Rare visitor arrives to our shores

ON FEBRUARY 15 last year, a woman walking along a beach in the Scilly Isles spotted a large whale close to shore. 

The animal turned out to be an extremely rare visitor to these waters. Bowhead whales seldom venture far from the polar ice-cap but this one was 2,000km south of its normal range.

A sighting off Cornwall last May was probably of the same animal. Then it was our turn to be visited. The crew of a pilot boat spotted a strange-looking whale at Carlingford on May 29.