Good news for rare whale population in Atlantic Ocean

North Atlantic right whales are extremely rare

There is hope for a rare breed of great whale as a young calf was spotted off the coast of the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic ocean.

Scientists have said they were overjoyed to see footage, which was filmed in December 2020, of a four-metre long North Atlantic right whale, as numbers of the species have been incredibly low for a long time.

The calf, thought to be swimming alone near the Spanish island of El Hierro, was spotted a thousands of miles from where they are usually spotted - off the east coast of Canada and the US.

The whale was spotted near the Canary Islands - a long way from their usual habitat which is towards to Canada

Natacha Aguilar, a marine biologist at the University of La Laguna in Tenerife said:

"This is a species that has been considered extinct on this side of the Atlantic for about 100 years. And all of a sudden this newborn calf appears in El Hierro."

Researchers say the age of the calf suggests the species might be breeding in the north Atlantic on the European and African side.

It could be amazing news as there were thought to only be around 300-350 of the North Atlantic right whales left.

The reason these whales are so rare is because they were hunted in the early 20th Century - right whales in particular were easy to catch as they move slowly, linger in coastal areas and float when killed - the species was the first whale to be protected by law, in 1935.