A whale has been spotted making waves at Britain’s top surfing capital.
The humpback was filmed breaching and playfully slapping the surface with a fin.
It was seen just off Bedruthan Steps in Newquay, Cornwall, by excited witness Marie Lepage.
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“It put on a special show,” she said.
“I first saw it in the distance just before new year and a few times since.
“But I only managed to get a good view this week after a month of tracking it.
“It’s been swimming around Watergate Bay also in the evening, creating chaos with parking as people try and see it.”
Bex Allen from Cornwall Wildlife Trust said surveys show an increased number of humpback whales which she called “one of the greatest recovery stories”.
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Whaling had reduced the humpback population to less than 5% of its original size, she said but since the species had been protected since the 1960s, numbers have increased, as rep[orted by What’s The Jam.
Reaching up to 18m long, the animals are found throughout the world’s oceans and perform some of the longest migrations of any mammal with journeys up to 16,000km recorded.
Their population is believed to be 140,000 worldwide.
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Newquay is widely regarded as the best place to surf in the UK due to the big waves coming off the Atlantic.
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