Pilot whale causing concern in Whiteness

A WHALE which has been swimming around a Shetland voe for the past five days has been causing concern in local wildlife circles.

The long-finned pilot whale appeared in Whiteness Voe on Sunday where it remained until Tuesday when it swam back out to sea, according to local whale watchers Steve and Sharon Jack.

However the whale returned on Wednesday afternoon and is now swimming close inshore around Nesbister, raising concerns about its wellbeing.

Steve Jack said that he thought the whale looked healthier than when he first saw it last weekend.

“We have been watching it every day since Sunday and I think it’s getting stronger,” he said.

“On Sunday it was coming up every 15 seconds for breath, now it’s much, much less than that. It’s swimming strongly most of the time.”

However Inverness-based Scottish cetacean strandings coordinator Nick Davison said that from the pictures and video he had seen, the whale did not look very well.

“It certainly doesn’t look too healthy and it’s a bit thin, but it’s not behaving unusually and not swimming in ever decreasing circles,” he said.

“It’s very difficult to judge these things, but it should not be in there, it should be off the Atlantic continental shelf and diving for squid.”

Local SSPCA inspectors and Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary are now monitoring the whale along with the Jacks.

Jan Bevington, from Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary, said: “There is obviously something wrong for the whale to be here in the first place, but we shall just have to wait and see what happens.”

Last summer a pilot whale swam into nearby Weisdale Voe where it remained for a few days, threatening to beach itself, before swimming back out to sea.