Humpback whale possibly spotted in North Sea near The Hague

A humpback whale may have been spotted on Tuesday in the North Sea, first off the Scheveningen coast, then later near Kijkduin. SOS Dolfijn announced this based on observations reported to the marine mammal nonprofit organization. No images from Tuesday are available yet, but the nature organization said that the observations that have been passed on to them fit the description of a humpback whale.

A humpback whale was spotted last week off the Belgian coast near Ostend. According to SOS Dolfijn, it could very well be that this animal traveled up the coastline, because "for a humpback whale that is only a very small" distance.

It appears to be an adult specimen. They can reach an average length of about fifteen meters. Humpback whales can manage very well in the North Sea, according to SOS Dolfijn. "It's probably just looking for food." For the time being it seems to be a healthy animal and there is therefore "no cause for concern."

Humpback whales fall under the category of baleen whales and feed by taking a large mouthful of water including the fish and then filtering it. In recent years, the mammals have been seen on average once a year in the North Sea. Last June, a dead humpback whale that was extremely emaciated washed ashore on Vlieland.

SOS Dolphin said that people can easily watch the animal from the beach. But "we always hope people do not start approaching them with boats on purpose."