Just to keep you updated on our plans for this year’s All-Island whale watch day on Sunday 23rd August. We have started the process of collating sites around the country for this years’ event. We are offering active members first refusal to be involved or even lead a local watch on the day between 2:00-5:00pm.
What do we need?…
The ideal candidates will:
- Have some land-based whale watching experience with good optics
- Be familiar with the local cetacean species and how to find them
- Be available over the weekend (with reasonable certainty)
- Have some free time and energy to promote your event with media & public
- Be good with people and fielding questions from the public etc
If you feel the above comes close to describing you and your experience and would like to lead a local whale watch, then please see if there is any site you’d like to commit to. You can contact me on email: padraig.whooley@iwdg.ie or Mob.: 086 3850568
The purpose of whale watch day is to raise awareness of the 24 species of cetaceans that have been recorded around the Irish coast, by giving members of the public an opportunity to observe some of these wonderful marine mammals in their natural environment. This event also provides IWDG researchers with a unique snapshot of whale and dolphin activity around the Irish coast.
IWDG members land based Whale watch
This annual, all-island event, organized by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group in association with Inis Cologne is free and open to all. All whale watches are land-based and will be led by experienced IWDG personnel, who will show you how to observe and identify some of the more commonly observed cetacean species seen in Irish waters. Whale Watch Ireland, will once again be part of Heritage Week, co-ordinated by the Heritage Council www.heritagecouncil.ie
We look forward to hearing from you, and thanks as always for your support in helping us make this one of the biggest and best events on the Irish Wildlife calendar.
By Pádraig Whooley, IWDG Sightings Officer