Whale treats TV crew to surprise feast

BBC Springwatch presenter Simon King was given an unexpected treat as he started filming his new series about Shetland wildlife yesterday (Wednesday).

Mr King and his crew, who only arrived in the isles on Sunday, were called to South Nesting Bay where a crowd was gathering to watch a lone killer whale harassing a herd of seals yesterday morning.

Producer Martin Hughes-Games said the team arrived just too late to witness the whale feast on a seal, but watched it for several hours as it cruised in front of about six terrified seals.

“We did manage to film when a couple of seals crept out into the water and suddenly there was all this movement as the whale went powering in, but he missed them. It was very, very exciting,” Mr Hughes-Games said.

To add to their delight, while they were still at Nesting after the whale had left an otter reared its head right in front of the crew.

“Simon is most passionate about otters and blow me down he’s filming one now that just popped up in front of us,” the producer said last night.

Mr King is staying in Shetland on and off with his wife and two year old daughter for the next year at least as he films his six part series Shetland Diary with Simon King, due to be screened in 2010.

“Most of the filming will be done next summer but if it carries on like this perhaps we can bring it forward,” Mr Hughes-Games said.

Mr King appears in public on Saturday (5 July) at Lerwick’s Garrison Theatre to answer questions about his life and work and to launch the first Shetland Nature festival.

As part of the week long event, people are being invited to choose a name for a three year old killer whale calf which has been swimming around Shetland with its family pod for the past few years.

Andy Foote, of the Scottish Killer Whale Project Team, said the young whale was known as calf 067 and its father was called Busta, after Busta Voe where it was spotted, but was unsure of the youngster’s gender. “It is hard to tell if calves are male or female so a name should be suitable for either,” he said.

“We can often work out who the mother of the calf is as young whales often associate most closely with their mother, however 067 has mostly been seen swimming next to 032, who we believe is probably his uncle or big brother, as killer whale groups are usually made up of family members.”