Blue whale caught on camera in English waters 'for the first time'

Oceanographers claim grainy pictures showing world's largest animal 250 miles off the coast are first since it was hunted to near-extinction

The great creature surfaced from the murk of a deep-sea canyon, lingered just long enough for observers to grab a few pictures, and then vanished from sight into the fog and rain.

Oceanographers believe these grainy photographs are probably the first to show a blue whale in English waters since the mammals were almost hunted to extinction in the north-east Atlantic.