LUCKY whale watchers in Fife have been treated to spectacular and breathtaking sights after a Humpback whale was spotted in the Firth of Forth. 

The humpback whale is just one of four different species of whale that have been seen in the waters around Fife with Minke whales, Sei whales and the second largest mammal in the world, the Fin Whale, all having visited the Forth. 

Jane Ferguson, who was fortunate enough to get a glimpse of the beautiful creature had never seen dolphins, porpoises or whales in these waters- despite growing up in Fife. 

She told the Press: "I never saw porpoises, dolphins or whales when young. So, a few years ago, it came as a surprise to learn we had a humpback whale off Kinghorn.

"I went down to have a look and from then I was hooked on keeping Whale and Dolphin watching. So far I have seen porpoises, common and bottle-nosed dolphins, minke, humpback, sei and the second largest mammal in the world, the fin Whale all visiting the Firth of Forth.

"For me, it is thrilling to see these majestic animals from shore and in our local waters and there's no need to go on an expensive cruise! The whales can be anywhere from Pittenweem to up and past the Forth Bridges. Sometimes a whale will visit for a few hours and other times it may be feeding well and will remain for months.

"If I'm really lucky I get to see a rare stunning display of a whale leaping out the water in what we call a breach. It really takes your breath away."

Jane is a member of Facebook group that is made up of a number of Forth whale and dolphin watchers who all help each other with spotting these amazing mammals.

She added: "There is a great group and network of people I have joined who have helped me learn how to identify one whale type from another. They are spread out up and down the Forth and, as members, we all alert each other to a visitor. It's amazing how many whale and dolphin visits we have."

While it's not a new thing, to have visits from whales in the Forth, it has certainly been a rarity in recent years. 

Whale enthusiast, Ronnie Mackie, explained: "Since January 2017, we’ve been seeing them regularly every winter and historically, it was that we got humpbacks here. Before 2017 there was the odd visit but they’re quite rare - that we’re aware of anyway. There are a lot more people watching now as well though."

While it's not known exactly why whales are increasingly being seen in the Forth, Ronnie has theorised that they are stopping off here to feed as they migrate from the Caribbean, where they typically go to calve, to Iceland and Norway where they feed.

He continued: "They’re looking for food and historically the food in the Forth was sprats. The area between Kinghorn and the Forth Bridges was a breeding ground for sprats so you got millions of these small fish which the whales would come up to feed on.  

"We’ve started getting them again quite regularly and we don't know all the reasons for that except that they tend to be stopping on to and from somewhere during the breeding and feeding migration  

"In the last few months we’ve had at least 4 different species of whales using the Forth and at one time we had four different species of whales here at the same time. We also had two different kinds of dolphins and porpoises all in the Forth at the same time."

Even though we don't know why they have begun to return to these waters, Ronnie is confident that this is a positive change. 

He added: "It’s been a very positive thing and the only reason that whales will ever stay in an area is if there’s food for them so we’re hopeful that the population of small fish that they feed on is increasing."