Another species this month for Waterford
18 November 2007
The day promised little in the way of whale watching opportunities, so Ann and myself decided to do the cliff walk at Ardmore and look at the waves for a change. Luckily we decided to bring our binoculars with us, just in case!
We parked ourselves in our usual spot near the lookout tower and Ann quickly spotted a couple of porpoises. The northerly wind was bitterly cold however and I soon gave up watching and concentrated on trying to keep warm. Ann however was made of sterner stuff and showed commendable dedication as she carried on looking hopefully out to sea. I said: “Sure I’ll have one last scan round”. Almost immediately I saw a low blow then a pale body followed by a tall dorsal fin. This was only my second ever sighting of a Risso’s dolphin from Ram Head. (Interestingly enough the last time I’d encountered one was also in the autumn, specifically being in mid October). We watched this single animal for 15 minutes before it took a deep dive and disappeared from view.As I stood up to leave I noticed a porpoise no more than 100m offshore that was quickly joined by another cetacean. As Ann looked at this second animal through her binoculars it breached fully out of the water landing headfirst back in the water at an angle of ninety degrees. The size of this animal lead us to believe it must have been a harbour porpoise too, especially considering its proximity to the first animal, but has anyone else out there ever seen a porpoise carrying out such acrobatics?
So, 6 species in a fortnight is an impressive haul by any standards and just goes to prove that it’s not only in West Cork that extraordinary cetacean encounters are to be had, and you do not always have to be on a boat.
Andrew Malcolm and Ann TrimblePublication policy
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