Thar she blows! Whale watching off Whitby...

One of the best kept wildlife secrets is waiting to be discovered off the North Yorkshire coast. In recent years, large numbers of herring and mackerel have been gathering a few miles off the coast of Whitby. These huge shoals have attracted whales, following the fish into Yorkshire waters. The species encountered have most frequently been minke whales.

But it is not just minkes that have been sighted. In the last couple of years, humpback, sei, northern bottlenose and even the second largest animal to have ever lived on the planet, the fin whale, have all been sighted in the area, along with pods of white-beaked dolphins and numerous seals and seabirds.

This all seemed too good an opportunity to miss, so following a recommendation from local wildlife tour company, Yorkshire Coast Nature, I booked aboard the Specksioneer, a 17 metre motorsailer belonging to Whitby Whale Watching. A few years ago, a small group of locals had noted the return of the whales with great excitement and set up the company to share the experience with others. I left York early, enjoying a pleasant drive across the purple heather-clad hills of the North York Moors, before dropping down into a quiet, sunny Whitby.

The Specksioneer, with a minke whale in the foreground and the Yorkshire coast behind. Photo: Robin Petch/Sea Watch Foundation/Whitby Whale Watching

A little later, and with a moderate swell and light southeasterly wind, we headed out of the harbour in the lee of the iconic Whitby Abbey standing solemnly on the cliff top to the south and noting the large whale jaw bones atop the cliff to the north. These bones, a monument to Whitby’s whaling past, were presented by Whitby’s twin-town, Anchorage, Alaska, to replace a set that had decayed over the years. The bones are from a bowhead whale, a large arctic species that is still legally hunted for food in small numbers by local Alaskan communities.

Harbour porpoise

A little way out of the harbour and skipper Brian Clarkson yelled ‘harbour porpoise, three o’clock’ and sure enough there was a the characteristic black back of a porpoise, topped with a small triangular dorsal fin, breaking the shining surface of the sea as it breathed. The skipper had explained to us to use an imaginary clock face when giving directions, with twelve o’clock being directly ahead of the boat and six behind, so we would all look in the same place. This was a small porpoise, presumably a youngster.

The air was filled with the harsh ‘kirrick’ of sandwich terns as we scanned the sea for life. Shortly, another three porpoises broke the surface in unison. These small dolphins are fairly common along the Yorkshire coast and can be seen with relative ease from the coast as they tend to feed close in shore.

The habitats of the North Sea remain largely unprotected for mobile species such as whales, dolphins and porpoises. Next month staff at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust anticipate an announcement outlining potential new protected areas for harbour porpoise. Whilst the Trust welcomes this news, much more is needed.

A gannet. Photo: Robin Petch/Sea Watch Foundation/Whitby Whale Watching 

On we sailed with excitement mounting. Bryan advised us to look out for groups of feeding gannets and gulls as this could indicate a shoal of fish, which could have attracted a whale. A smart sooty shearwater, a dark brown seabird flashing silvery-white underwings, cruised by. These birds can be seen in Yorkshire waters during the autumn as they follow a colossal loop migration from breeding sites in the South Atlantic. As I watched the bird arc south, a shout went up for ‘whale at twelve o’clock’ and there, not fifteen metres off the bow was a minke whale!

A minke whale comes up for air. Robin Petch/Sea Watch Foundation/Whitby Whale Watching 

The top of its broad head complete with double blow-hole broke the surface to breathe, followed by an arching gun-metal grey back and angular sickle-shaped dorsal fin before the whale slipped gracefully below the surface. All with the spectacular Yorkshire coast in the background. Wow!

This was my first sighting of a minke whale in Yorkshire waters. Our small group aboard the Specksioneer celebrated, shaking hands and clapping each other on the back. Smiles all round.

Our cruise continued and we notched up many more thrilling sightings of minke whales, before we headed back to Whitby Harbour early in the afternoon. It seemed the whales were actively feeding at depth, coming up to take three or four breaths before disappearing below. They were difficult to count, but we had many encounters of possibly up to ten individuals. Though there were a few whale-free periods, there was always something to see, including seabirds such as great skuas, or passing migratory land birds, such as meadow pipits along with many grey and common seals. On deck, we exchanged whale watching stories from around the globe and the encounters we had had with a whole range of whales and dolphins. But nothing could match seeing our first Yorkshire whales!

How to go whale watching in Yorkshire

The view from the deck of the Specksioneer, with Whitby in the background. Photo: Jono Leadley

Whitby Whale Watching run whale watching boat trips from Whitby harbour every weekend throughout the summer.

This coming weekend will be the last whale watching trips of the year. They are fully booked: but there are sometimes cancellations, so if you’re keen, it may be worth giving them a call just to check. Otherwise, you could book for next year.

Trips cost £30-£40 per person, depending on how long you go out for (usually between 4-6 hours). To find out more, call Whitby Whale Watching on 07941 450381, email info@whitbywhalewatching.co.uk or visit whitbywhalewatching.net/

To learn more about the spectacular wildlife of the Yorkshire Coast, visit the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Living Seas Centre at South Landing, Flamborough, open weekends.

For local guided wildlife trips visit www.yorkshirecoastnature.co.uk

Whitby and whaling

Whitby has long been associated with whales. Between 1753 and 1833, 55 boats hunted whales out of the coastal town, bringing the carcases back for processing. The impact of commercial whaling like this had a huge impact on the numbers of whales in the North Atlantic and by 1833 the viability of the activity became commercially untenable and whaling activities ceased. Elsewhere in the world, whaling continued until a worldwide ban was imposed in 1986, sadly still flouted by a handful of countries.

As promoted by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Living Seas Vision, our seas have a great potential to regenerate, given the chance, and despite the unsustainable catches, with protection, whale numbers are gradually bouncing back.

To be able to see minke whales and other species off the Yorkshire coast today is a real privilege and testament to the nature conservation and environmental organisations’ determination to protect these animals and to the animals own sheer resilience.

Two minke whales swim side-by-side off the Yorkshire coast. Photo: Robin Petch/Sea Watch Foundation/Whitby Whale Watching 

Minke whales, the whales most commonly sighted off North Yorkshire, are the smallest of the rorqual whales. Rorqual whales feed by straining fish and other small marine creatures from the water by using sieve-like plates of baleen, made from keratin, which is the same substance that forms hair and fingernails. This group includes the mighty blue whale, humpbacks and the smaller minke. Although the smallest of the group, minkes are still impressive beasts, weighing in at ten tonnes and growing up to eight metres in length. They have distinctive white bands on their flippers, a small angular fin on their backs and rarely produce the famous whale ‘blow’.