Orca Watch Week and a Visit at Sunnyside
Orca Watch Week is an event in Scotland, Shetland, and Orkney, where wildlife enthusiasts come together to watch out for orcas from shore, and celebrate their presence on the coastline for the summer months. In 2018, we had the pleasure to participate in this environmentally conscious event that has an emphasis on watching with a scope from shore, with zero impact on the animals observed.
Whereas our 3rd international orca naming contest was running parallel to the event, Marie also had the pleasure to deliver an evening presentation on the orcas, hosted by Sea Watch Foundation, and in front of an unexpectedly large audience. Her presentation termed “There and Back Again: Orcas Migrating between Iceland and Scotland” brought together so many orca enthusiasts, that it had to be moved to the local sports hall.
The day after we participated in the shore watch at Duncansby Head. We got to meet up with a lot of old and new friends in this beautiful area, as Orca Watch Week sure has become one of the meeting points for people working in and supporting cetacean conservation and research. As this event becomes increasingly popular, more and more members of the public are taking part in the enjoyment of searching for (and hopefully spotting) orcas from the coastline. During our stay, we did not get to see any orcas, but they turned up soon enough just a couple of days after we had to go home. Special thanks go to Karen Munro, Adam Hall, and Sea Watch Foundation for their greatly appreciated help and support during our stay.
On our way back to Iceland, we had a stop in Glasgow to visit the amazing Sunnyside Ocean Defenders of the conservation school Sunnyside Primary, who are working in cetacean protection as part of their curriculum. These kids had won our 1st international naming contest and named orca calf Tide. We were so happy to finally meet them in person and talk about orcas with them. The kids had a lot of questions, especially also about the whaling issue in Iceland. Each of them got a little booklet with Tide’s story, and Marie received an orca water bottle from them. It was such an encouraging experience to meet these young and clever minds, and certainly one of the highlights of our trip! A big thank you to their conservation teacher Lisa Perrie for making it happen.
