Humpback whales live in oceans all over the world and are renowned for their epic migrations. Yet it’s only in the last few years that these magnificent creatures have started to appear off the Cornish coast.

So why are they showing up now? Cornwall Wildlife Trust marine conservation sfficer Rebecca Allen has some ideas, as told to Cornwall Life magazine.

‘We’ve got a few different theories on why the whales are showing up on our coastlines, and it’s really quite impossible to know for sure,’ Rebecca explains. ‘One of the things is the humpback populations in general, we think, are increasing because nobody’s hunting them anymore.’