Hundreds of people have lined Union Quay in Cork's City centre to see three killer whales. Gardaí said the whales made their way up the River Lee and are in the South Channel area. The whales entered the inner harbour at around 9pm on Friday and began swam up river towards the city centre.

Gardai are monitoring the situation and marine experts from University College Cork Dolphin Research Unit are at the scene. They are said to be not unduly concerned for the safety of the whales at this stage. They are hopeful that the whales will be able to make their way to the mouth of the harbour with the tide.

Killer whales are regularly spotted Irish waters, but it is very unusual for three of them to venture into polluted, narrow waters such as Cork Harbour.