The following post was written in 2017. We have added a 2024 update to the end.
There was a huge public reaction to an episode of David Attenborough’s The Blue Planet” where a pilot whale mother was filmed refusing to let go of her dead baby. The reason for the death was most probably a high level of PCB’s in the mother’s milk, which effectively poisoned the calf. This in itself is more than sad, but I also recently learned of something that has affected me personally.
Britannia in 1992 in the Sound of Sleat, between Skye and the mainland
Between 1982 and 1996 we sailed Britannia on the West Coast of Scotland, taking passengers every week to enjoy the beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife. Every year we made several sightings of a large pod of Orcas, more than 40 creatures, and I now learn that they were known as the West Coast Community Orca pod. They are the UK’s only resident pod of Orcas. I didn’t know that then. When we saw these magnificent creatures, we were full of wonder and awe and felt hugely privileged to be able to view them so closely, hear them blowing and, yes, smell them!
At the beginning of 2016 a female orca was washed up on the shore of Tiree, a small Hebridean island. She was identified as a member of the now dwindling West Coast Community Orca pod. Her death must have been excruciating as she had been entangled in fishing rope, which had prevented her from swimming, ultimately
causing her to drown.
The West Coast pod now has just 8 individuals, 4 males and 4 females with no calves having been observed for 20 years!
If that isn’t bad enough, on examining the female’s body, – she had been named Lulu, – it was discovered that:
“The levels of PCB contamination in Lulu were incredibly high, surprisingly so. They were 20 times higher than the safe level that we would expect for cetaceans to be able to manage. That puts her as
one of the most contaminated animals on the planet in terms of PCB burden, and does raise serious questions for the long-term survivability of this group (of UK killer whales).“
– Dr Andrew Brownlow, head of the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme.
It is not just plastics that can be seen in the ocean, making hideous and lethal plastic islands. The ocean is downstream from everything, and much more still needs to be done to ensure that PCBs currently in landfill sites are locked-in and secured so they can’t leak out into streams, rivers and estuaries.
The chances of survival for the remaining members of this pod of orcas is slim, and if they are unable to breed or keep their calves alive, they will soon become extinct. This is heartbreaking and a tragedy that need not be happening. We do not need plastic! We must stop producing anything that cannot be disposed of safely and without harming the environment. We must all work together to stop polluting our seas and our beautiful planet before it is too late, as it is for this iconic West Coast Community of Orcas.
When Britannia is sailing again, she will be a flagship for raising awareness of the state of our oceans, and for us, Board members of Britannia Sailing Trust, the tragic tale of the West Coast Orcas makes us even more determined to get our historic boat back to sea and working, to try to make a small difference.
2024 Update: PCBs have more recently been recorded in whales at over 30 times the concentration at which the animals begin to suffer health impacts.
Scientists described the findings as a “huge wake-up call” that should ring alarm bells not only for the future of marine mammal health but for human health, too.
As of 2024 there are only two individuals – both male – remaining of the UK’s last resident orca pod. There were around 20 in the 1980s when Britannia was sailing the Scottish islands. The pod is doomed and the once thriving West Coast Killer Whale Community will be declared extinct in coming years.
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