A large baleen whale has been reported by Jim Corbett on Mon. 6 June, one mile east of Rockabill, off Skerries, Co. Dublin, from a yacht en route from the Isle of Man.
The description of a powerful vertical blow which was observed twice from a range of two miles, and the long roll of its back, with a proud dorsal fin situated well down the back, suggests strongly that this is another fin whale record off the Dublin coast, and not a minke whale, as initially reported.
Interestingly, IWDG observers on the MV Ulysses recorded a fin whale in the same area last year on 22nd May 2004, just five miles east of the Kish lighthouse. This most recent sighting of a large baleen whale in the Irish Sea may well be further proof that their numbers are on the increase in all Irish waters.