Report II, 6th Jan 2020 IWDG received a phone call this morning from Helen Tilson, Schull Sea Safari which seems to confirm that the male hooded seal that was alive on Jan 1st at Toormore Bay, has been found this morning dead at Colla Pier, near Schull some 11 km east. The relevant authorities have
What is happening to Cuvier’s beaked whales? By now, hopefully, many people are aware that the annual number of stranded whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans) in Ireland has virtually doubled in the last ten years and that much of this increase has been due to a huge rise in the numbers of dead common dolphins
Why not make collecting and submitting records of whales and dolphins in Irish waters your NEW YEAR RESOLUTION !! The core work of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group involves collecting sighting and stranding records of whales, dolphins and porpoises in Irish waters (https://iwdg.ie/recording-schemes/). These records are essential for determining what species occurs where and
The top Facebook story on RTE during 2019 with over 5 million views was the story and video captured by Tómas Keane of humpback whales off North Kerry. Three humpbacks came around their RIB, 10 nmls off Brandon and Tómas captured them on his smartphone. This story was told to Simon and Rónán Berrow and
We seem to have finally turned the corner, as for the 2nd consecutive year we have an increase in cetacean sighting records that have been reported to and validated by IWDG. As of our most recent sighting record we’ve documented 1,569 records of 10 species thus far in 2019; of which 8 were cetacean species
We have been watching regularly from Ardmore and Helvic Heads, Co. Waterford since 2003 and over that time we can usually get our first fin whale invasion off the Waterford coast somewhere between May and July, always a long way offshore, sometimes only seeing blows 20+km away on the horizon. This year was no exception,
On the 28th of November, a group of common dolphins live stranded in the Mullet in Co. Mayo and was reported to the IWDG. Thank you to Gemma O’Connor who was on site to assist and refloat the animals, along with other members of the public, the local NPWS ranger and the Irish Coast Guard
IWDG Local Group in Sligo organised their first boat trip out into Donegal Bay to discover what species of whale and dolphin occur. Recent sightings of a humpback whale in the bay feeding on the plentiful sprat gave the trip an edge. It has been a few weeks since it was first reported and this
Update: 29 October 2019 IWDG contribution to the Irish Maritime Programme “This Island Nation” discusses the importance of a Large Whale Stranding Protocol so we can respond quickly to strandings of large whales in Ireland, both live and dead. This issue has come to the fore again following the sighting and stranding of a fin
IWDG were informed about a dolphin live stranded on Mutton Island in inner Galway Bay that was refloated. These are very intense experiences. Sometimes the dolphin dies and sometimes it swims away with some uncertainty over its ultimate fate. We asked Jason to tell us the story behind this latest live stranding. This is his