Rare sighting of killer whales off south-west coast

A family of rare orca killer whales have been spotted by scientists off the coast of Ireland.

Researchers aboard the Marine Institute’s Celtic Explorer vessel were thrilled to witness a pod of seven of the huge creatures, with their distinctive black and white markings, as they breached Atlantic waters off the south-west coast.

The sighting was made as part of the ongoing Cetaceans on the Frontier Survey being carried out as part of the national Sea Change strategy.