A RARE sighting of a fin whale has been made off the coast of Whitby from onboard a DFDS Seaways ferry.

The whale was spotted by the ORCA survey team as the ship was en route from Newcastle to IJmuiden, near Amsterdam.

The fin whale is more regularly seen in deeper waters, such as the Bay of Biscay.

The ORCA survey team on board, led by Brian Clasper, who along with Sophie Wild made the sighting 600m off the starboard side of the ship.

Brian said: "Sophie and I were on the starboard side of the bridge routinely scanning and about 600m away a fin whale rose to the surface appearing to try to log before it dived.

"We just looked at each other gobsmacked."

FIN WHALE FACTS (Information from www.seashepherd.org):

  •  second largest species of whale
  • second largest living animal on earth behind the blue whale
  • Can be up to 85 feet long in the southern hemisphere
  • Females are larger than the males by 5-10 per cent
  • Can weigh between 40 and 80 tons
  • Have a long sleek, streamlined body shape with multiple grooves running lengthwise along the throat
  • Part of the family of rorqual whales (baleen whale with throat grooves)
  • Two thirds of the way down its back is a tall hook shaped fin
  • Fin whales are found in deep, offshore waters of all major oceans, primarily in temperate to polar latitudes, and less commonly in the tropics.
  • They occur year-round in a wide range of latitudes and longitudes, but the density of individuals in any one area changes seasonally.

Six bottlenose dolphins, one white-beaked dolphin and three harbour porpoises were also sighted by the team, which also includes Suzanne Makki and Phoenix Davies.

The team are surveying in the North Sea as part of ORCA OceanWatch - an annual offshore study of whales, dolphin and porpoises seen around the UK.

DFDS Seaways have partnered with ORCA to help them achieve their conservation goals of establishing cetacean (collective name for whales, dolphins and porpoises) activity in UK waters, to help protect and conserve them and their habitats.

Find out more about OceanWatch and other ferry, cruise, freight and naval vessels involved in the project: www.orcaweb.org.uk/get-involved/OceanWatch