Whale Track Stories: A moment we’ll never forget
Lauren, one of our residential volunteers this season, shares a moment she and fellow volunteer, Kai, will never forget from their first day with the Trust.
In moving up to the Isle of Mull to volunteer with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, I deliberately came without preconceptions. I was coming in with a completely open mind and ready to experience whatever the season had in store. One thing I was prepared for, however, was the fact that it would be highly unlikely that I would see any of the West Coast Community - the pod of killer whales that call the Hebrides home.
With eight individuals at one time officially recorded by HWDT, the West Coast Community now most likely only consists of two remaining males - John Coe and Aquarius. Something of local celebrities, speak to anyone who has lived on Mull for a period of time, and they will have a story to tell - whether it's a magical encounter with the pod, or the elusiveness of always having missed out on them. John Coe and Aquarius travel long distances, and cover a huge area - spotting any marine mammals is always a bit of a challenge, but the chances of seeing these two specific animals are particularly slim.
That makes my first cetacean sighting on Mull all the more magical.
Having arrived a week earlier in Tobermory, my first day as a volunteer at HWDT's Whale Centre was exciting - I was keen to get going and get stuck into training and learning more about the Trust and how we would be helping over the next six months. As we sat in the centre learning about the various talks we would need to give and learning more about the species we would be talking about, Siobhan received a message - John Coe and Aquarius had been spotted hunting nearby by local fishermen. Even more exciting, the pair would be visible from Tobermory lighthouse (one of the locations of our weekly whale watches..)
In our excitement of a possible glimpse of John Coe and Aquarius, we walked the lighthouse path in record time. When we got to the lighthouse a small group had gathered - locals, tourists and other members of HWDT all hoping for a sighting of the famous pair.
We scanned the seas and finally saw them - the unmistakable sight of 2-metre high male killer whale dorsal fins. One with the distinctive nick that could only be John Coe. We watched them as they swam along the Sound of Mull, heading back towards the Sea of the Hebrides.
The group recorded our sighting on Whale Track, as did others who spotted the pair throughout the day, and if you look on the Whale Track app for the 28th March 2024, you can see the pairs movements as they were spotted by various people along the north cost of Mull.
Seeing this special pair at all is a once in a lifetime experience, seeing them on my first day of volunteering was magical and a moment that I and my fellow volunteer Kai will never forget.
©Alexa Kershaw