2020 has so far proven to be another bad year for common dolphins in Irish waters. As mentioned in a previous article, the high numbers of dead dolphins washing ashore in Ireland during January and February have continued from 2011 right up to this year. We have gone from numbers less than 10 in these
The IWDG are seeking a new sponsor for their pioneering WhaleTrack Ireland Project. WhaleTrack Ireland seeks to understand how large whales, especially humpback whales, are using Irish waters largely through “Citizen Science”. Where do these whales breed ? Are the same individual whales coming back to Ireland and how long do they stay ? How
Every year since 2011, stranding of whales, dolphins and porpoises on the Irish coast have become extremely high compared to historical levels so that we now record twice as many as this time 10 years ago. Unfortunately, it feels like Groundhog Day now – we say the same thing every year and mostly it feels
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group have recently matched an individual humpback whale from Ireland to a breeding ground in Cabo Verde. In order to assist in the going research and monitoring of the humpback whale population in Cabo Verde, the IWDG wish to recruit a biologist for the 2020 breeding season. The biologist will
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,