Orca breaches in the North Sea in front of whale watching boat – Credit: Jake Tiffin via SWNS
Orca sightings in the North Sea are creating excitement for tourists and fishermen—some of whom can’t remember ever seeing them before.
Researchers report in 2025 there were five verified sightings off the Northumberland coast in northeast England, after having been rarely seen for decades.
This year in April, fishermen spotted a pod of up to 10 in Northumberland, and last Saturday tourists were left stunned when a pod of around 30 orcas were swimming around a Farne Islands boat tour.
It is believed to be one of the largest pods of orcas ever seen off the coast here.
“We went out and spoke to boatmen in all the ports along the North East and nobody could actually remember seeing them in the past,” Martin Kitching, coordinator of The North East Cetacean Project, told the BBC.
“Now, all of a sudden, sightings—in Northumberland at least—are definitely up.”
Crew member Jake Tiffin caught an amazing moment on camera last week when one of the ‘killer whales’ leapt out of the sea—in an acrobatic flip that thrilled tourists on the Billy Shiel boat tour of the Farne Islands.
The giant mammal was one of dozens feeding off the coastal village of Seahouses in Northumberland, located 60 miles south of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Orcas in the North Sea near NE England – Credit- Jake Tiffin via SWNS
In the clip, the orca can be seen breaching the surface and becoming momentarily airborne before crashing back down into the sea. (SEE the video below…)
“This is extremely rare,” said the 19-year-old crewman. “Before last year they weren’t sighted for 40 to 50 years.”
“We do our usual routes around the islands where there are some famous pinnacle rocks where the seabirds nest.
“We were thought they were dolphins at first, but as we got closer we realized they were orcas, which was insane.
“It looked like there were two or three initially, but we actually think there were 20 to 30 which is the biggest ever seen in Northumberland,” he told SWNS news. “They just kept coming up, it was amazing.
“All these orcas came up out the water and we noticed some massive bulls which can weigh around six tons. I jumped up on the wheelhouse and recorded as much as I possibly could.
“I was about to stop recording when I heard one orca surface to breathe, and I managed to get the amazing jump.”
“To see a creature that big jumping out of the water is mental, it must have been ten or 15 meters in length.”
ORCAS IN ACTION: Seal Flops onto Photographer’s Boat to Escape Hunting Orca Pod–And it was All Captured on Camera
Orcas normally travel in pods for survival and hunting. Pods can often be seen working together to hunt prey, most famously using their size and weight to trap seals.
Jake, an engineering student, recalled that there were even some calves doing barrel rolls in the water.
“They were popping their head out of the water to take a look at us.”
Wildlife experts say the animals, which can measure up to 32ft long, are attracted to the huge colony of 6,000 seals and seabirds living on and around the Farne Islands—and it may be they are coming back more often due to fish supplies being more abundant.
DID YOU HEAR:
• SeaWorld Ends Captive Breeding of Orcas at All its Parks
• Increased Sightings of the Two Largest Whale Species Decimated By Hunting Provides New Hope for Survival
Globally, orcas as a single species are not listed as endangered, but specific local populations are critically endangered, like The West Coast Community in the North Sea, which is a unique pod facing pollution threats off the coast of Scotland, located on the opposite side of Great Britain from Northumberland—separated from these feeding grounds by the entire width of northern England and Scotland.
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