Up close with humpback whales

Reports that paddle-boarders encountered a humpback whale off West Cork on June 17 have made east coast dwellers green with envy.

Where I live, we long to see the whale-watcher’s dream species breaching, waving fins and slapping the water surface with its huge tail. I saw them do so off the Galapagos some years ago, an unforgettable experience. Complex songs, up to half an hour long, rival those of birds.

Changing slightly from year to year, they can be heard tens of kilometres away. Uniquely among baleen whales, humpbacks may hunt co-operatively; several will encircle a shoal, creating a virtual net of air bubbles to trap the fish inside. Humpbacks are so unique among the other great whales that they are placed in a sub-family of their own.