The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group is mounting an expedition to answer a mystery which has intrigued researchers for many years… where do our Humpback Whales come from?
Each year small numbers of humpback whales appear off the South-west coasts of Ireland. These whales been photographed but not yet linked into any of the existing Humpback whale photo-ID catalogues.
Similarily, each year Humpbacks calve off the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of Senegal in Africa. The question is, could our humpacks be from the Cape Verde population?
Early next year the IWDG will mount a research expedition to the Cape Verde Islands. An IWDG research team will attempt to photo-ID as many whales as possible in the hope that we can match the whales which appear off the South-west coast of Ireland, with the Cape Verde population.
The research team will also collect genetic samples in order to gain a better idea of the links between humpacks which appear off the coasts of the East Atlantic seaboard.
The expedition will last some 15 weeks and will be conducted aboard the yacht ‘Anna M.’, skippered by Joe Aston. A film crew will also accompany the expedition.
The Project has already attracted substantial funding. We are looking for more sponsors and further details of the expedition and how to contribute can be found by clicking Here (PDF File).