Week 7 July 22nd - 28th

Tuesday was the first day I got out this week. While conditions were a little rough this didn’t prevent us from having plenty of sightings. Early on in the trip we spotted some splashes off in the distance as we approached them it was clear that this was a breaching minke whale. This is not a very common behaviour from this particular species but it does occur typically in rougher sea conditions. Of course once we got close enough to get some images of this breaching whale it ceased breaching. A quick scan of the area revealed that there were two minke whales in this area one was quite large and the other was a juvenile. This is a similar area to where we have encountered an adult and juvenile pair in the past. As the day went on we encountered another minke whale. Shortly after seeing the minke we encountered what was initially a small pod of common dolphins however as we continued to survey the area it was apparent that there was over a hundred common dolphins in the area many of the groups we encountered contained lots of juveniles. The dolphins didn’t pay too much attention to the boat with some approaching to bow ride for a short time before continuing on their journey. Below is a video of a breaching minke that was taken in the past on bord the Blasket Princess : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv12HH61dsA

On Thursday we had multiple sightings of common dolphins and harbour porpoises. First we encountered a group of ten common dolphins they were foraging in an area near a fishing charter there was also a small group of three harbour porpoises in this area. Neither species seemed too concerned by the presence of either boat and continued with their foraging. Shortly after we saw two adult harbour porpoises and a minke whale. There must have been a significant amount of food in this small area to attract this many cetaceans and a fishing charter. Later in the day we encountered a group of about 25 common dolphins this group was mainly comprised of juveniles and calves with only a few adults present. The younger animals seem more inclined to interact with the boat than the older ones; the majority of the older animals seemed content to wait a short distance from the boat while a few adults and the younger members of the group were bow riding.   Another group of 20 common dolphins were encountered later in the tour but these animals appeared to be foraging and did not approach the boat. Towards the end of the tour we had two more harbour porpoises and another small group of common dolphins.

On Friday we encountered more common dolphins, what initially appeared to be a small group dolphins grew in size from eight to fifty. The dolphins were quite spread out and were travelling at a fast swim; they didn’t pay much attention to the boat and simply continued on their way. We also had three sightings of harbour porpoises on this tour they were of two individuals followed by a group of two.

What a difference a day makes after all our encounters with common dolphins over the last few days we began to take it for granted that they were there at all. However on Saturday with conditions poorer then they had been all week we saw no dolphins. Our only sighting on this day was a single harbour porpoise which we encountered in the evening it surfaced multiple times before swimming off.

(c) Paddy O'Dwyer

Sunday started out with the news that Nick Massett had seen some humpback blows west of Clogher head and had set out in his rib to try and find the whale. Our own trip started with a single minke whale way off in the distance followed by a sighting of a single harbour porpoise. Then Mick decided that we should venture further out to see if we too could encounter this humpback whale. While steaming out to the site where Nick had reported we began to pass several groups of dolphins this continued for miles and easily hundreds of common dolphins including adults, juveniles and calves were present in the area it was amazing. Then we spotted some whale blows in the distance and headed straight for it. The half an hour that followed was fantastic as 100’s of dolphin, at least a dozen minke whales and one humpback surfaced continually in the water around the boat. It was clear that these animals were feeding as they were staying in the same area and all seemed concentrated in this spot. The video below really doesn’t do the whole thing justice. On the return to Ventry we encountered a group of ten common dolphins to cap off what was a fantastic day.

(c) Paddy O'Dwyer

A special mention goes out to Nick Massett who puts in countless hours of both and boat based watches. Nick is a major contributor to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Groups sightings database and ensures that no cetaceans pass through West Kerry waters without being recorded. The sightings database is a fantastic tool that allows people to access past sighting records and see when and where whales and dolphins are appearing around Ireland. The weather for this week doesn’t look great but I’m sure we’ll be out at every opportunity to see these amazing creatures in their natural environment.

Humpback Whale and Blasket Princess (c) Nick Massett - IWDG

More about whales and dolphins : http://iwdg.ie/

More about Marine Eco Tours : http://marinetours.ie/

Nick Massett and Humpback Whale (c) Marine Eco Tours 

Week 6 June 15th - 21st

With sunny skies and light winds forecast for this week I was confident that we would log plenty of sightings. Things started well on Monday as we came across a group of three harbour porpoises early in the day. The group consisted of two adults and a juvenile. This was followed by 12 common dolphins, they were foraging and paid little notice to our presence. The group contained a few juveniles and one small calf. A sighting of a single minke whale later on the trip rounded out the sightings for the day.

