We find ourselves in unique circumstances with our lives on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  With every day that passes there is a sense that something unpleasant is coming down the line, but the “when’s and where’s” aren’t well understood and this uncertainty is making a bad situation worse.  Heck, even getting out to a headland or a coastal vantage point is now a logistical exercise akin to a horror flick, but with the zombie hordes replaced by Covid-19 carriers. Biology and ecology are it seems joining forces to remind us of just how tenuous our top position is on planet earth.

HBIRL78, NA10446 off Boa Vista, Cape Verdes 10/03/2020 © Bios.CV

With early signs that our 2020 whale season is just around the corner, we’re wondering whether we’ll be able to get out on the water at all in the weeks and months ahead.  We hear from colleagues in the Azores, Cape Verdes and the Caribbean, that the commercial whale watching boats, so important for research are all frustratingly tied up, and hope perhaps in vain that this won’t also be our fate.  But for now we just have to come to terms with the fact that we’ll be doing a lot more desktop work than field work, and last night such work yielded another important discovery concerning humpback whales in Ireland.

Lindsey Jones of the College of the Atlantic in Maine, USA who curate the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalogue emailed to inform us that they’ve just matched a humpback photographed two weeks ago on March 10^th off Boa Vista, Cape Verde with our #HBIRL78.  This is an important discovery as it means that Simon Berrow’s match in April 2019 of HBIRL55, also off Boa Vista wasn’t (if you excuse the pun) a fluke !!

So the IWDG spent 16 years waiting to match an “Irish” humpback to a known breeding ground and it was really getting to the point where no matter how many fluke captures we obtained here in Ireland and threw at the North Atlantic data-set (over 11,000 flukes), the result was always the same….no match, new animal! When Simon photographed HBIRL55 off Santa Monica on April 23^rd 2019, we couldn’t help wonder whether this one animal was simply an outlier, but this 2^nd match with Cape Verde suggests we were right to invest our time and energy into this archipelago.

Ironically too, its during the period the IWDG sponsored an Irish scientist to join the local team on Boa Vista for this season to assist in their photo-id work. John Collins had to recently return to Ireland and is in self-isolation, but you can read of some of his adventures at https://iwdg.ie/the-view-from-cabo-verde/. Alas, with the Cape Verdes having shut down any whale watching and very little chance of further fieldwork this breeding season, we may have to wait till 2021 to find further matches to this West African breeding area.

#HBIRL78 fluke, Hook Head, Co. Wexford , 8/01/2017, © Andrew Malcolm, IWDG

So our #HBIRL78 was initially photographed from the MV Rebecca C skippered by Martin Colfer (RIP) on 4^th Jan 2017, 3 miles southeast of the Hook, Co. Wexford. Four days later our own Andrew Malcolm was out with Martin and secured a further strong suite of images of this individual, one of which was of a full breach (see image at end).  Then 10 months later, in same year but the following whale season, Rónán McLaughlin, then Command Officer of the Irish Naval Service vessel LÉ Orla, obtained further images east of the Old Head of Kinsale, Co. Cork, on 2^nd Nov 2017 and although there were no flukes, the strong dorsal fin shots (below) were sufficient to confirm this to be a re-sighting of #HBIRL78.

#HBIRL78, dorsal fin off Old Head of Kinsale, Co. Cork, 02/11/2017, © Lt. Cdr. Ronan Mc Laughlan, LE Orla

I was just chatting to Rónán this morning from his home in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK to give him the good news, he recalled the day very well.  They were on firing manoeuvres off the Old Head of Kinsale and were just about to commence a live fire exercise, when he spotted a minke whale close to the vessel, and in following with protocol he put out a call of “CHECK, CHECK, CHECK” on the ship tannoy, which in layman’s terms means everything must cease immediately.  He was glad he did, as a further sweep of the area with his binoculars produced sightings of at least three humpbacks, among which were “Boomerang” (#HBIRL3) and #HBIRL78.

#HBIRL78 breaching off Hook Hd, 08/01/2017, © Andrew Malcom, IWDG

It’s always nice to learn of the movements of our humpback whales, especially long range matches that link them to breeding areas. #HBIRL78 may still be in the waters of Sal Rei Bay, Boa Vista, looking to mate or give birth, and if this is the case, it still has a long 4,250 km northbound journey ahead of it. It could of course have completed it’s reproductive mission, in which case it may be little more than a few weeks away from finding itself within scoping range of our southwest headlands.

Whether of course we’ll be able to get out on boats to photograph it when it does return will be down to a much smaller and far less welcome organism.  But given the current Covid-19 environment, I can think of nothing better for body, soul or mind, than to sit on a headland for a few hours and try to spot our returning humpbacks.

