On Thursday evening, July 7th, whale watch operator Colin Barnes reported to the IWDG an unusual sighting for West Cork, of a large group of bottlenose dolphins off Ardfield.
On receiving the report IWDG Co-ordinator, Pádraig Whooley headed out to the Ardfield signal tower and was surprised with the sheer numbers of bottlenose dolphins that were very close inshore.
Bottlenose dolphins are only occasionally seen in this area, and generally in group sizes of 6-12. So to see such a large aggregation of what was likely to been as many as 40+ was to say the least an impressive sight.
An “effort watch” from Galley Head earlier in the morning produced two minkes whales and a small group of c8-10 common dolphins. So there is plenty of cetacean activity in West Cork anyway for those of you with the inclination to put in a little cliff time.
The forecast is for a period of settled weather over the weekend and early next week, with high pressure moving in from the south, which should calm the waters down nicely for whale watching.
Best of luck and please continue to report your sightings to the IWDG