Divers were stunned to see a huge humpback whale which they spotted thrashing around in the sea off Kent.

Thomas Packman and his colleagues at Mutiny Divers saw the impressive animal in the water while they were exploring a shipwreck in the English Channel yesterday.

Mr Packman managed to capture a video of the whale which was smashing its tail on the water between Dover and Folkestone.

"It was absolutely mesmerising," he said.

"We were on our way back from a dive in Folkestone and about a mile away we saw a massive splash.

"We had a thought it might be something like a whale or a dolphin because we had seen one about a month ago.

"We got closer and sure enough, it was this massive tail sticking a few metres up in the air and continuously splashing on the water."

The video shows the whale splashing its tail on the water before rolling over next to their boat.

"It was rolling around on the surface and just looked like it was having a good time really," Mr Packman said.

"It came right up next to the boat and rolled over. It was slashing its tail on the water for a good five or 10 minutes.

"It was an incredible experience, it really was amazing to see it.

"We were quite shocked as we thought the sound of the boat would scare it away. It was almost in touching distance of the boat and then began rolling around.

"You could see the whole length of it and see the white of it underneath when it rolled over and the dark grey on top. We were really surprised it hung around for as long as it did really."

The 26-year-old has been a member of the club for 13 years and says he has never seen anything like it in the water off the county's coastline seas.

"It was massive," he said.

"I have been told it is quite rare to see one around here.

"The chap I work with has been diving out here for 30 years and he has been all around the world and he has never seen one let alone that close.

"It was a really amazing experience for all of us."

Mr Packman says the team think the whale was splashing its tail on the water to communicate with other animals.

"At first we wondered if it was stuck in a net or something," he said.

"But then it started rolling over so we knew it was not.

"One reason they do it is as a sign of aggression but we dismissed that as we saw it doing it a mile away from us before we even got there.

"They can also do it when hunting to get the fish closer together but we think it was doing it to communicate with other whales.

"The sound of the slamming of the tail on the surface travels very long distances and they believe it is a way of communicating over long distances."

A humpback whale was seen in the Channel in 2015 when a marine survey team off Dover spotted the mammal – in a rare sighting.

Other types of whale have been more commonly seen in waters around Kent including the beloved Benny the Beluga who wowed crowds off Gravesend and became a celebrity in the town during his brief stay in 2018.

A Minke whale was spotted in Dover harbour December.

Humpback whales can reach up to 18m in length, weighing up to 40 tonnes and can live for up to 90 years.