Humpback whale filmed jumping near the Zeeland coast

A still from the video
A still from the video.

A humpback whale has been filmed swimming and jumping off the Zeeland coast by two fishermen in a rubber boat.

The whale was around three kilometres off the cost of Westkapelle in calm sea when Lourens Janisse and a friend first heard it releasing air.

‘We got closer to take a look and it also came nearer to us,’ Janisse told local broadcaster Omroep Zeeland. The whale leapt out of the water several times, giving Janisse and his friend plenty of time to film it.

Sea mammal specialist Jaap van der Hiele told the broadcaster that the whale appeared to be healthy.

‘Humpback whales are discovering the North Sea,’ he said. ‘A few years ago we had one close to Vlissingen and once in the Oosterschelde estuary. They can easily swim in shallow water so this whale is not in any danger.’

According to marine protection group SOS Dolfijn, humpbacked whales have been visiting the Dutch coast since the beginning of this century.

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