Another bit of news that's slightly late getting posted was orca sightings in Scapa Flow.
Last Wednesday, while sitting doing some field work at Hobbister, I got a bit of a shock when a small group of orca appeared very close in to the coast. After scrabbling around for my mobile to let the guided walk group know they were there, the 2 adults and calf (it had been nosing at a creel buoy) kept close into the cliff and headed towards Kirkwall. Unfortunately, the walk group didn't see them but they were spotted futher round Scapa Flow later in the day. Local artist Tracey Hall was able to get this footage: http://youtu.be/YONQOVE-xj8