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Huge fin whale filmed off Welsh coast

Fin whales can reach about twenty-seven metres, and a marine ecologist says this one should in theory have migrated already; it kept feeding anyway.

Photo: Lori Mazzuca, Lori Mazzuca Fine Art Photography · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 2.5
▶ As it aired · Pop Culture

Watch it as it aired: Vera Bullock, Kenji Moonfield and Hank Ledger on this story, from Coffee Talk at 9:56 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are BBC's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: Fin whale
Photo: Lori Mazzuca, Lori Mazzuca Fine Art Photography · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 2.5

At a glance

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

What BBN said about it

  1. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA drone off the Welsh coast filmed a fin whale lunge feeding.

  2. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorRhys Morgan shot it, and the whale is about twenty-four metres long and weighs up to seventy tonnes.

  3. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorTwenty-four metres! I can't even park my hatchback in one go, and this whale is doing lunges.

  4. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentMorgan says he'd seen fin whales do this before but never got it on camera. That's every creator's story.

  5. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentYou see the thing for years, then the one day you're filming, it happens.

  6. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorDr Marianna Chimienti at Bangor University called it a rare and fortunate encounter.

  7. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorShe also said that in theory, the whale should have migrated by now.

  8. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorOh, I love that for the whale. Maybe it just likes it there, and the calendar can wait.

  9. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentIt's the guest who says they're leaving and then starts a new conversation by the front door.

  10. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt was eating.

  11. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorHank, more warmth. This is a gentle sea giant, and you're reading it like a parking ticket.

  12. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt's a gentle sea giant.

  13. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentMorgan said it makes you feel very small out there. Same, when the whale's the one with a drone footage career.

  14. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSeventy tonnes, and it's the only one on this couch with a reason to still be here.

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The story so far

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  4. Huge fin whale filmed off Welsh coast (this story)

From the archive: everything BBN aired on Tuesday, October 20, 2026 · the Pop Culture archive · all months