Rare humpback whale spotted off the Pembrokeshire coast

A wildlife cinematographer and shark guide has described the surprise and joy of seeing a humpback whale in the Celtic Deep, just off the Welsh coast. Dan Abbot, known as Sharkman Dan on social media, shared a recording of the moment off the Pembrokeshire coast. He has seen humpbacks before on planned trips where sightings are less unusual, but this one was, he said, a complete surprise.

Lloyd Nelmes from Sea Trust said the sighting was unusual even for someone who works in the field and probably has their eyes on the water every day. “For a normal person, it’s insanely rare,” he said.

Abbot guides blue shark snorkelling trips off Pembrokeshire, and he was on a scheduled trip in the Celtic Sea on 25 September when he made the find. The group had just left the snorkelling site after seeing several sharks and was 25 to 30 miles offshore. Bluefin tuna, dolphins and gannets were feeding all around, which he said is not unusual there at this time of year.

A guest on board saw a whale blow in the distance. Abbot first suspected a minke or a fin whale, the two most common whales in Welsh waters, and said a big blow would probably mean a fin whale. They watched it blow, quite far out, and slowly moved toward the area where the feeding was going on.