On Saturday 18th May the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) delivered another Whale Watch Ireland 2024. All Ireland Whale Watch day, now in its 22nd year, comprises free, guided land-based whale watches, which this year was planned for 11 sites in 11 coastal counties, throughout the four provinces. The main objective of Whale Watch
On the week of all Ireland Whale- Watch day, this Sat. 18th May, it seems a little odd to be writing about a species that is neither whale nor even a mammal, but a fish. However, the basking shark is no ordinary fish, and IWDG have always looked on them more like honorary whales, reflecting
Sightings Summary Review 2023 During 2023, the IWDG validated 2,684 cetacean and basking shark sighting records, combining both casual and effort related sightings. This is the highest number of sightings handled by IWDG since the group was established in 1990 and represents an 8.6% increase on 2022. During this period 329 land-based effort watches were carried out
On April 15th we received a report of a large group of c.25 bottlenose dolphins off Barleycove beach in West Cork by Siobhan O’ Driscoll. As this report came with a suite of images, it didn’t require much by way of validation and was duly processed and entered onto www.iwdg.ie. Two days later we received
Yesterday we received one of many sighting reports of basking sharks that have been sent to us by recorders and public alike since the shark season kick started off Cleggan- Inisboffin back on Feb. 19th. This record however by Ina Krüger, of a pair of sharks she saw feeding near Purteen on Achill Island was
The IWDG Position And A Call For Submissions The controversial practice of pair trawling by large boats for sprat and other forage fish in our bays and inshore waters may now at last be managed in a way which would conserve the stocks for whales, dolphins, fish and birds, and also give a welcome boost
NPWS adds new protection for cetacean species. The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) and Fair Seas received notice this week from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that new cetacean measures have been added to existing Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), with harbor porpoise and bottlenose dolphins added as Qualifying Interests to
Every few weeks we receive a sighting report which makes its way as an entry into my diary under the heading…. “Standout Sightings ”. On Wednesday 27th March, I added another. The reason for its inclusion needs a little explaining, as there is nothing that unusual these days about a common dolphin sighting off the
The IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force is pleased to announce today the creation of six new Important Marine Mammal Areas, called IMMAs, which include Irish waters and three additional Areas of Interest (AoI). The newly approved IMMAs represent the final result of a full-year process, including an intensive week-long scientific workshop assessing and
Some of you could be forgiven for forgetting what a basking shark looks like, that is assuming your name isn’t Pat Concannon, who runs the ferry service out of Cleggan to Inisboffin. Pat had the good fortune to see one this Mon. 19th February. But this wasn’t just another basking shark sighting record, it’s way