I had mixed feelings as I was driving to Myross Woods House this June bank holiday weekend to deliver our recent IWDG Residential Weekend Whale Watching Course at CECAS ; and it wasn’t just the poor weather outlook. This was our 9th and unfortunately to be our last such course at CECAS since our first one back in May 2022. Our Whale Tales 2023 Conference takes to 10, the number of events IWDG has delivered at this rather unique venue.
We endured poor visibility throughout our last Weekend course May 29-31st.
Alas, all good things come to an end and it was with much regret that we recently learnt that CECAS were handing back the keys to the Sacred Heart Missionaries, with the plan being to put the property and grounds on the market. IWDG shared the CECAS/Green Skibbereen vision for this venue and who knows how the situation will evolve in the coming years, but suffice it to say, that if it once again returns to the community, we’ll be standing by once more to support it. But perhaps this move is timely. Let’s face it, west Cork is hardly the Whale Watching hotspot it once was, and you could make the case that as our whales move on, so must we.
I’ve often found since delivering our first weekend sightings courses back in 2001 on Cape Clear Isl. that the most memorable and enjoyable courses were surprisingly not those with great weather and brimming with blubber, rather those with miserable weather, and few sightings. This was one such weekend, with everything but sunshine and whales, heck most the time the sea could barely be seen and if you can’t find the sea, your chances of finding animals in it are even more remote. But as so often happens over such challenging weekends, the group pulls together, working just that little bit harder to not only get along, but to embrace the weekend for what it is, a break from the usual, in a lovely part of the country, among like- minded folk, who share a passion for the sea and its wildlife and an eagerness to learn. How bad.
So as we say farewell and thank you to the volunteer team at CECAS (Ana Ospina, Siobhan Cadogan and Trish Lavelle and others), we look forward to the next iteration of IWDG’s Residential Weekend Whale Watching Courses which will be in Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo on the southern shore of beautiful Donegal Bay, where we’ll be partnering with the Pier Head Hotel, Mullaghmore Sailing Ctr. and the MV Kiwi Girl. So apart from the same IWDG face delivering the course, we hope the new location, somewhat more sheltered bay and potentially greater opportunities to find large whales, will make this weekend a great success.
The better the weather the less time we spend indoors….but important to get through some of the theory during a series of engaging IWDG presentations.
We hope to deliver 2 or 3 local headland watches and to keep driving to a minimun we’ll be car pooling where possible. Mullaghmore Headd watch Courtesy of Rossa Meade, IWDG
The pelagic whale watch trip on local boat Kiwi Girl and sister vessel will as always be weather dependent and can be paid for on the day.
It’s important to point out that these are not whale watching weekends as such, but something much more, they are courses that will run regardless of the weather or the presence/absence of whales. Note that over the past 25 yrs, we’ve never cancelled a weekend course to bad weather, so please don’t expect a fee refund if you don’t like the look of the weather!
The idea is to give participants the confidence to go up to a headland and carry out your own watch and to learn about optics, the sort of weather conditions needed for a successful watch, how best to scan the horizon, and how to identify the most commonly seen species in Irish coastal waters and of course to encourage Citizen Scientists to contribute to cetacean and basking shark conservation by reporting “casual sightings” to IWDG and perhaps even participating in our Constant Effort Sighting Scheme. Interested?
We look forward to meeting you in Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo on Fri. 18th Sept . Bookings are open on Eventbrite link below
Pádraig Whooley, IWDG Sightings Officer