Two whales spotted in Lillebælt within days

A guide leading a bridge-walking tour on the Old Lillebælt Bridge captured rare footage of a beluga whale swimming beneath the structure on Friday, according to Danish broadcaster DR.

Hans Clausen, a guide with 11 years of experience, said he had never seen a large white whale in the area before. “It was one of the best nature experiences I’ve ever had—top three,” he told DR.

The sighting follows another unusual observation just over a week earlier, when a colleague spotted a humpback whale in the same waters.

Heiko Buch-Illing, a marine biologist and director of Fjord & Bælt and Naturama, said shifting migration patterns mean such sightings may become more common. While belugas, an Arctic species, are expanding their range southward in summer, the recent increase in humpback whale sightings is particularly notable.

“It’s quite unusual that we’ve seen so many humpback whales just in the past two years,” Buch-Illing said. “Over 150 years, there have been only six to eight stranded humpbacks, so it’s very interesting that so many are being seen now.”

Neither species is threatened, and Buch-Illing expects the trend to continue as populations grow and territories expand.