A KINSALE man has spoken of the jaw-dropping moment he spotted two majestic orca whales off the West Cork coast.
Toby Slocum (28) was on a six-metre RIB in Roaringwater Bay with his friend Emma Sherlock when they saw the two giant mammals come to the surface just metres from their boat.
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They filmed a video of the encounter, which happened just West of Calf Island between Crookhaven and Cape Clear’s North Harbour on Saturday last.
“We just stumbled upon them. It was shocking and we just couldn’t believe it,” said Toby.
“There might have been some swearing in the video but I was so excited to see them. We just felt so lucky that we were in that location. The weather was good and we were in the right place at the right time.”
Toby, who lives on a sailing boat in Baltimore during the summer months, said he has never seen a natural spectacle like it.
“The first people I told were my family on our family WhattsApp chat. Nobody believed me and they said ‘send photos, or it didn’t happen’.”
Toby said he also sent a photo of the whales to his friend Rory who identified them as John Coe and Aquarius, the only transient whales to visit West Cork.
“Their story is a very fascinating but also sad one,” added Toby.
“They are the last two orcas remaining of their pod and they are two males, so they won’t have any calves.”
The video footage he captured has since gone viral with more than 100,000 views to date with many people leaving comments and celebrating the two celebrity whales.
The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust in Scotland has monitored the pair since the 1990s describing them as “two of the most-loved killer whales not only in Scotland, but across the UK and Ireland”.
