Tour boat passengers enjoy encounter with orca pod
Jackie Darbyshire
Lucky passengers on the Seabirds and Seals Noss boat tour enjoyed a great view of a pod of killer whales.
The sighting on Friday last week was the first seen this season by the tour company.
Twelve passengers and crew were treated to spectacular views of the orcas near Hoo Stack.
Tour guide Marie Fullerton told The Shetland Times: “We were just coming back from our afternoon tour when I discovered from a page I follow closely on all our tours that the orcas were at Hoo Stack, which is no distance from the north point of Bressay, Score Head.
“I announced this news to all our 12 passengers and asked if they were happy to go as it would mean being late back from the tour and of course all very quickly shouted ‘oh yes’.
“We caught sight of them as we headed near Hoo Stack but we kept a safe distance as in line with the Code of Conduct. We switched off the engines and in time they chose to come relatively close which gave all 12 passengers and crew fabulous viewing pleasure.
“We stayed where we were for a good half hour with engines switched off and got more fabulous sightings as they headed south-east towards Noss. We did not follow them as we were all chuffed with what we had seen.”
