Visitors have whale of a time off Clon coast

By MARTHA BRENNAN

A GROUP of whale watchers were treated to a spectacular show last weekend, when a humpback was spotted leaping out of the Atlantic off the West Cork coast.

The breaching humpback’s display took place between Seven Heads and Clonakilty bay by a group out with the Courtmacsherry-based Atlantic Whale and Wildlife Tours.

Mark Gannon, who organises the tours, was on the boat at the time, and said that it’s extremely rare to get a recording, such as the one taken by Michelle Kincaid, which has now been viewed over 120,000 times online.

‘It’s very hard to get images of whales breaching, especially videos, but we had two people up at the bow who were already recording when the whale leapt out of the water and gave a twirl,’ Mark said.

‘The last time this happened off West Cork was over two years ago, and when it does happen it’s very fast. It’s usually over in about 30 seconds, so it’s unbelievable to see it, and get on video.’

The video, which shows the whale rising into the air three times in a row, is on the @atlanticwhales page on Twitter.

Well this just happened!
A humpback breaching fully out of the water in #Clonakilty Bay on this evenings trip from #Courtmacsherry.
Thank you Michelle Kincaid for capturing this incredible footage. pic.twitter.com/Z2GANmBeBj

— Whales and Wildlife (@atlanticwhales) July 11, 2020

You can hear the viewers’ shrieks of delight at the incredible display right in front of them. Whale sightings have been increasing off the West Cork coast recently, with three humpbacks also spotted last month off Seven Heads. This time of year is especially good for such sightings.