Dear MARMAMers, Apologies for this late message but there was some trouble in publishing it. We would like to inform you of quite an unusual sighting in the Pelagos Sanctuary this week. On July 23, around 11am, one of the whale-watching operators we work with made a sighting of a 7m humpback whale following a 15m fin whale. The humpback was swimming about 30m behind the fin whale, following it and diving in synchrony. Pictures of the humpback were taken and a video was also made, leaving no doubt on the identification of both species. The two animals were sighted between Nice and Calvi (Corsica) about 30NM off Nice. They were heading west at a speed of 1-2 knots. The humppback has not been seen since then. Sightings of humpback whales have been increasing in the Mediterranean Sea in the last years but this is, to our knowledge, the first time such an observation is made in the Med. Jérôme Couvat Souffleurs d'Ecume www.souffleursdecume.com