US sighting of rare whale first recorded off Donegal ‘extraordinary’

BBC:

One of the world’s most endangered whales that was first identified two years off the coast of County Donegal has been sighted for a second time some 3,000 miles away.

The North Atlantic right whale was recorded near Slieve League in 2024 – the first confirmed recording of the species in Irish waters.

Now researchers have confirmed that a sighting in November 2025 in Massachusetts Bay in the Unites States is the same animal.

“Seeing a whale photographed in Ireland reappear off Boston is extraordinary,” Dr Daniel Palacios from the US Centre for Coastal Studies (CCS) said.

“Encounters like this highlight both their resilience and the importance of international cooperation to support their recovery,” he said.

Researchers believe it is the first documented case in which a whale initially identified in the eastern North Atlantic has been later resighted in the western North Atlantic.

North Atlantic right whales are among the planet’s most critically endangered large ocean mammals.

It is believed there are only around 380 remaining.