At first the sailors thought the splashing and spray was being caused by a pesky jetskier, but then they glimpsed a large, dark fin and realised they were having a close encounter with a much rarer creature – a humpback whale.
The whale was spotted by a couple sailing 2 miles off the Cornish coast and is causing a ripple of joy among conservationists because the mammals, which can grow up to 18 metres long, are rarely seen off the far south-west of England and there is no previous modern record of one in the area at this time of year.
Linda Cassidy, who spotted the humpback in Falmouth Bay during a sailing adventure with her partner, Ryan, around the UK, said it was an amazing sight.
“We were sailing from Plymouth to Falmouth when we noticed some splashes ahead,” said Cassidy. “Our first thought was a jetskier – though this did seem unlikely because the water was choppy. Then we saw the fin and realised we were witnessing a whale.”
The humpback appeared on the starboard side of their 11-metre boat, Crystal Star, and then popped up on the port side. Cassidy tried to keep her camera still to film it but the footage was a little shaky because of the rough conditions and her excitement over what she was recording.
She managed to capture the whale slapping its tail on the surface of the water and then breaching. “That was its finale,” she said. “It was an incredible sight to witness this beautiful creature, and totally unexpected. At best we were hoping to see some dolphins so this was a real treat, a great experience.”
There has been a steady increase in the number of humpback whale sightings over the past five years off Cornwall. So far this year about 10 different humpbacks have been recorded by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust passing through Cornish waters, but there has only been one previous summer sighting: in August 2019, off Lamorna in the far west of Cornwall.
Abby Crosby, a marine conservation officer for the trust, said: “This is a very special sighting as humpbacks are usually sighted here in Cornwall only sporadically in the winter months. To get a sighting like this in early summer is brilliant. It may indicate the species is recovering. I see it as a wake-up call to remind us how impressive our Cornish seas are.”
The trust said the humpbacks, which can weigh as much as 40 tonnes and live for 80 to 90 years, did seem to be making a comeback in UK waters. Sightings are more common off Shetland and the Hebrides and they are also increasingly being spotted in the northern parts of the North Sea.
Humpback whales undertake some of the longest migrations of any mammal, feasting on small fish and krill in cooler waters and then travelling to tropical seas to give birth. Crosby said the tail-slapping seen in the video may be a form of communication, or a way of stunning prey.
Some whales that are repeatedly seen passing through Cornish waters in the winter have been identified and given names including Cream Tea, Kevin, Snowy and Morvil – Cornish for whale. There is also one called Abby, named after Crosby. And a whale called Helen has been spotted in waters off Cornwall, Russia and the Dominican Republic.