Minke whale (c) Paddy O'Dwyer - IWDG

Tuesday saw an end to the common dolphin sightings with no sign of them in the bay. However two sightings of individual harbour porpoises followed later in the day by a sighting of two adult minke whales meant that there was still plenty of cetacean activity around the islands. Wednesday highlighted why the area is an SAC for harbour porpoises. In conditions that were less than ideal for surveying this elusive species we had six separate sightings. The first was a group of three that consisted of two adults and a juvenile all travelling very close to each other. This was followed by a sighting of a single harbour porpoise. We then had two groups of two animals that were encountered a good distance apart; both these groups consisted of adults. The day was rounded off with a sighting of a single adult and then a group of three adult harbour porpoises again travelling very close together.  While it was great to see so many harbour porpoises around the area it was unusual to encounter only one species on one of our trips. 

                                                                  Common dolphin (c) Paddy O'Dwyer - IWDG

However this were back to normal on Thursday, the day started with a sighting of a minke whale followed shortly by a group of three harbour porpoises. The group of harbour porpoises contained two adults and a juvenile like most of the times we encounter this species they were travelling in a very tight group. Later in the day we came across a group of ten common dolphins, they approached the boat and spent a few minutes bow riding this provided us with great views of the calves and juveniles in this group. Once they grew tired of bow riding they appeared to swim off into the distance. Friday started promisingly with a sighting of two minke whales early in the tour. One of these minke whales was a very large animal certainly one of the biggest minkes I’ve seen, it was accompanied by a juvenile animal and the two appeared to be feeding and remaining in a similar area popping up infrequently and moving in what seemed to be a large circle. We came across this pair again later in the day they were still in the same area hours after our first sighting of them. The day also produced lots of harbour porpoise sightings the first a group of three that we almost missed as they were swimming quite close to the cliffs. We then came across an individual harbour porpoise and later in the day we saw two different groups of two animals.  All the harbour porpoise groups today consisted of adults as opposed to some of the groups over the last few days which also featured some juveniles. 

Minke whale (c) Paddy O'Dwyer - IWDG

Saturday proved to be a bumper day for sightings with 11 sightings recorded for just one day. The consisted of one group of 20 common dolphins this group was a great mix of adults, juveniles and calves everyone on board got a great chance to see how small the calves when compared with the fully grown adults. The day also produced seven harbour porpoise sightings two of these were of individuals three were of adult pairs and two were groups of three animals. As if that wasn’t enough there were three minke whale sightings the first a group of three animals one very large adult another adult and a juvenile. Later in the day we came across a group of two with another single animal spotted further away from this pair.

                                                                  Common dolphin (c) Paddy O'Dwyer - IWDG

Week 5 July 8th – 14th

The nice weather we have had lately has seen an increase in the number of sightings. Even though light winds were forecast for most days the local area sea breeze means that there’s almost always some level of ‘chop’.  The week started promisingly on Monday with 8 separate sightings. The highlight of these was the return of the common dolphins. Common dolphins are often seen in this area but had been absent for most of this summer. The first encounter was with about 25 animals on the morning trip. However this number had grown to well over a hundred in the evening. Everywhere we looked around the boat there were dolphins. Some groups approached the boat and were bow riding while others seemed content to remain foraging and ignore the boat.  In addition to the dolphins we also had three sightings of individual minke whales and one group of three that appeared to be feeding in close proximity to each other.  Two sightings of individual harbour porpoises rounded off the day nicely.

Common dolphins (c) Paddy O'Dwyer- IWDG

The dolphins were still present the following day. At first it seemed like there weren’t as many in the bay with only two encounters with small groups of to 10 animals. However shortly after this the dolphins appeared to be everywhere around the bay, they were seen jumping from the water near and far and in every direction. The fine weather makes spotting much easier and this was reflected in the sightings with five separate harbour porpoise sightings during the day and three individual minke whale sightings. Most of the minke sightings were from further away that we usually see them highlight the difference that environmental factors have on whale watching. We also encountered basking sharks twice, each sighting was of an individual animal. It’s great to still be encountering basking sharks this late in the season. Going on past records its unlikely we’ll be seeing them for long more with only a few sightings reported in this area late in the summer in past years.

Basking Shark (c) Paddy O'Dwyer- IWDG

Winds stiffened later in the week resulting in plenty of chop combined with white crests everywhere making it very difficult to clearly identify any cetaceans on the water. A single minke whale was seen on Saturday, it was only spotted as it surfaced right next to the boat! 

Office view (c) Paddy O'Dwyer

Week 4 July 1st – 7th

Unfortunately very bad weather conditions this week meant we didn’t get out much. On the few trips that did occur early in the week there were no sightings. However this was not unexpected as fog, high swell and high winds all combined to make sighting any cetaceans almost impossible. However as the weather improved toward the end of the week so did the sightings. On Saturday the 6^th we had a good encounter with two basking sharks which remained on the surface feeding around the boat for some time. 

