Hopes growing for Orkney whale

A SPERM whale that was thought to be in a poor condition has moved away from a harbour and back into deeper water.

The whale, a male measuring 40-50ft long, was first sighted in Kirkwall Bay, Orkney, at around 7am yesterday by the crew of a passing vessel.

There were growing concerns that the whale had come into Kirkwall harbour because it was ill or injured.

Shipping had been warned to stay clear of the animal.

The whale was around 30ft from the harbour pier and was barely moving in shallow water.

However, just after 1pm, the whale moved away from the harbour, travelling north into deeper water.

Mike Lynch, local inspector for the Scottish SPCA, was at the scene all morning and said it was unusual that the animal came so close to shore.

He said: “The whale has disappeared. It moved off pretty quickly after managing to get into deeper water. It’s heading north and hopefully will be OK.”

However, he said the young adult male whale was clearly ill or injured.

“It’s got scars on its nose and its body condition is poor,” he said. “It’s very thin and immobile and has never really submerged fully.

“Normally they’ll go underwater for 20 minutes and can pop up a mile away.”

At one point the whale came within a few metres of the busy pier. Its plight attracted crowds of onlookers.

The whale was closely monitored while it was in the harbour, with contingency plans drawn up to deal with the animal’s carcass, had it died in the bay. But it swam back into deeper water north of the harbour and vanished.

“It’s a happy ending, for now,” said Mr Lynch. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a sperm whale here that wasn’t stranded.”