The visitor caused quite a stir…

Eagle-eyed Dubai residents spotted a surprising visitor in Dubai Harbour yesterday. A huge whale was spotted gliding through the waters in-between the up-and-coming destination and Bluewaters Island.

Ever the nature activist, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai shared a video of the stunning sight to his Instagram stories.

You can see the video here, however there’s only a few hours left to see it as it is on Instagram stories which are removed after 24hours.

On a still of the video, Sheikh Hamdan wrote: “Dubai Harbour had a rare visitor today. My guess is that this huge marine mammal was a Bryde’s whale. Truly a rare and beautiful creature to watch.”

It has not yet been confirmed exactly what species the whale in question was, but if it is the Bryde’s whale as Sheikh Hamdan guessed, these creatures can weigh up to 25 tonnes, and adults measure between 12 and 16 metres in length.

The Crown Prince, affectionately known as Fazza, is well-known for his love of nature, from action-packed adventures to helping with wildlife conservation. In 2020, he posted a series of images and videos of him releasing Hawksbill turtles back into the sea.

You might also like

Watch: Sheikh Hamdan releases turtles into the Dubai sea

Whilst seeing the whale was surely a wonderful sight, crew members of yacht charterers, My Ocean Company (who’s owner Johnny Dodge snapped the original footage) are currently working on getting the whale out of the marina and back out to sea.

Images: @johnnydodge_