HEPCA says the whale filmed off Hurghada is likely a Bryde's whale
HEPCA says the animal appeared near Umm Qamar island north of Hurghada and was also seen off Sataih at Marsa Alam, and that Bryde's whales strain small schooling fish such as sardines from the water.
10 November 2026
The large marine animal seen in videos circulating widely on social media in Egypt is most likely a Bryde's whale, according to HEPCA, an association that monitors marine activity in the Red Sea.
HEPCA says the animal appeared near Umm Qamar island north of Hurghada and was also seen near the Sataih area off Marsa Alam. It places Bryde's whales in the rorqual family — baleen whales that carry plates instead of teeth and use them to strain food from the water.
On HEPCA's account the whales feed on small schooling fish such as sardines, and come to the surface regularly to breathe and while feeding or travelling in open water. A marine activities worker had earlier told Youm7, judging from the footage, that the animal looked like a blue or fin whale.
The Red Sea reserves administration, commenting on the videos, said documented records place Bryde's whales in the Red Sea in 1950, 2008, 2009 and 2012 — off Shalatin, Abu Dabab, Abu Fandira and in the southern Red Sea.