Blue Whale in Devon

Whilst trawling Birdguides this evening, I could hardly help but notice the 7:11pm report of a Blue Whale from Devon. I no longer pay to subscribe to Birdguides. Those days, along with my RBA pager subscription, are long gone I'm afraid, hence I can't readily access the precise details. But fuckaduck, there's a report of a BLUE WHALE from Devon!!! I just so happen to know a handful of Devon naturalists, plus another handful from neighbouring counties both westwards and eastwards. I can only hope that they managed to find time to attempt a sighting of this brute of a beast. Silly buggers to them if they didn't and it was just loafing offshore...

In these days of seemingly perpetual doom and gloom, it's heartening to see increasing reports of larger cetaceans in our waters. Humpback Whale was relegated to near mythological status when I was in my 20s, yet nowadays it's being seen around our coastline every year, in groups of up to 4 or 5 if recent Shetland sightings are to be believed (and the camerawork would certainly imply those numbers are correct). Purely mind-blowing, from this old school naturalist's perspective at least. But these events (which is how I'd class them) are becoming ever more commonplace. In my head, I'd love for this to be attributable to a cessation of whaling in The Atlantic and a robust bounce back in cetacean numbers. In my heart though, I fear otherwise. 

Whatever the reason for this current visitation to Devon's coastline, I hope the beast is in rude health, finds plenty of food and continues on its way unmolested. Assuming, of course, that it really is a Blue Whale and not one of Biscay's overly large Bottle-nosed Dolphins popped up to say hello...they are a lot bigger than you'd expect, trust me!  

Only one song springs to mind, again from my 20s when the world seemed much simpler and dodgy hairstyles were the norm

This video doubtless goes a long way to explaining my long standing fascination of ladies wearing big boots. Note also the original Usain Bolt pose at 1:08...