This humpback whale of unknown gender, known to IWDG as # HBIRL77 was first recorded off Inis Oirr, Aran Islands, Co. Galway, by divers on 27th Aug. 2016. He/she has been photo identified every year since, with re-sightings on 22 dates over the past 7 years; most of which are from the known Irish Southwest
White whales are for some, the most mythical of creatures; they are the Holy Grail of whale watching. For the very few fortunate enough to witness such a rarely seen animal, it’s likely to be a transformative experience. So what do we know of this anonymously pigmented or leucistic humpback whale? Well to start with,
Our first international humpback match dates back to an image taken by Conor Ryan in September 2007 out on a whale watch trip with Colin Barnes off Toe Head, West Cork. Within a few hours of our posting the images on www.iwdg.ie of its well-marked dorsal fin there was an excited call from a Wouter
Report IV, Walrus update 20th Sept. 2021 IWDG have just heard of a walrus sighting yesterday Sunday 19th Sept. 2021 in Höfn, Hornafjörður, southeast Iceland and the images suggest that this is likely to be the same walrus aka “Wally” that was last seen in Crookhaven, West Cork on August 30th. We are awaiting further
We’ve had many great Humpback days in IWDG, but August 29th 2021 will stand out as a particularly memorable one. It started out as it so often does with an observer watching up on a cliff top and this person was Nick Massett up on Slea Head, Co. Kerry, who along with Jimmy Flannery of
Report IV, Monday 29th 2021 March…UPDATE We’ve just learnt over the weekend that the walrus has been observed in Tenby Bay area which is some 19 kms east of its first confirmed Welsh sighting off Broad Haven, South Pembrokeshire on March 20th. Images taken by Gareth Davies and others again confirm that this
28th February, 2021 With the humpback whale ashore on the afternoon of Wednesday 24 February, so began a lot of phoning around so that relevant agencies and key individuals were brought into the loop and a coordinated approach lead by the IWDG could be taken. This is the IWDG approach to large whale stranding events
In recent years sightings of humpback whales have been on the increase and the Irish humpback catalogue now recognises 109 individuals in Irish waters. Many of which return year after year and some between decades. And so as this iconic species seems to be enjoying a recovery with different humpback populations recovering well, it comes
It seems hardly a month goes by without humpback whales offering us some new insights into their lives. This week was no different. On Sat. 7th Nov a pair of humpback whales were photographed by Ryan Leith off Whalsay, Shetland, Scotland. The images were seen by Nick Masset on social media and he immediately felt
Entanglement of whales in fishing gear is an increasing issue worldwide. The IWDG have recently documented evidence of entanglement of a humpback whale in Irish waters. Humpback IRL#HB43 in the Irish Humpback Whale Catalogue was first recorded this year on 9 May spending off Toe Head, Co Cork. It was recorded three times in June