An NHS nurse has ended an emotional five-year search to spot her first orca in the Moray Firth – describing the moment as one of the best in her life.
Jilly Blackhurst moved to Burghead after being overwhelmed with the huge variety of nature while visiting on a holiday.
The dental nurse, who works in Nairn, has had a lifelong love of killer whales due to their size and striking colours.
However, despite taking part in several whale watches in Caithness and being alerted to sightings near her home, she has always missed out on seeing the massive mammals – until now.
The search for orcas in the Moray Firth
Ms Blackhurst’s tearful sighting of the pod of five orcas off the coast of Lossiemouth came amidst a day that was already full of emotions.
That morning she had just completed her first half marathon through the woods of Roseisle Forest, raising money for Macmillan in memory of her sister-in-law Debbie who has recently died from brain cancer.
Her woodland run meant she had missed excited messages among fellow whale watchers about the killer whales just miles from where she was running.
It was only when she returned home that she picked up the phone to local expert Steve Truluck and was alerted to the presence of the mighty beasts, which migrate from Iceland to Scottish waters during the summer.
She said: “We ended up in a boat from Lossiemouth harbour. We were out there for hours, meticulously searching and scanning – that’s when we saw the pod led by Mousa.
“I cried, I was speechless. It was like time stood still when we were with them.
“You aren’t allowed to approach them but at one point they turned and came towards us. It was one in a million.
“It was almost blessed. My brother’s wife passed away recently and it almost felt as if she was going ‘There you go, there’s your orca.’
“Apart from my daughter being born, it was the best moment of my life.”
Why orcas?
Ms Blackhurst has held a lifelong passion for killer whales, describing them as “beautiful sea pandas”.
During her search and close encounter with the orca pod in the Moray Firth she came within about 50ft of the group of five.
She said: “For me, they are just so astonishingly beautiful.
“It’s incredible how long they live for too. There’s one orca, John Coe, who is about 60 years old and was first spotted in the 1980s.
“They have no natural predators but I find it so fascinating how they interact for territories – some eat seals and some eat only fish and there’s no fighting between them over food.”