by Recent whale sightings off the coast of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly could be a good sign for marine life recovering, an expert said.
It comes after a spate of images of whales and dolphins has surfaced around the Cornish coast.
Katie Bellman of Cornwall Wildlife Trust said the whales recently spotted off the coast of Cornwall could be just a fraction of what was in the ocean.
She said regular annual sightings could be a sign of population growth.
‘Just a Glimpse’
She said: “At least three different whales have been seen off the coast of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly on Tuesday alone, which is amazing, and really that’s just a glimpse of what could actually be out there.”
Ms Bellman said the whale visits could be a good sign for marine life recovering.
She added: “What’s really encouraging is that because we’re getting regular annual sightings, which has been quite rare in recent years, it suggests that there’s some sort of population increase happening, which is great for marine life recovery.”
Drone footage captured by Richard Brindley shows a humpback whale off the coast of St Ives.
He said: “I had seen footage of it from the previous day and was quite surprised to see it in the bay.”
After seeing a social media post saying the whale had been spotted again, he “went out to see if I could get a picture of it with the drone”.
Brindley said the whale was visible in the bay for about an hour using his drone.
“I’ve seen dolphins many times, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a whale. It was quite amazing.
“It was moving very slowly. It just seemed to kind of do the length of the bay.”
In addition to the recent whale sightings, there have also been several reports of a large pod of dolphins off the coast of Falmouth.
Mike Postons, of 3Deep Media, captured a large pod of dolphins from his drone over Pendennis Point in Falmouth.
Speaking to BBC Radio Cornwall, he said: “I knew they were around for the last few days, and I decided to get out in the morning and go to Pendennis Point in Falmouth to have a look.
“I waited there for a while, had a coffee, couldn’t really see anything happening, there were a few people watching and looking out for them, so I kind of liked a first flight with the drone and then had a good look around and I couldn’t really see anything.”
Mr Postons said he considered going home, but decided to fly the drone one more time to look for the dolphins – when he saw them.
He added: “They actually kind of showed up between Pendennis Castle and St Mawes Castle, it was a really big group, I don’t know how many, I’m guessing about 100 – and they seemed to be circling there.
“It was a really great sight to see.”
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