Group of orcas 'play around' fishing boat

Fishermen have captured footage of a pod of "eight to ten" orcas as they "played around the boat".

They were first spotted by 14-year-old Tyler Annison and filmed by his brother Joshua, 17, about three miles (5kms) off Beadnell on the Northumberland coast on Wednesday morning.

"We have been looking because it was about this time we saw them last year," their father Glen Annison said.

"It's not something you see every day so we took a bit of time out of our day to watch them."

Also known as killer whales, orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family and are found in every ocean although sightings in the UK are rare.

Glen Annison, 41, from Seahouses, has been fishing since he left school but has only seen orcas "two or three times".

"There was a little calf with them which kept coming close to the boat - the big parents kept off a bit.

"Last year they were on a mission, they looked like they were on jet skis. We couldn't keep up with them but this time they were playing around the boat."

Andrew Douglas, who runs boat trips out of Seahouses, also spotted orcas last year, but is not sure if it is the same group yet.

"I think what's happening is they are just coming in a bit closer in to the coast," he said.

"It is so rare to see them so for them to be spotted here two years in a row is really great and special."

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