Westray

Papa WestrayNorth Ronaldsay

Sanday

EdayStronsay

Shapinsay

Rousay

HoyFlotta

Burray

South Ronaldsay

Copinsay

Graemsay

Egilsay

Wyre

Gairsay

Swona

Orkney

Mainland

Stromness

Kirkwall

Auskerry

Lamb Holm

Glimps Holm

North Hill

Noup Head

8

7

3

CantickHead

6

Deerness4

Eynhallow

2

Scapa Flow5

Orkney’snaturalheritageOrkney’snaturalheritage

Orkney’snaturalheritageOrkney’snaturalheritage

Orkney’s

find out more about ourrich and varied wildlife

grey seal pup

minke whale

grey seal bull

photo

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phy:

Lau

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l, L

orn

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ill (S

NH

), R

. H

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(SN

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NC

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Nei

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cInty

re,

Sue

Scott

, D

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Whit

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des

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nd illust

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Iain

Ash

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Please remember:To take care on the cliffs as they can be dangerousTo avoid disturbing nesting birdsTo keep dogs under control at all timesTo take your litter home with youNot to pick wild flowersRespect private property

Europe and ScotlandMaking it work together

Seals andCetaceansSeals and

Cetaceans

There are five races of common seal and Britainholds about 5% of the world population of thisspecies and about 40% of the European sub-species. There is a minimum of 26,400 commonseals around Scotland during the breeding season,although this number may be much higher. Thereare an estimated 7,100 common seals in Orkney.

The breeding cycle of common seals is earlierthan that of grey seals. They begin to arrive atthe breeding grounds in June, and most birthstake place at the end of June and the beginningof July. Mating takes place when a cow has finished(or almost finished) suckling her calf.

Orkney is home to both the grey seal and thecommon seal. These species belong to a groupof animals called pinnipeds. This means ‘wingedfeet’ and refers to their flippers, which are speciallyadapted for life in the sea. There are at least 33species of pinniped world-wide, including seals,sealions, fur seals and walruses.

Seals spend most of their time at sea, and might swimthousands of miles during their lives in search of food.

They come ashore for threereasons: to breed, to moult,and to rest between fishing expeditions.

Their clumsiness on land belies their supremeelegance when swimming underwater, where theyare skilled hunters of fish and other marine prey.Seals can dive for up to an hour at depths of morethan 200 metres and even down to 500 metreswithout surfacing for breath.

grey seals

These can be identified bytheir longer straight ‘Romannoses’ and a head shapedmore like a horse than thedoglike one of the commonseal. The coat tends to belight grey rather than beingspotted all over and greyseals are also larger thancommon seals. The male seals growto about 2.3 metres (7.5 feet), whilefemales are smaller and average 1.8 metres (5.9feet) in length. Around 36% of the world’spopulation breeds around Britain and in the regionof 17.5% of the world population of grey seals isfound in Orkney. Orkney waters are home to atleast 25,000 grey seals and there are an estimated99,400 grey seals around the Scottish coast andislands.

Grey seal cows givebirth to a single white-coated pup in theautumn, starting inlate September.The milk is incrediblyrich and contains 60%fat, which ensures thatby the end of the briefperiod of maternal care,the young have grown sufficiently to care forthemselves. Three or four weeks after birth, thepup has moulted its coat and after a short periodof fasting, heads out to sea on its own.

common seal

grey seal pup

grey seal pupsuckling

greyseal

commonseal

Unlike the grey seal, the common seal is bornwith a grey-brown adult coat, having shed itswhite baby coat in its mother’s womb. These pupscan swim immediately.

