On Thursday the 7th at Helvic, Co. Waterford, two juvenile Sowerby’s beaked whales live stranded – one male and one female. Tragically, both whales did not survive. Beaked whales are deep diving species, plunging to depths of 1–2km in the canyons beyond the continental shelf. Their presence in coastal waters so far from their natural habitat usually means something is wrong. Therefore, they do not survive live strandings, and our responders are trained to provide palliative care during their final moments.
Photo credit: Jamie Heron
Multiple live strandings of these deep-diving whales in Europe within such a short timeframe is very worrying, as this follows a Sowerby’s beaked whale live stranding in Suffolk, England the day before, and in the previous 10 days two Sowerby’s live stranded in the Netherlands, four Northern bottlenose whales in Orkney and two True’s beaked whales Co. Mayo.
Thank you to the National Parks and Wildlife Service for funding the post-mortem of the first whale, and all at the Regional Veterinary Laboratory in Cork where the post mortem was carried out, by the RVL team and IWDG. Thank you also to Waterford County Council for going above and beyond to recover the whale. The second whale was also examined on site thanks to veterinarian Frank O’Sullivan (Dublin Zoo), Harry Doherr (Moyne Vets), Ava Vale (UCD/IWDG) and Julie Green. Many thanks also to Catherine and Teresa who also assisted.
Findings will contribute to the wider European picture of recent beaked whale events. We wish to also sincerely thank local vet Edmond Walsh who attended the live stranding, IWDG Waterford, Wexford, and Cork responders, RNLI Helvic, NPWS, and the local community who alerted us to the live stranding.
If you come across a live stranded whale, dolphin, or porpoise, please do not attempt to refloat it. Contact the IWDG Emergency Stranding Hotline immediately on 097 28118. Take photos of the animal for species identification, and videos to allow us to assess the animals behaviour and condition, as well as site conditions.Remember – Live stranded animals can be dangerous — they have a very powerful tail and may thrash unexpectedly when entering fight-or-flight mode.