I suppose if they can make it up the Thames?

[oursin]

Apparently now the English Channel is seething with WHALES? Humpback whales back in Britain, with rise in sightings from Kent to Isles of Scilly:

The humpback whales are migrating from their feeding grounds near Tromsø, Norway, to warmer waters around the Cape Verde islands, where they rest and breed. Traditionally, the whales move around the western side of Britain but some are now swimming down the east coast and through the Strait of Dover – possibly re-establishing ancestral routes that were abandoned when so many humpbacks were slaughtered by 19th- and 20th-century whale-hunters.

I'm not sure this stretch of sea was ever uncrowded by shipping:

There are concerns that humpbacks taking the easterly migration route around Britain must pass through crowded shipping lanes and beside windfarms and new power cable installations that could disorient them or lead to collisions or strandings. “The Dover Strait is a very small area of water, very narrow, and incredibly busy – not only shipping but a lot of industrial fishing,” said Taylor. “There are always concerns about collisions with large shipping vessels. We know so far they seem to be hugging the coast going past Kent and Sussex – we hope they continue to do that and stay out of the busiest shipping lanes.”

In fact I would have thought it used to be a lot busier, coming as I do from a south coast port in those parts which no longer has the one-time fishing fleet and cross-channel ferries. And the days of Masefield's

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.

are long gone.

But it certainly is a narrow strait: we could go and stand on the cliff and providing it was a clear day it was possible to see France.

Comments

[kerk_hiraeth]

Do wonder that, to Whales, whether the term 'ancestral' may mean a far longer span of time than we, as Humans, can conceive.

Not sure but there are species where individuals are believed to be older than the USofA; don't think any Whales are among these, but some believe they are capable of great age and, if ancestral patterns can re-establish themselves, I'd imagine a species with their kind of intelligence is capable of adapting.

kerk

[ethelmay]

Bowhead whales can live over 200 years, meaning if one of us ever saw an old one, it might be one Melville saw. Humpbacks' lifespan is under a hundred.

[kerk_hiraeth]

Thanks.

Did not know how long Bowhead Whales lived.

kerk

[coth]

The ships in straits of Dover aren't just local shipping - they are the main sea lane from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea across to the Atlantic, shorter and safer than going round Scotland. The loss of the local fishing fleets is more than made up in the increase in commercial traffic going east/west.

[oursin]

Will admit that these days I am no longer walking on the cliffs watching the passing show in the Channel! - have just come to notice over past years when visiting family that no longer fishing boats/ferries in harbour, no more fresh fish market, etc.

[coth]

Loss as change. Or change as loss.

[lokifan]

Wow! So exciting :)

[silveradept]

That seems potentially concerning - I wouldn't expect whales to willingly put themselves into high human traffic areas unless they didn't have any other opportunities.

[oursin]

And the Channel was high-traffic - a major transport artery - for centuries! I find it hard to believe, on reflection, that whales were very common, though maybe medievalists may have reports. There have certainly been more recent sightings of dolphins in the Dover Straits.

[egret]

There are lots of whales in NY harbor too, and sometimes they swim up the Hudson, usually with a sad ending. Apparently it’s because of environmental gains leading to cleaner water and more tasty snackable fish for the whales to eat. https://gothamwhale.org/