IWDG Humpback Whale Expedition

Trip Overview

Individual humpback whales have been matched between Ireland and four locations in the Northeast Atlantic over the last two decades but most have also been re-sighted in Iceland.

In light of this, an expedition between Ireland to Iceland was undertaken by Irish Whale and Dolphin Group members during summer 2018 onboard the IWDG research vessel Celtic Mist. We wished to not only record whales and dolphins and obtain fluke images, but build relationships between our two maritime nations that share a whale population, and develop stronger relationships with local researchers. This was an ambitious expedition of 2500 nmls and was sponsored by Inis – Fragrances of Ireland. Thirteen species were recorded including 55 individual humpback whales through photo-identified. 48 of these whales had not previously been recorded in Iceland. A blue whale was recorded in Iceland 11 years previously. One humpback was matched to the Guadeloupe breeding ground in the Caribbean but one humpback (HBIRL25) was matched with Ireland during the expedition.