THE SECOND largest species on the planet has been captured on camera off the Cork coast.
Second in size only to fellow mammal the blue whale, the fin whale is capable of reaching up to 65 feet in length.
The largest ever spotted in Irish waters, this most breathtaking of mammals made a surprise appearance off the Irish coast this weekend.
Breathtaking video footage filmed by Emer Keaveney, a mammal ecologist with Ocean Research & Conservation Ireland (ORC Ireland), has been shared online.
It shows the whale enjoying the nice weather with a frolic and a swim in the calm waters off the coast of Cork.
A large and streamlined mammal, fin whales are characterised by their pointed heads, pectoral fin and tall, curved, dorsal fin.
Keaveney is only the second person to captured a fin whale on drone camera in Irish waters.
In fact, just over 60 fin whales have been photographed in Irish waters to date, with the majority coming on the South coast of Ireland.
ORC Ireland's Fluke Follow Project was set up to further examine the health and behaviour of otherwise elusive animal species.
Speaking to RTE, sightings officer for ORC Ireland, Caoimhe Tweedy admitted they had lucked out in capturing the fin whale on camera.
"It was just one of those instances where everything went in favour - the weather, the whale. Studying these animals is extremely difficult,” she said.
“You need them to be present, you need the weather to be correct, conditions need to be optimum, and then the drone only has a battery of maybe 20 minutes, so you have such a short window of opportunity to get it right.”
She added: "Seeing a fin whale is a very cool thing because they're the second largest animal on earth after the blue whale, so to see something that large is really, really cool.
"The one thing I've definitely noticed is this virus is having such an effect on our human lives, but the animal kingdom is just booming."
Anyone spotting a whale during a trip out across the Irish coast is encouraged to log their sightings via the ORC Ireland app.
