Date Published: 7th August 2025

Something a little different today – exciting Orca whale news

John Coe, a male Orca, has been spotted off the Cairns of Coll – the tiny, uninhabited islands off the west coast of Scotland, purchased by Alexander for care and preservation in 2014.

Sightings of the West Coast Community of Orcas are increasing rare. As a direct result of pollution and climate change this family of remarkable creatures is now one of the most threatened in the world. Strong and fast hunters, they also have a reproductive biology with a low birth rate. This combined with the threats they face from human activity, means that John Coe and any left in his family pod, are the last of their kind

According to the Scottish Seabird Centre, ‘Orcas can grow up to 10 metres in size, their stocky build and distinctive colouring setting them apart from other species. Black and white, with a grey patch located on their lower back, their dorsal fin can reach 2 metres in size, the largest of any cetacean. Pods can reach up to 50 individuals and can travel at up to 35 miles per hour.’

Exciting whale news indeed! If you would like to know more about the Orcas, you could read The Last Sunset in the West: Britain’s Vanishing West Coast Orcas by Natalie Sanders.