Paddleboarder describes moment he came face-to-face with humpback whale as ‘extraordinary’

A paddleboarder from Dufftown said that coming face-to-face with a humpback whale last Friday was a “bit of a surprise”.

29-year-old Adam El-Naggar said it was a very exciting moment not only for him but for the tourists who had joined him for a paddle.

The humpback whale was seen near Portknockie as the paddleboarders returned from Bow Fiddle Rock.

Former policeman Mr El-Naggar only recently set up Cullen-based Blue Coast Surf and Paddle on the Moray Coast two months ago.

He said: “We started out from Portknockie and we were making our way to the Bow Fiddle Rock.

An amazing encounter with a humpback whale on our paddleboard tour to Bow Fiddle Rock on Friday, the highlight of a great weekend for Blue Coast. Couldn’t believe our luck – something I’d never seen before locally. Thanks to Malcolm Slater at Slater Sports for the land footage. pic.twitter.com/EL4YBABxJ9

— Adam @ Blue Coast Surf & Paddle (@bluecoastcullen) June 7, 2022

“It was a lovely paddle.

“We thought we saw a couple of dolphins. One of the women said she thought it was very big for a dolphin.”

He continued: “As we were almost finished and about 166 yards out from shore we saw the whale breaching. We knew it was a humpback because of the shape of its tail.

“The whale was moving towards us and came right in close to us.”

It was ‘surprising’

He continued: “I was trying not to miss out on the moment, and to take a video at the same time. So just as it was breaching close to us my camera was facing the sky. But you could see the water from its blowhole.

“It was very exciting, and it was really surprising. All the years I have been here and in these waters I have never seen a humpback whale and I think it might be an unusual thing to see.

“I have seen dolphins and minke whales but not a humpback. I was very happy to see it. It is something I will always remember being so close to such a large whale.

“They are massive.”

Humpback whales are found in every ocean in the world. They can grow up to 16ft long and feed in coastal waters on krill, plankton and small fish.