Atlantic Whale Deal: Leg 2 of WESPAS aboard the Celtic Explorer By onboard MMO Leah Moynihan, IWDG I spent three weeks onboard the RV Celtic Explorer as a Marine Mammal Observer (MMO), and it was one of the most exciting and eye-opening experiences I have ever had. As a newly graduated marine biology student, I
In spring 2026, IWDG officers Cian Ó Nialáin and Eva Lambert managed to escape the office and run a series of events up and down Ireland’s coast. With the help of Fair Seas, the IWDG Local Groups Road Show shared stories, skills and citizen science in twelve of Ireland’s sixteen coastal counties. The aim of
The IWDG coordinate three sighting schemes: the Casual scheme where sightings are made while going about your business, Ship surveys where sightings are collected with recording effort on ships of opportunity and the Effort scheme where timed watches are carried out from land which may, or may not, result ion a sighting being recorded. The
A Significant Step for Marine Protection This week marked an important step forward for marine protection in Ireland, with the publication of the Heads of the Maritime Area Planning (Marine Protected Areas) (Amendment) Bill 2026. The long-awaited Bill represents a significant milestone in Ireland’s efforts to better protect its marine environment. It outlines the proposed
In mid May we asked the question…” where have all our humpbacks gone?” See article https://iwdg.ie/where-have-all-our-humpbacks-gone/ and it seemed like a reasonable question at the time, given their tardiness this season. But they were always going to show up somewhere eventually and of course pretty much the same afternoon we posted the article, we learned
On 3 June 2026, the Fair Seas World Ocean Week Conference returned to Cork City Hall, bringing together ocean advocates, policymakers, scientists, coastal communities, fishing industry representatives and environmental NGOs to discuss the future of marine protection in Ireland. As a partner of the Fair Seas coalition, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group attended the
As the first humpback (#102) appears in Donegal Bay for the third out of the last four years and its fifth year IWDG have recorded this individual in Ireland since 2020, a new publication which embraces the value of citizen science and the IWDG WhaleTrack Ireland project is out. As part of his PhD Dr
As part of the Atlantic Whale Deal, it is my job to identify surveys that have a high chance of encountering large whales. These surveys would greatly improve our chances of capturing footage of the cetaceans and their blows on the Sea.AI Sentry thermal camera. So far we had mainly joined the Irish RV Celtic
The IWDG were successful in our funding application to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) for the continuation of the Deep Diving & Rare Species Investigation Programme (DDRIP) for a further three years. Since the beginning of the project’s second phase, four animals have been examined under DDRIP, including Ireland’s first recorded narwhal, third recorded Gervais’ beaked whale,
Ireland has experienced a large number of “solitary” dolphins over the years from Fungi to Dony, Finn to Dusty. Some have left while some are still in pockets around the Irish coast. This is an international phenomena and the reasons why individuals may not be part of a wider social dolphin group and become exposed