The humpback whale spotted off Pembrokeshire shores for the past three days has travelled here from the Isle of Man, it has been revealed.
The markings on the dorsal fin of the humpback whale, which has been seen in Fishguard Harbour and of the breakwater in Goodwick over the last three days match exactly with humpback spotted off Cranstal last week.
This means that the humpback has travelled around 217 miles in the space of a week.
Conservation charity, Sea Trust, said it was confident that it was the same whale.
“We posted some amazing photos of the whale dorsal fin and right flank taken by Lloyd Nelmes,” said Sea Trust.
“The Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch (MWDW) from the Isle of Man contacted us that they also saw a humpback off Cranstal. Thanks to the amazing photos Jeremy Paul took of the whale on the 13th January we were able to confirm that it is the same whale.
“We want to thank MWDW for the opportunity to ID and match a humpback and we want everyone to know that we are trying to contact people in Scotland and Ireland to see if there are any further matches for the beautiful whale.”
The whale was first spotted on Friday, January 19. This is only the second recorded sighting of a humpback off the Pembrokeshire coast by Sea Trust in three decades, It was seen in the bay in the morning and just after 1pm was reported as being between the end of the inner breakwater and the Old Fort. Expert opinion was that it was following the herring that have been coming into the bay.
It was then seen coming towards Goodwick and surfaced off the Fisherman’s Quay.
Spectators started to fear for its safety as the huge cetacean headed inland towards the shore.
However, it then turned and travelled up alongside the inner breakwater, incredibly close to the crowds, before heading out to sea.
It was thought that would be the last Fishguard and Goodwick saw of the enormous cetacean. However yesterday, Saturday, January 20, and Sunday, there were further sightings as it has returned to the harbour.
The last reported sighting was at 1.30pm today off the Old Fort and again close to the inner breakwater.
Sea Trust Wales, a conservation charity based in Goodwick’s Ocean Lab, said that the whale is estimated about to be around 12 metres which is undersized for an adult humpback.
However, the scarring on its back and fin are consistent with an animal that ‘has been around for a while’.
Sea Trust says that the animal seems healthy and the theory was that it was following herring into the harbour to feed on them.
There are reports that the humpback has returned again to the harbour this morning, Monday.
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