A rare sighting of a baleen whale (known in Portuguese as a sardine-eating whale, baleia sardinheira) has been enjoyed by a group of tourists off the coast of Estoril this afternoon. The animal was a juvenile, roughly 10 metres long – a small example of what is the world’s third largest whale species. Baleen whales feed by coming to the surface and scooping fish up in their mouths, filtering the seawater out and trapping the fish. They are seen with some frequency in the Azores, and with changing sea temperatures have started also to be seen off the coast of the Algarve.
Rare sighting of baleen whale off Estoril
PM Luís Montenegro: Image - Hugo Delgado/ Lusa
