WHALE OF A TIME... IN CORNWALL!
Mesmerising moment a humpback makes a rare appearance off Penzance
IN a spray of foam, a huge whale launches itself out of the sea. A scene from the balmy waters of Hawaii or Mexico? No – west Cornwall.
These rare pictures were taken a few miles off Penzance as the humpback leapt out of the blue.
They were captured by Rupert Kirkwood, from Bude, who said he feared the creature would land on the kayak he was using.
He has spent the past 15 years paddling around the South-West coast, but told the BBC he had never seen anything quite like it before.
A day later the passengers and crew of a tour boat had a similar experience when a humpback, possibly the same one, swam under their vessel.
Hannah Jones, co-owner of Marine Discovery Penzance, said she noticed a swell in the water while on a wildlife-spotting trip on Saturday.
‘We had already spotted seals, blue fin tuna, harbour porpoises and minke whales, so it had been a really successful trip,’ she said. ‘But I noticed a change in the water.
‘We motored over slowly and we saw the whale feeding. The mood on the boat was just speechless awe.’
Humpbacks, which grow up to 50ft in length, are an endangered species – it is estimated that there are only 60,000 worldwide.
They mate and calve in tropical waters during winter before travelling to cold, polar waters in summer to feed. In recent years the creatures have been spotted near northern Scotland, but their visits to British waters are still highly unusual. Miss Jones added: ‘This was the first prolonged feeding activity we have seen on a trip. We have been running trips for 15 years and this is our fourth sighting.
‘However, we operate for only seven months a year due to weather restraints, and more humpbacks are being seen from the shore in late winter when we’re not out on the water.
‘The fact we are seeing more could be proof that conservation efforts have worked – whaling was banned in the 1980s and humpback whales are a real success story.’