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The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has expressed concern at the possibility of what it describes as a “significant bycatch” of dolphins in Irish waters by foreign fishing vessels. Autopsy results on five of a group of 13 common dolphins that washed up dead in Co. Mayo in late January have confirmed that the [...]
A report from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has confirmed that eight (8) dead common dolphins Delphinus delphis have been discovered washed up on the beaches of Achill Island, Co. Mayo over recent days, with unconfirmed reports of at least another one dolphin on a nearby island. “The IWDG don’t have full details to hand [...]
I was getting settled at my desk yesterday morning, pondering what to write for my Irish Independent wildlife column, when the phone beeped. It was a message from Padraig Whooley, sightings coordinator with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, telling me that a suspected fin whale had live-stranded in Baltimore, West Cork. He’d be passing my [...]
A fin whale live stranded in Baltimore, West Cork this morning. The whale, an adult estimated to be between 45-50 foot long, was spotted in the harbour by locals early this morning. It live stranded in shallow water between the pantoon and the pier. By mid morning the whale had attracted a sizeable crowd and [...]
It was Sunday morning, and it was raining. Not just any kind of rain… it was that sneaky, endemically Irish drizzle that saturates you before you realise you’re getting wet. It was misery incarnate. Miserable or not, we had a job to do. I grabbed the gear, threw it in the car and off we [...]
A 10 metre long adult male sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) has live stranded at Cunniger spit, Nr. Dungarvan, Co. Waterford today. A flurry of phone calls yesterday evening (18/08) first alerted the IWDG to the presence of a large whale in some difficulty off the east side of the Hook Head peninsula in Co. Wexford. [...]
Marine mammal rescuers in the Hebrides have confirmed the death of 2 long finned pilot whales at Loch Carnan, South Uist. The whales were part of a large group of around 60 whales that prompted fears of a mass stranding in the loch late last week. The main pod now appears to have moved out [...]
Concerns are growing regarding a potential mass stranding by a pod to 100 pilot whales off South Uist in the Western Isles. British marine wildlife bodies are on the scene monitoring the whales. According to reports the the pod was first sighted in Loch Carnan on the afternoon of Thursday 19 May. About 20 of [...]
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