July 14, 2026
“Then there’s a breath – guttural and deep”
BY: Daisy Brickhill
Topics: Oil and Gas
George Morris is a documentary filmmaker who has worked across a diverse range of subjects, from crime and miscarriages of justice, to wildlife and the people that work to protect our natural world. One of his most recent projects has been to work with Oceana UK, documenting the start of our research to trace the chemical fingerprints of Big Oil in the bodies of dolphins and porpoises who have been forced to swim in polluted waters. We were thrilled to speak to him about telling the stories of our seas.
Daisy: Tell us about your documentary John Coe and Aquarius, the Scottish orcas – their story echoes some of what Oceana is investigating right now, doesn’t it, that ocean wildlife is bearing the burden of human-made toxins?
George: The film is an independent feature documentary that tells the story of a small family, a pod, of orca known as the West Coast Community, primarily seen on the west coast of Scotland.
They’re different to other orca recorded off of the Scottish coast as they have only ever been recorded in UK and Irish waters, meaning the West Coast Community are considered ‘resident’ to the UK and Ireland. They are also much larger, and only eat marine mammals, like porpoise, and speak a totally unique language.
In fact, they’re most closely associated to Antarctic killer whales. Scientists think that at some point many many years ago that an Antarctic pod broke off and travelled north.
Slowly, over the last 30 years, they’ve declined to the point where, when we started filming, there were only two males, John Coe and Aquarius – the last two members of the West Coast Community.
Though scientists had theories as to why there had not been a single calf born in over 40 years, their hopes were dashed in 2016, when Lulu, the last female in the group, was found dead on the island of Tiree.
It was at this point that the magnitude of the situation was fully realised, because while investigating her death, scientists found that she was highly contaminated with PCB chemicals. These toxic forever chemicals can cause a plethora of issues, including inhibiting infertility, disrupting vital hormones and causing cancer. Although they are now banned they were used ubiquitously in technology and manufacturing.
Daisy:What will happen to the pod now?
George: Other than John Coe and Aquarius, no members of the West Coast Community have been seen since Lulu’s death, and because they are so different to other orca in the area breeding with them is not possible – sadly John Coe and Aquarius will be the last of their pod.
Daisy: It’s incredibly sad. The fact that we are losing such a unique and awe-inspiring animals from UK waters should be a stark warning to us all – dolphins, seals and porpoises are still swimming through carcinogenic chemicals linked to oil rigs and it needs to stop. PCBs have been banned and it’s about time we do the same with these ocean- and climate-wrecking oil rigs.
Daisy: What was your most memorable encounter during your filming?
George: Finding two killer whales off the west coast of Scotland is like finding a needle in a haystack. So we relied on a network of local people – scientists, fishers and wildlife watchers. Passionate people who all love the orca.
We were just sitting in a café on Isle of Mull when I got a call from the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust to say that someone on a sailing boat had seen them near Oban. We raced to our boat – it was like launching a lifeboat, we were trying to do everything as quickly as possible – and dashed out.
It was incredible to find them. We had whale science legend Dr. Connor Ryan aboard, and he was the first to spot John Coe’s incredible dorsal fin. Its about two metres tall – huge. This tip comes out from the sea and it just keeps going and going and going. And then there’s a breath, it’s guttural and deep. The size of these animals is utterly unbelievable.
They were about 400 or 500 meters away, swimming away from us when they dived deep, definitely hunting. They often dive for five or so minutes and can pop up anywhere, so we downed our cameras and very slowly carried on the same heading, scanning the horizon, expecting them to come up miles away… then, out of nowhere they both popped up right next to us. It took my breath away.
Daisy: What advice would you give aspiring wildlife filmmakers?
George: Just get out there and do it. If you are starting out now, for the first time, you have a great positive in that you don’t have to be connected to the BBC or a big production studio to go and make stuff. It can go onto YouTube, it can go onto Instagram, it can go nowhere, it doesn’t matter. Make Make Make!
You learn so much by messing around with a phone camera and shooting and editing little films than by sitting in a classroom or watching tutorials. Just get out there and tell stories, it doesn’t matter if it’s crap. We’ve all made that stuff, just go and practice.
As humans, we’re storytellers and we always have been, from cave paintings all the way through to modern day cinema, its in our nature. Don’t get bogged down in the tech, go and make crap and learn how to tell a story.
Daisy: Great advice. Right now we need to be telling the stories of our seas, regaining that deep connection and protecting the incredible wildlife that swims in UK seas. Let’s get out there and do it.
Stop Big Oil billionaires polluting our seas for profit