Beluga whale appears off Northern Ireland coast

What is believed to be the first ever sighting of a beluga whale off the coast of Northern Ireland, took place on July 30th.

Normally found in cold, arctic waters it is unclear what brought the whale so far south, though sea temperatures in this part of the North Atlantic have been lower than usual this year.

Beluga whales only rarely visit UK waters with only 17 recorded sightings, mostly off northern Scotland. The sighting by photographer Gordon Watson, took place off near Dunsverick on the County Antrim coast.

This is proving to be a great year for whale and dolphin sightings around Uk waters, on the same day there was another sighting of a humpback whale off the Mull of Kintyre in south-west Scotland.