Rare humpback whale sighted off Devon coast

Photographers and sightseers are flocking to the coast of south Devon to witness a rare sighting of a humpback whale.

The giant mammals are found widely across the north west Atlantic where they migrate from Caribbean to the Arctic Circle to feed in the summer.

But, while it is not unheard of, they are rarely seen in the English Channel.

Experts said the whale, which has been seen off shore near Brixham, is not off course and not thought to be distressed, despite it being seen close to land.

Lindy Hingley, founder of Brixham Sea Watch, told Sky News large crowds have gathered along the shore to see the whale.

She said: "Everyone is very excited and it's most unusual to see this whale but it shouldn't be here and it's really quite worrying.

"The only chance it has got is for us to admire it and respect it and leave it alone. We're appealing to people to stay away and not go out in boats."

A statement put out by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue said there has recently been an increase in whale sightings around the UK and the charity is currently monitoring more than half a dozen humpback whales in the area.

Most of the sightings have been in Scotland, where they would be expected, but others have been off the coasts of Cornwall, Devon, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Northumberland and the North West.

Stephen Marsh, the charity's operations manager told Sky News: "We're not too worried about this one because it's feeding quite strongly and it looks in relatively good condition.

"Humpback whales always look a bit lumpy and bumpy but this one is quite active and feeding quite well."

British Divers Marine Life Rescue said that boating traffic could frighten the whale into making a mistake and beaching, or swimming into areas where it could become entangled in fishing gear.

Mr Marsh added that approaching the whale could also lead to danger for people.

"These are big animals - they can grow up to 36 tonnes - and they are very active so a tail slap from that could have you flying out of a boat.

"But around the UK it's also illegal to disturb a whale or a dolphin so if you're out there and you divert it or you cause any problems to it at all, you could be prosecuted, so that's another reason to stay away.

"And this whale is close enough to the shore most of the time for people to see from the coast."

Mr Marsh said that people's fascination for whales could be largely put down to their size.

"They are huge - massive - this humpback whale is larger than most of the dinosaurs were and the blue whale is the largest animal there ever was on the planet.

"A humpback whale is about half the size of that but, even so, it's pretty big and I think that stirs emotions in us.

"We live on an island and people forget that around our shores, there are about 25 species of the 88 species of whales, dolphin and porpoise that we have and about 15 of those are seen quite regularly."