Mystery killer whales from Scotland spotted off Norway in first match between the two countries

In what is believed to be the first killer whale match between Scotland and Norway, a ‘mystery pod’ last spotted in Scotland has now been photographed in Norway.

Citizen scientist Asmund Aasheim photographed the pod of six whales in Børøyfjorden in July 2021.

Three individual whales out of six were photographed this month in southern Norway after last being seen in Scotland’s west coast in 2018.

The discovery solves a three-year enigma after the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust made the last known sighting of the pod – never before seen in Scottish waters – off Vatersay on Scotland’s west coast on June 23, 2018.

The breakthrough came on July 10 this year, after citizen scientist Asmund Aasheim photographed a pod of six whales in Børøyfjorden.

The whales in southern Norway were last seen in Scotland’s west coast in 2018 (Photo: Asmund Aasheim).

He sent his pictures to the Norwegian Orca Survey, where Dr Eve Jourdain found that the killer whales were not familiar from Norwegian records.

The colouration on the animal’s backs – known as a saddle patch – looked different to that of killer whales normally seen around Norway.

To identify these mammals, Dr. Jourdain looked further afield – comparing the individuals against other national records.

She found a match in the Scottish Killer Whale Catalogue– a key research document containing the best available images of all known living killer whales seen in Scottish waters.

Dr Jourdain said: “From the moment I first took a look at Asmud’s photos, I knew these killer whales were “different” from our Norwegian killer whales,”

“Following our routine protocols, I tried to identify them from our Norwegian Catalogue anyway, but as expected, I found no match. When it came to mind that I should browse through the Scottish Catalogue, I had a strong feeling that I would find them there.

“And, bingo! It was incredible to find this first photographic match between Norway and Scotland! ”

Researchers at the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust and the authors of the Scottish Killer Whale Catalogue confirmed that three of the killer whales in the Norwegian encounter were specific individuals known from the Scottish Catalogue.

The only previous confirmed sighting of this killer whale pod had been made by the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust in 2018, when the animals were spotted just 300 metres away from the charity’s research yacht, Silurian.

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