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Whale watchers have been left bewildered by a surge in reported humpback whale sightings across the English Channel last month.
The Sussex Dolphin Project said mammals weighing up to 30 tonnes have been spotted between Rye, Pett Level, Fairlight, Hastings and St Leonards. Yes.
There were 17 whale sightings around the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall between December 29 and January 8 this year. guardian It has been reported.
“We believe that humpback whales passing through the East Channel of England are leaving their feeding grounds in the Arctic Circle and migrating south into warmer waters where they are often used as breeding grounds,” Thea Taylor of the Dolphin Project told the BBC.
“They usually travel along the west coast of England, but at the moment we don’t know what causes them to travel along the east coast.”
An awestruck West Sussex resident described one of the animals as “putting on a show” for her as she watched.
“The whale was just coming up when it suddenly jumped out of the water and gave us a proper look,” she told the BBC.
Traditionally, whales roam the western part of England, but some now swim along the east coast and through the Strait of Dover. It is possible that they have re-established an ancestral route that was abandoned when many humpback whales were slaughtered by whalers in the 19th and 20th centuries. -hunter.
The sightings suggest that the species’ population has been increasing globally since commercial hunting was banned decades ago, but it may also be a symptom of changes in food availability.
However, the increase in winter sightings may also be related to changes in food availability. Humpback whales are filter feeders, scooping up huge quantities of plankton, small crustaceans, and small fish.
“You see a lot of bait fish, which are small fish like anchovies, off the south-west coast,” said Ruth Williams, marine conservation director at Wildlife Trusts. guardian.
“They reproduce very quickly, and climate change is bringing their stocks closer to our oceans.”
“These people may be stationary because they are vulnerable and in need of feeding, so we ask boat owners to give them space.”
