glimpse of them on this clear, calm day. It made me wonder how much goes on out at sea that we can’t observe because of the usual choppy conditions, yet out there, a whole ecosystem exists constantly, thriving in the rugged and wild landscape of the North Sea.
I am very grateful to have had even this short encounter with these majestic creatures only 2 weeks into my time at Spey Bay. This area really is so abundant with wildlife, and I’m excited for what other encounters we might be blessed with over the coming months.
