Four killer whales have been sighted swimming near the border of Dutch and UK territorial waters in the North Sea.
It is extremely rare to see orcas in the North Sea but observers from the Dorsal Fin Foundation (Stichting Rugvin) – an organisation which carries out research into the cetacean population of the North Sea – spotted the group of orcas from a ferry sailing from the Hook of Holland to Harwich. It is thought that these are the same killer whales spotted near Calais last week.
The killer whales are thought to be in good shape.
The Dorsal Fin Foundation says it is too early to say whether the sightings of killer whales in the North Sea are more than merely incidental. "The cetacean population has changed. The number of porpoises has gone up while sightings of the white-beaked dolphin have become rare."
Each month, the Dorsal Fin Foundation publishes a report on the cetacean population in the North Sea between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.