A few small weather windows in recent days have given Nick Massett in West Kerry an opportunity to carry out some land-based effort watches off Slea Head, and on each watch he has observed at least one minke whale.  So it’s fair to say that our whale watch season is almost upon us.  If you are fortunate enough to observe whales or dolphins in the season ahead please report your observations directly to IWDG using the Report a Sighting link on www.iwdg.ie

As always huge thanks to our collaborators and contributors at the Allied Whale (NAHBC) and Bios.CV, John Burke, Andrew Malcolm & Rónán Mc Laughlin

By Pádraig Whooley, IWDG Sightings Officer

Táimid faoi chúinsí ar leith agus ár saol curth ar athlá de bharr na paindéime Covid-19. Le gach lá a chaitear tá an chuma air go bhfuil rud éigin gránna ag druidim linn, ach ní thuigtear ró-mhaith cén uair ná cén áit agus tá rudaí atá go dona á ndéanamh níos measa. Ambaiste féin, is gníomh lóisticiúil mar a bheadh i scannán uafáis atá ann dul chuig ceann tíre nó chuig ionad caothúil chun faire, ach gurbh iompróirí Covid-19 a bheadh ann in áit na sluaite zombaithe. Tá an bhitheolaíocht agus an éiceolaíocht ag cur i gcuimhne dúinn cé chomh leochaileach atáimid sa láthair ard ina bhfuilimid ar an bpláinéad seo.

HBIRL78, NA10446 amach ó Boa Vista, Cabo Verde 10/03/2020 © Bios.CV

Tá comharthaí ann nach fada uainn séasúr na míolta móra 2020, agus sinn ag smaoineamh an mbeimid ábalta dul chun farraige ar chor ar bith sna seachtainí agus sna míonna amach romhain. Cloisimid ónár gcomhghleacaithe sna hAsóir, in Cabo Verde agus sa Mhuir Chairib go bhfuil na báid thráchtála faire míolta móra, atá tábhachtach don taighde, ceangailte le cé, agus tá súil againn nach mbeidh sé sin i ndán dúinne. Ach, ag an bpointe seo, caithimid glacadh leis go mbeidh i bhfad níos mó oibre á déanamh againn ar an ríomhaire deisce ná allamuigh, agus aréir bhí toradh ar an taighde sin maidir le míolta móra dronnacha in Éirinn.

Fuaireamar teachtaireacht r-phoist ó Lindsey Jones i gColáiste an Atlantaigh in Maine, SAM, a choimeádann Catalóg Míolta Móra Dronnacha an Atlantaigh Thuaidh, chun a insint dúinn gur éirigh leo meaitseáil a dhéanamh idir míol mór dronnach ar tógadh grianghraf de coicís ó shin ar an 10 Márta amach ó Boa Vista, Cabo Verde lenár #HBIRL78. Is fionnachtain thábhachtach atá ansin mar go gciallaíonn sé nárbh de thaisme a tháinig Simon Berrow ar HBIRL55 in Aibreán 2019, amach ó chósta Boa Vista.

Mar sin bhí an IWDG ag fanacht ar feadh 16 bliana chun míol mór dronnach “Éireannach” a cheangal le limistéar póraithe aitheanta agus bhí sé tagtha go dtí an pointe nuair nach bhféadfaí aon ainmhí a mheaitseáil le tacar sonraí an Atlantaigh Thuaidh, in ainneoin 11,000 pictiúr de bhosa eireabaill a glacadh anseo in Éirinn. Nuair a ghlac Simon grianghraf de HBIRL55 amach ó Santa Monica ar an 23 Aibreán 2019, ní fhéadamar gan smaoineamh gur ainmhí fánach a bhí ann, ach leis an dara meaitseáil seo le Cabo Verde thabharfaí le tuiscint go raibh an ceart againn iarracht a dhéanamh agus am agus airgead a chaitheamh san oileánra seo.

Go híorónta, rinne an IWDG urraíocht ar eolaí Éireannach dul i bpáirt leis an bhfoireann áitiúil ar Boa Vista ar feadh an tséasúir seo chun cuidiú lena gcuid oibre san aitheantas ó ghrianghraf. B’éigean do John Collins filleadh ar Éirinn le gairid agus féinleithlisiú a dhéanamh, ach is féidir leat cuid dá eachtraí a léamh ag https://iwdg.ie/the-view-from-cabo-verde/. Faraor, agus stop curtha ag Cabo Verde le faire míolta móra agus gan mórán seans ann go ndéanfar tuilleadh oibre allamuigh le linn an tséasúir póraithe seo, b’fhéidir go mbeidh orainn fanacht go dtí 2021 chun breis mheaitseála a aimsiú sa limistéar póraithe in iarthar na hAfraice.

