A 'KILLER whale' spotted off the Welsh coast has been entered into the Sea Watch Foundation's national sighting database as a "possible" Orca.
In May, the North Wales Chronicle reported that Rob Creek had captured what he believed to be Orca on camera whilst on staying at Hafan-Y-Mor Holiday Park, near Pwllheli.
He said at the time: "I was walking on the coast path, situated at the end of the caravan park. I was looking out for dolphins and seabirds when I spotted a 'large tall black dorsal fin' entering the bay.
"The water was nice and calm when a the fin appeared. It was quite far out but easily picked up with my binoculars and my birding scope.
"It appeared twice more which allowed me to get the images but it didn’t surface again. My heart was racing, and I thought I was seeing things as I kind of realised there is only one mammal with a dorsal fin that shape, an Orca."
Rob didn’t get chance to review the images as a miraculous few moments unfolded.
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"No sooner had the killer whale's fin submerged, a Minke Whale surfaced couple 100 yards away, showing its back and small rear dorsal fin so my mind was doing overtime thinking 'was the Orca tracking the Minke Whale?' 'And was the Minke aware of the Orca’s presence?'
"The Minke Whale surfaced again and I managed a quick image but then no sooner had that submerged, more fins were surfacing."
Rob then saw two Bottlenose Dolphins. He believes a Risso’s Dolphin was also present.
Peter Evans, director of Sea Watch Foundation and an Honorary Professor in the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, confirmed the alleged 'killer whale' spotted by Rob had been entered into the national sightings database as a "possible" orca.
He added: "I don't think we can be sure of it based only upon the images supplied. So, whereas it might possibly be an Orca, we cannot rule out one of the larger dolphins such as Risso's dolphin whose fin can appear in images as tall and erect and is often mistaken for Orca (and which regularly occurs in the northern Cardigan Bay in contrast to Orcas)."
Rob added: "I received an email from National Seawatch Foundation explaining that the images had been assessed and that it could well be an Orca.
"The sighting was entered into their database as 'possible' Orca, I was happy with that as it suggested that the images weren’t rubbished.
"I suppose it was a case of right place right time and it shows that with wildlife, some things can turn up just about anywhere."
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