Basking Shark (c) Paddy O'Dwyer

Sunday the 7^th much improved conditions saw a big increase in sightings. We had three separate sightings of individual harbour porpoises through the day. We also came across a group of three basking sharks feeding on the surface very early on the morning trip. We saw a single animal while moored up beside An Blascaod Mor it swam beneath the boat and disappeared from view. When we returned to this area in the evening this group had increases in size to five animals. They swam around the boat for ages paying it little to no attention. We also had three separate sightings of minke whales. The first was a pair consisting of an adult and juvenile while they appeared to be in a different spot to the pair we had been encountering lately they were certainly similar in size. The final two minke whale sightings were of two separate individuals. We also came across our fist sunfish of the year on the Sunday trip

Basking Shark (c) Paddy O'Dwyer

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Week 3 June 24th- 31s

Bad weather on Monday the 24^th meant we only got out on a morning trip. It was challenging to spot anything in the poor conditions but some diving gannets revealed the location of a single minke whale. Shortly after that we got a brief glimpse of a basking shark at the surface of the water but he quickly departed.

Minke Whale (c) Paddy O'Dwyer - IWDG

The boat was contracted to get some recordings of minke whales and harbour porpoise vocalisations on Tuesday the 25^th and Wednesday the 26^th. This would provide an excellent opportunity to capture some photos of the animals as we would be stopping near them with the engines turned off.  Conditions were excellent over the two days and this was reflected in the high number of sightings over the two days. On Tuesday we had three separate harbour porpoise sightings and four different encounters with minke whales the last of these was a pair of animals consisting of one adult and one juvenile. On Wednesday an increase in effort to find harbour porpoises resulted in five separate harbour porpoise sightings.  Two of these were groups of two animals, one was a group of three and two of the sightings were of individuals. We also had 4 different minke whale sightings, two individuals and two groups of two including an adult and juvenile similar in sizes to those seen yesterday. One surfaced only a few meters from the rear of the boat providing us with a fantastic close view of the animal. We also encountered a single basking shark on this trip.

Minke Whale (c) Paddy O'Dwyer - IWDG

Thursday the 27^th despite the poor visibility for most of the day due to fog we still had plenty of sightings. A group of two minkes started the day off, these were in the same position where we have seen the adult and juvenile pair over the previous two days. We had two more sightings of individual minkes and three sightings of basking sharks one of these was a group of two the others were individuals. Two sightings of individual harbour porpoises rounded off the day.

 Basking Shark (c) Paddy O'Dwyer - IWDG

In addition to this we had the usual grey seals, puffins, manx shearwaters, kittwakes, gannets and razorbills.

Week 2 June 17th-23th

Unfortunately due to unsuitable conditions we only made it out on three days this week.

Minke Whale (c) PaddyO'Dwyer - IWDG

On Monday 17^th, we observed a rather small sized minke whale on the morning trip. We encountered a similar sized minke in a similar area on the evening trip, while this is likely to be the same animal the lack of any definable individual characteristics means that I cannot be certain. Shortly after seeing the minke we came across a harbour porpoise that only surfaced twice close to the boat before disappearing. Later on that trip we came across a group of 5 common dolphins, there was a harbour porpoise in the same area as this group. They seemed to take little to no notice of the boat and swam right past us. On the way back to Ventry we came across another minke whale. It’s likely this individual was different to the one we saw earlier due to the fact that it was much larger.

Gannet (c) Paddy O'Dwyer - IWDG

Brief weather windows on Wednesday 19^th and Friday 21^st allowed us to perform a single trip on each day. Wednesday’s trip was in the evening and despite the bad weather we saw two minke whales very close to each other in an area with plenty of seabirds. Seabirds, especially gannets can be very useful in locating whales and dolphins. Sea birds often form groups while feeding on fish that have been forced towards the surface by the cetaceans feeding on them below the water. On Friday we only ventured out on a morning trip and with the help of some feeding gannets we encountered a single minke early in the trip. Shortly after leaving this minke behind us we encountered a group of two minkes that appeared to be feeding together, these two appeared to be similar in size to the group of two that we had yesterday.

Gannets Feeding (c) Paddy O'Dwyer

In addition to all these sightings we had plenty of other wildlife to keep us entertained. As per usual the grey seals had a good look at us while we were looking at them. There was also plenty of bird life also with all the usual suspects including puffins, cormorants, gannets, gulls and many more. The Monday trip also provided me with my first sighting of the red deer on Inishvickillaun. They can be hard to spot on the island despite being there in large number and relatively large size. While deer are not quite the mammals I’m here to observe it’s pretty special to see them on an island on the very edge of Europe. 

Deer on Inisvickillaun (c) Paddy O'Dwyer - IWDG