Rebecca Kieft went to the window to take a picture of the view before seeing a ‘big puff of water’
Holiday goers in one part of Wales have been treated to a rare wildlife display which included dolphins and a suspected humpback whale. A family staying near Pwll Deri on the west side of the Strumble peninsula couldn’t believe it when a huge whale broke through the waves last Wednesday (January 28).
Rebecca Kieft, from Swansea, was staying in a holiday let with family, enjoying the coastal views and being treated to regular dolphin performances. But when she went to the window on one occasion, hoping to capture a picture of the view to show her friends, she couldn’t help but notice “a big puff of water”.
She recalled: “I thought it was strange and thought I might’ve been seeing things for a minute so I just kept looking out and then the next thing I knew the dolphins were jumping and then the whale broke the water. I couldn’t believe my eyes, I was a bit shocked. I ran into my papa and said, “I think I’ve just seen a whale”, so then the rest of the family all ran out and everyone got a little glimpse of the puff of water as it was heading up off the coast.” For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here.
Rebecca said her and her family felt pretty lucky just to have seen all the dolphins jumping around the bay, but seeing the ginormous whale had left them all “really shocked”. A marine wildlife charity based in the area have since confirmed that the mammal is believed to be a humpback whale.
She continued: “It was just a fluke really. I had been looking out the window as there had been some dolphins earlier in the day and I popped to the window just to take a picture of the view and send it to some friends.
“I was just looking out the edge of a bedroom window, I wasn’t outside or actively looking, it just happened to jump out.”
Rebecca has had brilliant luck in spotting the marine mammals having previously seen a Humpback whale in Tahiti. “That was just a fluke as well, I don’t know whether I attract them maybe,” she joked.
She recalled how the whale was noticeably a lot larger than the dolphins also circulating the area outside their cliffside holiday let. Rebecca estimated that the whale was about three or four times the length of the dolphins.
“It was dramatically bigger and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” she said.
“It was a lovely surprise. It was a fantastic spot because we saw loads of wildlife from up there so if anyone’s looking out for any whales then head down that way.”
The Sea Trust, a marine conservation charity based in Pembrokeshire, wrote on social media: “Last week, we received this amazing video from Rebecca Kieft who had been staying in a cottage not far from Pwll Deri, on the west side of the Strumble peninsula.
“The video was taken on Wednesday, and the team here believes it to be a Humpback whale. This is an incredible sighting, highlighting the abundance and variety of marine animals that we get around west Wales!”