The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) will run a Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Marine Mammal Observer (MMO) course in Cork at the Maldron hotel on January 14, 2017. On Sunday the 15th a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Protected Species Observer (PSO) course is proposed to be held at the same venue. Cost of
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IWDG welcome a new edition to their Board with the appointment of Conal O'Flanagan. Conal lives in north County Dublin and has been interested in cetaceans for over 30 years. He was delighted to hear in 1999 that a number of people had come together to set up the IWDG. He joined the Group soon after and
This event is being hosted by the Cork branch of Bird Watch Ireland and will comprise a talk by IWDG Sightings Officer Padraig Whooley titled "Whale and Whale Watching along the Cork coast". This is a free event and open to both Bird Watch Ireland and Irish Whale and Dolphin Group members and indeed anyone
The seas around the Irish southwest coast, from Counties Cork, Kerry, Clare and Galway, have enjoyed unprecedented sightings of humpback whales this spring, summer and autumn. It has been over 15 years since the IWDG started documenting the annual arrival of humpbacks into coastal Irish waters, but in the last two years their numbers have
The Humpback Whales of Cape Verde, an Irish made film and narrated by Liam Ó Maonlaí, will be broadcast on Saturday 29th October at 7.15pm on TG4. Shot in Cape Verde, Ireland and Malta, The Humpback Whales of Cape Verde follows Dr Simon Berrow and an international team of marine scientists on an ambitious
The IWDG have deployed Static Acoustic monitoring devices off the North-Antrim coast in the Skerries and Causeway SAC to monitor the presence and behaviour of harbour porpoises. The funding for this project was awarded to the IWDG by the DAERA Environment Fund and is supported by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute in Belfast. The Skerries
The number of strandings of common dolphins over the last few years has increased and it is now the most frequently recorded species. Strandings typically peak during the winter and the evidence is that these deaths are associated with fisheries bycatch and especially from trawl fisheries. The IWDG Stranding Scheme identifies unusual events or trends
Since the first Marine Institute Celtic Sea Herring Acoustic Survey in 2004, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group have collected sightings of whales and dolphins through dedicated cetacean researchers throughout the surveys. This information is so important as herring are one of the most important prey species for dolphins and whales and the Celtic Sea
At sea you are often hostage to the weather and this years’ trip didn’t get the weather windows we would have liked but sadly we cannot control the weather. Our return to Ireland was spent much of the time battling against northerlies and the weather could have been kinder. However we did return in glorious
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group Annual General Meeting will take place on 22 October 2016 at 2pm at the Shannon Dolphin Centre, Kilrush, Co Clare Current members of the IWDG are invited to attend this event.