Stunning aerial footage shows whale playing with dolphins

By Tom Bevan via SWNS

This stunning aerial footage shows a huge fin whale playing alongside dolphins off the coast of Cornwall, England.

The drone video, filmed by local cameraman Gareth Tibbs, captures the huge 17m mammal off the Isles of Scilly swimming alongside a pod of dolphins.

Gareth, 43, said there had been a lot of whale activity around the islands this winter and his latest siting was filmed on Wednesday off the island of Bryher.

He said: "It's one of those shots I've been trying to get for a couple of years. They don't like to spend much time on the surface. And they dive back down again and you might not see them again for another 20-25 minutes.

"I was pretty excited to capture that shot."

Gareth, an avid drone pilot and wildlife enthusiast who runs Above and Below Imagery, added: "What this footage shows is actually just the relationship that the dolphins and the whales have together.

"They'll often travel around together and the whale often follows a small pod of dolphins on its nose.

"I am pretty amazed that sometimes the dolphins don't get eaten by the whale when they are feeding as a lot of the time they're all on the surface together. It's quite fascinating to wonder how they don't get swallowed up."

The fin whale is the second largest of all whales, behind the blue whale, and is known as the "greyhound of the sea" due to its ability to swim at speeds of nearly 30mph.