A HOLIDAYMAKER had a heart-racing moment when he captured on camera what he believed to be a 'killer whale'.
Rob Creek was staying at Hafan-Y-Mor Holiday Park, near Pwllheli, with his partner Michelle and son Lucas who has just turned four-years-old.
On Wednesday, May 17, at about 7.30am, Rob was walking on the coast path, situated at the end of the caravan park.
He was looking out for dolphins and seabirds when he spotted whas he describes as a "large tall black dorsal fin" entering the bay.
He said: "The water was nice and calm when a large tall black dorsal fin appeared. It was quite far out but easily picked up with my binoculars and my birding scope.
"It appeared twice more which allowed me to get the images but it didn’t surface again. My heart was racing and I thought I was seeing things as I kind of realised there is only one mammal with a dorsal fin that shape, an Orca.
"I didn’t get chance to review the images as a miraculous few moments unfolded.
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"No sooner had the killer whale's fin submerged, a Minke Whale surfaced couple 100 yards away, showing its back and small rear dorsal fin so my mind was doing overtime thinking 'was the Orca tracking the Minke Whale?' 'And was the Minke aware of the Orca’s presence?'
"The Minke Whale surfaced again and I managed a quick image but then no sooner had that submerged, more fins were surfacing."
Rob then saw two Bottlenose Dolphins. He believes a Risso’s Dolphin was also present.
"It had a larger and slightly more pointed dorsal fin," Rob added.
"I’ve seen Risso’s in Cornwall so I was fairly happy with that observation.
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"In between the Orca and the Minke Whale was a grey seal that bobbed up its head and soon vanished.
"By this time I’d lost the Orca and the Minke, the Risso’s made a hasty disappearance and the two Bottlenose were seen for a minute or so after, before disappearing."
It was only when Rob reviewed his images that he started to process what he had seen.
"It really started sinking in that this was likely an Orca," Rob said.
"Only a handful of people walked passed as the time approached around 8am.
"One or two asked if I’d seen anything and when I showed them, they were a gasp at the images.
"When I put the images on my social media, it drew plenty of attention with many people confirming the identification.
"When I showed my son Lucas, who missed all the action as he was fast asleep at the caravan, he wanted to go back and look which we did, at least twice a day for the remaining days, but we had no sign of any Cetaceans."
Peter Evans, director of Sea Watch Foundation and an Honorary Professor in the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, said: "It is very difficult from those [images] to be certain what species it is. It could be an orca but at that angle the dorsal fin of a Risso's dolphin can also look very tall and erect, and that species is more common in the area. The two species are commonly confused.
"That said, it does look more like an orca, and the species does occasionally visit Welsh waters, mainly west of Bardsey or off the Pembrokeshire coast.
"We have had reports of orca in this area in previous years. Some have turned out to be Risso's dolphins, others even bottlenose dolphins, but there is the possibility that some are genuinely orca, and this could be one of those.
"It is also the time of year when male orcas are spotted ranging around in various parts of the UK.
"Two mature male orcas, named John Coe and Aquarius, have been spotted at locationsall around the British Isles (and Ireland). They are most commonly seen in the Hebrides but have been photographed in the Moray Firth, the Irish Sea, west of Ireland, off Cornwall, in the Strait of Dover and in the North Sea. They were seen last month off the coast of Caithness but they travel great distances and could well be in the Irish Sea just now."
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