Important common seal haul-outs in Orkneyinclude Switha 1 , Eynhallow 2 and the straitbetween Sanday and North Ronaldsay 3 . If youwish to see common seals, they haul outthroughout the year and sheltered rocky baysoften have groups of animals resting.

grey seal

j anuary f ebruary march apr i l may j une j u l y augus t sep tember oc tober november december

Orkney’s wildlife year

common seals

grey seals

dolphins

porpoises

toothed whales

baleen whales

times of the year when these species are most commonly seen

Orkney has a long history of associationwith whales. At one time, whalestrandings would have been a welcomeadditional food source and, historically,pods of small whales would have beendriven onto shore. In the 19th century,whaling ships heading for the SouthAtlantic often took on Orkney sailors,who were renowned for their skill in smallboats. The Stromness museum has anumber of interesting items relating tothe whaling industry from this period.

There are two types of cetaceans: the toothed whales whichinclude all the dolphins, porpoises and bigger whales withteeth, and the baleen whales, which feed on plankton.Plankton are the tiny plants and animals which float in thesea. Baleen whales have a series of horny plates which allowthem to sieve seawater for plankton. However, some baleens,such as the minke whales, also feed on fish. Surprisingly,when you consider the size of their food, most of the world’slarge whales are baleens. Baleens tend to use temperatewater, such as our own, in summer when the long daylightmeans an abundance of plankton, and then retreat to thetropics during winter.

Toothed whales have a wider diet, including squid, octopus,fish and in one or two species, seals and even other whales.The largest toothed whale is the sperm whale. This is usuallya deep water species, but occasionally individuals are seencloser to land. The sperm whale holds the cetacean recordfor deep water diving and is known to descend to morethan 2000 metres to hunt for squid on the ocean floor.

Cetaceans are the only mammals which are completelyaquatic, living and breeding in water. They havelungs and require air to breathe. The cetacean groupinclude the whales, the dolphins and the porpoises.The blue whale is the largest animal that has everlived, and is over 30 metres long - although itscetacean cousin, the harbourporpoise, is only about ametre in length.

Eighteen different species of whale have beenrecorded off Orkney, but the ones you are most likelyto see are minke whales, killer whales and pilotwhales. Closer to shore, you may be lucky enoughto spot the harbour porpoise, which often occurs insheltered inlets.

long-finned pilot whale - deep water, dark backand flanks, with lighter patches onchin and belly

harbour porpoise - shallow seas, commonestcetaceans in British waters, no ‘beak’ to head

atlantic white-sided dolphin -deep water, distinctive ovalpatch behind dorsal fin

risso’s dolphin - shallow seas anddeep water, characteristic scratchmarkings on grey body

white-beaked dolphin -shallow seas and deepwater, white over beakand flipper near eye

minke whale - shallow seas and deep water, darkcolouration on back, changing to white on underside

killer whale - mainly deep water,distinctive white patches on flank, andbehind and beneath eye, white belly

minke whale

bottle-nosed dolphins

The waters around Deerness 4 and Scapa Flow 5 areamong the frequent haunts of porpoises. Most commonof the dolphins around Orkney is the white-beakeddolphin, but the white-sided dolphin and risso’s dolphinare also present.

There is no guarantee that you will see these creatures, butgenerally the west side of the islands is a more likely area toobserve cetaceans. Places like Cantick head on Hoy 6 , Noup Headon Westray 7 and North Hill on Papa Westray 8 may be fruitful.If you are travelling by sea, particularly across the Pentland Firthor to the northern islands, always keep a look out. Late summeroffers the best opportunities for seeing whales and dolphins.

sowerby’s beaked whalekiller whalelong-finned pilot whaleatlantic white-sided dolphinwhite-beaked dolphincommon dolphinbottle-nosed dolphinrisso’s dolphinharbour porpoise

Cetaceans recorded in Orkney waters

blue whalebeluga whalesperm whalesei whalefin whaleminke whalenorthern bottlenose whalenarwhalcuvier’s beaked whale

