Deadly whales, sharks and dolphins round up prey off the coast of Milford Haven

• Video from Dan Abbott / Daily Post Wales

Rare footage of a huge group of sharks, whales, and dolphins gathering in a feeding frenzy has been captured off the Milford Haven coast.

Led by a group of enormous Fin whales, the group of predators can be seen rounding up prey fish into huge "prey balls" before making their attack.

The footage was captured by wildlife cameraman and sea-life enthusiast, Dan Abbott, who said the chance to see such an event is rare for UK waters.

Dan, accompanied by a small group of marine specialists, was 35 miles off the coast of Milford Haven when he also spotted the Common Dolphins, Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and torpedo-shaped Blue sharks rounding up their lunch.

The wildlife cameraman from Pembrokeshire said the group got lucky with their sighting.

“The conditions were the best we’ve seen so far, and were probably the best we’ll get all year,” he said.

“For dolphin and whale sightings, you need calm seas to spot their blows. When there’s a swell, it’s much more difficult.”

The group launched a drone to capture the action, and Dan even joined the 21 metre-long whales in the sea with his waterproof camera.

He said: “Dolphins were following the whales. Like the other predators, they were waiting at the surface for the whales to dive down, so conserving their own efforts.“Using the drone, we could see a large black mass (of fish) in the sea, then suddenly a dark shape looming from the depths to engulf the fish in its enormous open mouth.“Visibility was good – down to 10 metres – and from the drone high above - you could start seeing the whales lunging from about 15 metres. But only for two or three seconds – Fin whales are the fastest whales on the planet.”

The Fin whale is the world’s second-largest mammal after the blue whale.

Earlier this year a sperm whale washed up on the Llŷn Peninsula. This was measured at 32ft, which is less than half the length of an adult Fin whale.

Dan said it is rare that such a variety of ocean predators gather off the coast of Wales, with these sights more often spotted off the coast of South Africa.

He said it's even rarer that the frenzy can be captured on camera.

“It was really fascinating to watch them all,” Dan continued.

“Fin whales are not uncommon on the Irish Sea – I saw one a month ago. But seeing so many predators feed like this is rare."

"All this activity is a good indicator of a healthy marine ecosystem here.”

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