A friendly humpback whale has been spotted doing a bit of fishing right off a beach in West Cork.
The whale, who local kids’ have christened Harry, has spent around two weeks chilling around the popular swimming spot of Tragumna, enjoying some of West Cork’s best seafood.
In view of the terrace outside the popular Skibbereen Eagle pub, Harry has been spotted “bubble net fishing” in footage that has been shared worldwide.
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Growing to around 50 feet and weighing up to 40 metric tons, humpback whales can be gigantic creatures, and this one appears to have chosen the shoreline around Toe Head and Tragumna as its feeding ground for the start of summer.
Henry also appears to be quite relaxed around people with a number of small boats going out to watch him feed on Sunday.
Speaking to CorkBeo, locals said the friendly humpback is also visible from the shoreline and from the patio outside the popular Skibbereen Eagle pub on the hill just behind the beach.
One local, Shane Hourihane, posted a cool short clip to social media on Sunday. The clip was taken by his wife Aine, when went out with their son in a little boat to see Henry on Sunday evening.
"It was very calm, you can actually see where the whale is blowing bubbles, and you know that's where he's going to come up, " Shane told CorkBeo.
"My wife said it was all very surreal, they were so close to the whale, it was fantastic. There was a fair crowd out watching him, he's been around all week, fairly close into the shore and you can even see him from the terrace of the pub," he added.
A lady called Heather, who was out in a boat with a group of kids when Henry popped his head up to gulp up some food, told the site: "My kids are budding Marine Biologists so to be able to see Harry so close to shore was very special, especially for my daughter Ruá, who started crying with pure joy when she saw him surface for the first time.”
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