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
On 8 August Liz Morrow was on a boat trip in Donegal Bay when they encountered a single large whale off Slieve League that was about 2.5 – 3 times larger than their 6.5 metre RIB. The sighting was reported to IWDG with images as a “probable” fin whale and on viewing all the images,
It doesn’t seem that long ago when humpback whale sightings in Irish waters were a rare occurrence….. they were something that happened to others and in hard to reach places. Then something special happened in West Cork in September 1999; we not only got a sighting report of three humpback whales off the Kinsale Gas
“Ireland to Iceland – On The Trail Of The Humpback Whale” looks to bring you on an immersive journey following the IWDG around Iceland in 2018 . It runs 58 minutes. “The aim of the film is not to tell you everything but to give you a sense of something.” Tony Whelan director ‘The music….the
We find ourselves in unique circumstances with our lives on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With every day that passes there is a sense that something unpleasant is coming down the line, but the “when’s and where’s” aren’t well understood and this uncertainty is making a bad situation worse. Heck, even getting out to
For good reason it always seems to be humpback whales off the known Cork and Kerry hotspots that make the big news stories, such as the one that featured on the main RTE news last night, but recent humpback whale sightings in Donegal Bay remind us that there may be a bigger picture….. IWDG have
Estimating total length and body condition An Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or a “drone” will be used to capture high resolution images of whales from the air that will be measured using a technique called aerial photogrammetry. It has proved to be a powerful non-invasive method to collect information on how long or how healthy
