A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale has been spotted off the coast of Ireland for the first time in more than a century.

Holidaymaker Adrian Maguire, from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, glimpsed the large, dark body of the whale on the surface of the water while out fishing for mackerel.

“I just looked in amazement at the size of it,” said Maguire. “I’ve never experienced that in my life.” He described how he let his boat drift while he, his wife and two friends watched the whale for about an hour in McSwynes bay, County Donegal, off the north-west coast of Ireland.