Incredible moment Steve Backshall comes face-to-face with two killer whales off Cornish coast

Wildlife explorer Steve Backshall came face-to-face with two of the UK's last resident killer whales off the the coast of Cornwall, marking one of his 'greatest British wildlife moments'. 

Backshall exclaims with glee as the orca harmoniously glide through the choppy waves off the Kernow coast more than 500 miles away from their home in Scotland. 

The footage captures wind rustling against the microphone as the TV adventurer, who fashions a bright red coat complimented by a life jacket, switches between the animals and his ecstatic commentary.

The male killer whales, named John Coe and Aquarius, were filmed by Backshall off Lizard Point in Cornwall - and was deemed by the explorer as one of his 'greatest British wildlife moments'. 

Rejoicing on Wednesday, the wildlife star shouts from his boat: 'They're there. They're there. They're right in front of us. Unbelievable.'

Backshall continues: 'Orca in Cornish seas and not just any Orca but the two best known individuals in the Northern hemisphere. 

'Just absolute rock stars, celebrities, icons of the Orca world and right here on our doorstep. Unreal.'

The explorer is a Cornish local and lives near Land's End with wife Olympic rower Helen Glover, and his son Logan, 8, and six-year-old twins Kit and Willow. 

Joe Jones, who rushed to get a glimpse of the Orcas, believed the orca sighting was an 'April's fool'. 

He recounted: 'I went to Lizard Point where they passed much closer and gave much better views. I have seen Fin, Minke and Humpback whales over the last few years around the Lizard.

'But was by far the best and an absolute pleasure to have seen them.' 

Backshall had been tipped off by a friend filmmaker George Morris who was making a documentary about the pair of brothers, who are in their sixties. 

The orcas are believed to be the last two members of the West Coast Community previously 10-band pod. 

The pod, which Backshall described as 'stalking our shores for a long time', was made up of 10 orcas in the 1990s and were frequently spotted around the UK and Ireland. 

John Coe and Aquarius have been spotted regularly along the west coast of Scotland.

The brothers were last spotted off the west coast of Cornwall in May 2021, while a female nicknamed Lulu was found dead entangled by fishing lines in the Inner Hebrides in 2016.

The pod reduced to four males and four females, distinguishable by their unusual sloping eye patch and larger size, and normally reside in the Hebrides.

Researchers, who have studied them for more than 50 years, believe the pod's demise can be linked to pollution, preventing the killer whales to produce in more than a quarter of a century. 

They are now trying to uncover what happened to the missing orcas, who have not been spotted for more than nine years despite their close bond.

Tests revealed Lulu's body contained among the highest levels of polychlorinated biphenlys, or PCBs, ever recorded - despite the chemicals being banned in the 1970s.

This could cause the west coast community to be infertile due to the high concentration.  

Lulu's body contained 950mg/kg of PCBs, which is more than 100 times the 9mg/kg threshold known to cause harm to the health of marine mammals. 

The pod's tenth original member, named Moon, was found dead on the Isle of Lewis in 2008. 

Scotland's seas are also believed to be the home of a semi-resident group of orcas, who travel from Iceland each spring to raise their calves and to hunt. Killer whales can travel 100 miles in day. 

They are known to hunt harbour porpoises while killer whales around Shetland and Orkney hunt seals. 

A spokesperson from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust said the sighting made for 'big wildlife news'. 

They said: 'Orca were seen off the Lizard in Cornwall. Another rare sighting in our changing seas.'