Humpbacks in Sussex waters

admin
, 20 January 2025
Humpbacks in Sussex waters
The tailfin of a Humpback Whale, by Gillian Day

By Sarah Ward

Marine Conservation Officer 

Rudyard Kipling wrote of the ‘whale-backed’ South Downs - but did he ever see a whale while looking out from Seaford Head?

This winter has seen an extraordinary spate of sightings of one of nature’s giants, the Humpback Whale, along the Sussex coast.

Those lucky enough to see the action have had a special experience, as records of this species in the eastern end of the English Channel are quite rare. 

A sighting was also confirmed from Deal, on the Kent coast, in mid-January, but it’s not clear whether this relates to the same individual - or perhaps one of several individuals - we’ve been seeing lately in Sussex.

Humpbacks are known to be expressive, often observed breaching or slapping their flippers on the water’s surface – both behaviours that have made them visible in Sussex. They are also very vocal and will sing to communicate with others or attract a mate.

Humpback Whales are cetaceans, a group of marine mammals that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Like all mammals, cetaceans are warm-blooded, breathe air, and suckle their young.

Cetaceans are divided into two groups: toothed whales and baleen whales. Humpbacks are part of the second grouping, meaning they have plates of baleen (whale bone) instead of teeth. They generally feed on krill and small fish in cool, productive waters, moving into tropical areas to breed.

Humpbacks on the up

Since a ban on hunting in the 1980s, Humpback numbers have increased in the North Atlantic, as have sightings in UK waters - mainly to the North and West, but with small numbers off the East coast.

It’s possible that some Humpbacks using the North Sea are beginning to travel back to the Atlantic via the English Channel.

As a highly migratory species, Humpback Whales play a vital role in global marine ecosystems. During their travels, they move nutrients around with them, sustaining global food webs by transferring these nutrients from rich areas to poor areas.

It is therefore vitally important that we protect migratory corridors, and sightings data is key. If you are lucky enough to see a Humpback (or any other marine mammal!) please report it to the Sussex Dolphin Project.

Where and when to look for a Humpback in Sussex

Sightings this winter have come from several sites along the East Sussex coast, including Hastings, Pevensey and Eastbourne.

Unsurprisingly these have mainly been on days with good visibility and when winds are light, making the splash of the breaching whale (or a flapping fin) easier to notice.

Some of the more reliable sites in mid-January have been Birling Gap (Beachy Head) and Seaford. But being so massive, and capable of travelling many miles in a day, the whale (or whales) may continue to surprise lucky onlookers in new locations.

If you’re beside the sea in Sussex, keep your eyes peeled!

Whale-watching from Seaford? Find out more about Seaford Head Nature Reserve. 

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Maurice vonnir:

    I saw a wale breaching traveling along the shawline in Bexhill towards Eastbourne on the morning the clocks went back Autumn 2024.

    21 Jan 2025 18:07:00

  • Joyce Heward:

    I have a bird feeder both back and front gardens where I have lots of birds. Endless sparrows in my olive tree, starlings, a residents Robin, sometimes a sparrow hawk. Great tips,magpies pigeons, wood pigeons, a wren, blackbirds nesting, Badger sett, resident fox, a barn owl inclose by, red kite, Bats and more

    21 Jan 2025 22:45:00

  • carol williams:

    i grew up in West Sussex, but have not lived there since 1968. I still have very good memories of riding my furry and well muddied Fell pony across the downs, and my later pony in the magical woodlands of Bedham. I send your newsletters to other people, on both sides of the Atlantic.
    Here we have skunks, porcupines, possums, raccoons, coyote, wolves, groundhogs, fishers, very large snapping turtles, many non poisonous snakes, and a wonderful variety of birds.
    I love your newsletters!

    21 Jan 2025 23:37:00

  • Ted Lankester:

    Are Marsh Tits becoming more common? We often have two at our bird feeder near Crowborough and I think they have nested in our quite large garden with secluded nooks.

    23 Jan 2025 17:54:00

  • Carol grives:

    We saw a humpback at Birling gap on January12th

    24 Jan 2025 17:25:00

  • Alan Rex Walker:

    East Sussex members and staff are in a much better position to spot whales because of high cliff vantage points. In all my 80 years I have not yet done so but I still long to do so. I hope to here about more sightings.

    27 Jan 2025 20:06:00

  • Ajay:

    Thank you 🙏🏽 for sharing the sightings of the animal kingdom ‘coming back’ 😍

    10 Feb 2025 12:35:00

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782401995.78930 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782401995.85430.0651Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782401995.85450.0002Server address: 216.73.217.95
1782401995.85460Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782401995.85460Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/humpbacks-in-sussex-waters
    [s] => humpbacks-in-sussex-waters
    [1] => humpbacks-in-sussex-waters
)
1782401995.85480.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782401995.85610.0012 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782401995.85810.002 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782401995.85880.0008INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782401995.89270.0339 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22274483
1782401995.89350.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22274483
1782401995.89440.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-25 15:39:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-25 15:39:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782401995.89570.0014 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='humpbacks-in-sussex-waters')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-25 15:39:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782401995.90250.0068 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782401995.90330.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3624 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-25 15:39:00'
1782401995.90550.0023 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782401995.90640.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782401995.90730.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=156 LIMIT 1
1782401995.90790.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=91 LIMIT 1
1782401995.90840.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=44 LIMIT 1
1782401995.90890.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782401995.9090.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782401995.90990.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-25 15:39:00' AND postSlug='humpbacks-in-sussex-waters'
1782401995.95510.0452Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782401995.95550.0004 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782401995.96310.0075Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782401995.96340.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782401995.96410.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782401995.96520.0011 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782401995.96790.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782401995.96850.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782401995.97050.0021Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782401995.97060.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782401995.97140.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782401995.9720.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782401995.97410.0021 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782401995.97470.0006 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782401995.97510.0004 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782401995.97710.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782401995.97790.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782401995.97980.0019 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782401995.98020.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782401995.98040.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782401995.9810.0006Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782401995.98130.0003 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='humpbacks-in-sussex-waters')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-25 15:39:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782401995.98320.002 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782401995.98370.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782401995.98560.002Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782401995.98670.0011 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3624 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782401996.07810.0913 [7] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782401996.08060.0025Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782401996.08090.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782401996.08840.0075 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782401996.08920.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782401996.08980.0007 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782401996.09180.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782401996.09230.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782401996.0940.0017 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782401996.09480.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782401996.09530.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782401996.09570.0004 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782401996.09790.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782401996.10640.0086 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782401996.11250.0061 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782401996.11720.0047 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782401996.11820.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782401996.11880.0007 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782401996.12110.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782401996.12170.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782401996.12360.0019 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782401996.12560.0021 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782401996.12640.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782401996.12690.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782401996.12910.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782401996.12960.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782401996.13150.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782401996.13230.0008Request time: 0.3439
1782401996.13230Process time: 0.3438
1782401996.13230Memory: 1.6328