Lengths indicatean averagesize for eachspecies

Westray

Papa WestrayNorth Ronaldsay

Sanday

EdayStronsay

Shapinsay

Rousay

HoyFlotta

Burray

South Ronaldsay

Copinsay

Graemsay

Egilsay

Wyre

Gairsay

Swona

Orkney

Mainland

Stromness

Kirkwall

Auskerry

Lamb Holm

Glimps Holm

North Hill

Noup Head

8

7

3

CantickHead

6

Deerness4

Eynhallow

2

Scapa Flow5

Orkney’snaturalheritageOrkney’snaturalheritage

Orkney’snaturalheritageOrkney’snaturalheritage

Orkney’s

find out more about ourrich and varied wildlife

grey seal pup

minke whale

grey seal bull

photo

grap

hy: Lau

rie Cam

pbell, Lo

rne G

ill (SNH

), R. H

olt (SN

H/M

NC

R), N

eil McIn

tyre, Sue Sco

tt, David

Whitak

er desig

n an

d illu

stration: Iain

Ash

man

cove

r imag

es: to

p b

ottle

-no

sed

do

lph

in b

otto

m g

rey s

eal

Please remember:To take care on the cliffs as they can be dangerousTo avoid disturbing nesting birdsTo keep dogs under control at all timesTo take your litter home with youNot to pick wild flowersRespect private property

Europe and ScotlandMaking it work together

Seals andCetaceansSeals and

Cetaceans

There are five races of common seal and Britainholds about 5% of the world population of thisspecies and about 40% of the European sub-species. There is a minimum of 26,400 commonseals around Scotland during the breeding season,although this number may be much higher. Thereare an estimated 7,100 common seals in Orkney.

The breeding cycle of common seals is earlierthan that of grey seals. They begin to arrive atthe breeding grounds in June, and most birthstake place at the end of June and the beginningof July. Mating takes place when a cow has finished(or almost finished) suckling her calf.

Orkney is home to both the grey seal and thecommon seal. These species belong to a groupof animals called pinnipeds. This means ‘wingedfeet’ and refers to their flippers, which are speciallyadapted for life in the sea. There are at least 33species of pinniped world-wide, including seals,sealions, fur seals and walruses.

Seals spend most of their time at sea, and might swimthousands of miles during their lives in search of food.

They come ashore for threereasons: to breed, to moult,and to rest between fishing expeditions.

Their clumsiness on land belies their supremeelegance when swimming underwater, where theyare skilled hunters of fish and other marine prey.Seals can dive for up to an hour at depths of morethan 200 metres and even down to 500 metreswithout surfacing for breath.

grey seals

These can be identified bytheir longer straight ‘Romannoses’ and a head shapedmore like a horse than thedoglike one of the commonseal. The coat tends to belight grey rather than beingspotted all over and greyseals are also larger thancommon seals. The male seals growto about 2.3 metres (7.5 feet), whilefemales are smaller and average 1.8 metres (5.9feet) in length. Around 36% of the world’spopulation breeds around Britain and in the regionof 17.5% of the world population of grey seals isfound in Orkney. Orkney waters are home to atleast 25,000 grey seals and there are an estimated99,400 grey seals around the Scottish coast andislands.

Grey seal cows givebirth to a single white-coated pup in theautumn, starting inlate September.The milk is incrediblyrich and contains 60%fat, which ensures thatby the end of the briefperiod of maternal care,the young have grown sufficiently to care forthemselves. Three or four weeks after birth, thepup has moulted its coat and after a short periodof fasting, heads out to sea on its own.

common seal

grey seal pup

grey seal pupsuckling

greyseal

commonseal

Unlike the grey seal, the common seal is bornwith a grey-brown adult coat, having shed itswhite baby coat in its mother’s womb. These pupscan swim immediately.

Important common seal haul-outs in Orkneyinclude Switha 1 , Eynhallow 2 and the straitbetween Sanday and North Ronaldsay 3 . If youwish to see common seals, they haul outthroughout the year and sheltered rocky baysoften have groups of animals resting.

grey seal