17-year-old Josh Annison caught the orcas on video around three miles off Beadnell on Wednesday morning.Josh Annison’s video of a pod of orcas spotted off the Northumberland Coast near Beadnell
Orcas have been spotted feeding and playing off the Northumberland Coast for a fourth consecutive year. An estimated eight to 10 killer whales, including a calf, were caught on video by a Northumberland teenager who was out on his dad’s fishing boat earlier today.
Glen Annison, 41, sons Josh, 17, and Tyler, 14, and crew member Glenn Lithgow were fishing for lobsters and crabs around four miles off Seahouses and three off Beadnell point on Wednesday morning. Initially, the crew thought they had seen a pod of minke whales, but then Mr Lithgow spotted a dorsal fin.
Mr Annison told ChronicleLive: “It’s great to see them, we spent 15 – 20 minutes next to them. They were all around the boat, there was a young calf playing around the boat and the older ones kept off a bit.”
The fisherman said his sons took more videos as he steered the boat in the wheelhouse. He finished: “They were right near where we had some pots, that’s the only reason we saw them!”
L-R: Glenn Lithgow, Glen Annison, Tyler Annison, and Josh Annison(Image: Glenn Annison)
Serenity Farne Island Tours shared Josh’s video on its Facebook page. Andrew Douglas, who runs the company, said that he has not seen the orcas yet himself, but hoped their presence would bring more visitors.
However, he doesn’t think the whales will stay around for long. He said: “I think if they’ve been spotted now, they won’t hang around.
“They’re just here for food. But they might be spotted tomorrow or the next day.”
Mr Douglas did spot them last year though, sharing incredible footage of the mammals and saying he had “never seen anything like it.” Farne Islands tour operators reported a big increase in bookings in 2025 due to the whales, with William Shiel of Billy Shiel Boat Tours saying the phone “had not stopped ringing”.
Orcas, which can live for up to 90 years in the wild, are around 18-foot when fully grown. They usually eat fish or seals.
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