Bos eireabaill, #HBIRL78, Rinn Duáin. Co. Loch Garman, 8/01/2017, © Andrew Malcolm, IWDG

Tógadh grianghraf dár #HBIRL78 den chéad uair ón MV Rebecca C, a raibh Martin Colfer, nach maireann, ina scipéir uirthi ar an 4 Eanáir 2017, 3 mhíle soir ó dheas de Rinn Duáin, Co. Loch Garman. Ceithre lá ina dhiaidh sin, bhí Andrew Malcolm (IWDG) amuigh le Martin agus fuair sé sraith láidir íomhánna den ainmhí seo, ceann díobh agus é ag éirí glan as an uisce (féach íomhá thíos). Ansin, 10 mí níos déanaí, an bhliain chéanna ach tar éis shéasúr na míolta móra, ghlac Rónán McLaughlin, Oifigeach i gCeannas ar an LÉ Orla i gCabhlach na hÉireann, íomhánna breise soir ón Seancheann i gContae Chorcaí ar an 2 Samhain 2017, agus cé nach raibh aon bhos eireabaill i gceist, bhí na híomhánna maithe d’eite an droma (féach thíos) sách maith lena dhearbhú mar amharc eile ar #HBIRL78.

Eite an droma #HBIRL78, amach ón Seancheann, Co. Chorcaí, 02/11/2017, © Lt. Cdr. Ronan Mc Laughlin, LÉ Orla

Bhíos ag labhairt le Rónán ar maidin agus é sa bhaile in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne sa Bhreatain leis an dea-scéal a thabhairt dó, agus bhí cuimhne mhaith aige ar an lá. Bhí siad ar inlíochtaí lámhaigh amach ón Seancheann agus iad ar tí tús a chur le cleachtadh lámhaigh bheo nuair a chonaic sé droimeiteach beag gar don soitheach, agus de réir an phrótacail rinne sé glaoch “CHECK, CHECK, CHECK” ar mheigeafón na loinge, rud a chiallaíonn go gcaitear deireadh a chur le gach gníomhaíocht ar an bpointe. Bhí sé sásta go ndearna, mar nuair a chuardaigh sé an limistéar arís lena dhéshúiligh chonaic sé trí mhíol mór dronnacha ar a laghad, ina measc “Boomerang” (#HBIRL3) agus #HBIRL78.

#HBIRL78 ag éirí glan as an uisce amach ó Rinn Duáin, 08/01/2017, © Andrew Malcom, IWDG

Is maith an rud i gcónaí eolas a fháil faoi ghluaiseachtaí ár míolta móra dronnacha, go háirithe ceangal fadraoin a cheanglaíonn le limistéir phóraithe iad. D’fhéadfadh sé go bhfuil #HBIRL78 fós in uiscí chuan Sal Rei, Boa Vista, ag iarraidh cúpláil a dhéanamh nó lao a bhreith, agus más amhlaidh atá an scéal tá aistear fada 4,250 km ó thuaidh roimpi. D’fhéadfadh sé, ar ndóigh, go bhfuil a misean cúplála curtha i gcrích aici, agus sa chás sin b’fhéidir nach bhfuil sí ach roinnt bheag seachtainí go dtí go mbainfidh sí amach ár gcinn tíre thiar theas.

Ní fios an mbeimid ábalta dul amach i mbáid chun grianghraf a ghlacadh di nuair a fhillfidh sí agus braithfidh sé ar orgánach i bhfad níos lú nach bhfuil fáilte roimhe. Ach i dtimpeallacht reatha an Covid-19, ní fhéadfá rud níos fearr a dhéanamh ar mhaithe le do chorp, d’intinn nó d’anam ná suí ar cheann tíre ar feadh roinnt uaireanta agus iarracht a dhéanamh ár míolta móra dronnacha a aimsiú agus iad ar a mbealach ar ais.

Tugadh deis do Nick Massett in iarthar Chiarraí le gairid le linn an bhriste san aimsir faire sheasmhach a dhéanamh ón talamh ar Cheann Sléibhe, agus le linn gach faire chonaic sé ar a laghad droimeiteach beag amháin. Is féidir a rá, mar sin, go bhfuil séasúr faire na míolta móra ag druidim linn. Má bhíonn an t-ádh ort agus míolta móra agus deilfeanna a fheiceáil sa séasúr romhainn, tabhair tuairisc ar do bhreathnuithe go díreach don IWDG, más é do thoil é, agus an nasc Tuairiscigh Amharc á úsáid ar www.iwdg.ie

Mar is gnáth, buíochas mór lenár gcomhoibrithe agus ár gcuiditheoirí ag Allied Whale (NAHBC) agus Bios.CV, John Burke, Andrew Malcolm & Rónán Mc Laughlin

Pádraig Whooley, Oifigeach Amharc IWDG