In managing a public biological recording scheme, we are in effect sampling. So the records that you as Citizen Scientists report to IWDG are likely a small subset of the total number of sightings of cetaceans and basking sharks from all Irish coastal waters, and this is a situation that we are happy to live
They say a picture paints a thousand words and I’d probably not have looked into this subject had it not been for an image attached to a sighting report by IWDG Cork member and ecologist Conor Rowlands, taken from Cloghna Head, overlooking Rosscarbery Bay on June 3rd. During this watch Conor observed about four minkes
For those of you in the northwest who can’t easily make it down to West Cork for IWDG’s summer series of whale watching courses, this one-day free event should be of interest. Pitched at a range of levels, from the enthusiast with a passing interest in marine wildife, to existing whale watchers who’d like to
Now in their 3rd year, IWDG has just delivered the first of this season’s residential weekend whale watching courses at the CECAS Ctr. In Leap, west Cork. A pretty dire weather outlook for much of the weekend left us with a few challenges for the Saturday in particular, but it’s clear that this venue and
Venue: CECAS, Centre of Excellence for Climate Action & Sustainability Where: Myross Wood House, Leap, Co. Cork, P81 Y192 Dates: September 20-22nd, 2024 This May sees IWDG return to the fabulous CECAS Ctr. in Leap, West Cork for a 3rd Summer Series of weekend courses. Looking for a weekend with a difference? Why
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
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