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basking sharks

Watching Whales, Dolphins and Basking Sharks

A brace of fin whales on the surface with the West Cork coast in the background

Two of our most popular articles here on Ireland’s Wildlife are features on How to Watch Basking Sharks and How to Watch Whales and Dolphins. Ireland’s marine wildlife is showcasing in an incredible two-part documentary, “Ireland’s Deep Atlantic”, at the moment as part of RTÉ’s Our Wild Island series of programmes….

First basking sharks and humpback whales of the year off Ireland’s south coast

Ireland’s wild south coast scored a “double whammy” in the marine megafauna stakes over the last week, with records of the first basking sharks and humpback whales of the 2018 season off the coasts of Kerry and West Cork respectively. According to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, which coordinates sightings….

Sharks are back!

Basking Shark by AndrewPower

Great news for wildlife enthusiasts — sharks are back off the Irish coast. Basking sharks, the world’s second largest shark species, return to Irish shores every year around the same times as swallows.  Early sightings of these less well known but much larger harbingers of spring trickled in at the end of March from….

Ireland’s first basking sharks of 2015 spotted off West Cork

Basking Shark Dursey Island, West Cork

The first reported Irish basking shark sighting of 2015 was logged on Monday 09 March. The sharks, one large and one smaller animal, were spotted from shore by observer Bridget Healy, just off the coast near Ardfield in West Cork. Basking sharks, the second largest fish in the sea after the whale shark, are annual spring….