Marine debris in the ocean has become a very hot topic with recent studies of the incidence of extent of plastic contamination of our oceans including the widespread ocurrence of microplastics. This week Derek Mooney produced a one hour radio documentary on the Bergen whale, which was found to have over 30 plastic bags in its stomach. The
Posts Categorized: News
20 December 2017 After a number of requests from the IWDG we have finally secured acces to the risk assessment of commercial fishiong in marine SACs. IWDG will review the basis of the MI and Deptartment opinion on risk and respond as appropriate http://www.fishingnet.ie/media/fishingnet/content/fisheriesinnaturaareas/siteassessments/southandwestcoasts/MIArt62RiskAssessmentSouthandWestCoasts071217.pdf IWDG were very happy to receive a long letter from long
We are fortunate in Ireland to have the world’s second-largest animal, the fin whale, frequenting our coastal waters. There are regular sightings of these animals from both boat and land-based watches, especially along the south and southwest coast, sometimes very close to shore – quite a spectacle for such a large animal. While sightings of fin
A local IWDG group branch has been established in Galway to continue to promote the monitoring of whales and dolphins off around the coast of County Galway and Galway Bay. Several species of cetacean have been recorded in Galway Bay, including harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin and minke whale. A recent sighting of a
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) have been working in collaboration with the Regional Veterinary Laboratories of the Department of Agriculture (RVL) and the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) to carry out a cetacean post-mortem scheme on behalf of the Marine Institute and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Utilising the IWDG’swell-established strandings scheme, which
Dr Simon Berrow highlighted the IWDG's legitimate concerns over sprat fishing in the Shannon estuary on TV3's 3news at 5.30 today. You can see the interview at: https://vimeo.com/243901078 Even though the pair trawlers have now left the Lower River Shannon SAC and are fishing off West Cork, the impacts of removing tonnes of sprat on the Shannon Estuary's resident
As part of a deal with Waterways Ireland, the IWDG has secured a berth for the Celtic Mist at Charlotte Quay in the Grand Canal Dock, Dublin. The berth will enable us to carry out essential maintenance of the vessel, give greater access to our members, and facilitate education and outreach projects with local schools and
Marine debris found in the stomachs and intestines of whales, dolphins and porpoise in Ireland in one of the largest studies of this kind undertaken A new study just published in Environmental Pollution found marine debris in 8.5% of the dolphins and porpoise examined and microplastics in every individual examined. A total of 528 digestive
Up to and including 2010, IWDG never received more than 150 validated cetacean stranding reports in any one year but things started to change in 2011 when 163 strandings were validated and we thought that annual figures had reached a new high. Little did we realise that 163 would soon become a 'quiet' year as
5 September 2017 The departure point for this years’ offshore cruise on Celtic Mist was Kilrush which we departed on Monday August 28th August. With the usual plethora of things to do before departure it was 13.30 hrs before we left the harbour in Kilrush. On going down the Shannon Estuary we came across the