NOC – Guardian ‘Oceanographers claim grainy pictures showing world’s largest animal 250 miles off the coast are first since it was hunted to near-extinction. The great creature surfaced from the murk of a deep-sea canyon, lingered just long enough for observers to grab a few pictures, and then vanished from sight into the fog and rain. Oceanographers believe these grainy photographs are probably the first to show a blue whale in English waters since the mammals were almost hunted to extinction in the north-east Atlantic. The blue whale, the largest animal in the world, was spotted by scientists on board RRS James Cook, which is studying the seabed and marine life of the Whittard Canyon, located off England’s south-west coast. Russell Wynn, a senior research scientist at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Southampton, said he was undertaking his daily marine mammal survey and watching about seven fin whales close to the ship, when his attention was grabbed by a shape surfacing about a kilometre away. “I had just enough time to secure some conclusive photos before the visibility decreased and the whale disappeared into the gloom,” he said. One photo shows a glimpse of spray from the whale’s blowhole; in the second the animal’s mottled bluish-grey back and tiny dorsal fin are visible.’

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