Week 1 June 8th-16th

View from the office (c) Paddy O'Dwyer- IWDG

The bursary is off to a great start with cetacean sightings on every trip so far. Even more impressive when you consider we were mostly doing two trips a day.

Saturday the 8^th, was the day of the first tour and after meeting Mick, Britta and Billy I was keen to get started and to see what was around the bay. It was a nice calm day with plenty of sunshine in other words perfect conditions for sighting any whales or dolphins in the area. We didn’t have to wait long before spotting our first, a harbour porpoise. This was followed 20 minutes later by another porpoise sighting. However, these are the smallest cetacean in Irish waters and their brief surfacing makes them difficult to spot unless you are being very observant. On this trip we also encountered a group of rissos dolphins which were swimming around the boat in groups of two and three with 8 animals in total in the area. This was a fantastic opportunity to observe a species many don’t get to see in Irish waters. Two more harbour porpoises on our way back to Ventry brought the total number of their sightings for the day to 4. All in all a very eventful day with some fantastic sightings.

Sunday the 9^th, buoyed by the success of yesterday, and with further calm and sunny conditions I was confident of recording more sightings today. As it turns out my confidence wasn’t misplaced and shortly into our morning trip we had a sighting of a small minke whale. These are the smallest of the baleen whales and are regularly sighted in these waters. They can be quite unpredictable and pop up in a completely different location each time they surface. The evening trip resulted in another sighting of a small minke whale this one appearing at the surface multiple times providing fantastic opportunities for everyone to get a great view of this impressive mammal that can reach 10m in length. Its quite possible that it was the same individual as it was similar in size to the one we had seen in the morning and was also occupying a similar area.

Minke whale (c) Paddy O'Dwyer- IWDG

Tuesday the 11^th Having not gone out on Monday I was keen to get back out on the water. With the weather conditions getting worse this looked like it may be the last trip of the week. While out on the morning trip a small minke surfaced barely a few meters from the stern of the boat. It continued to surface close to the boat resulting in one of the best minke whale encounters that  i’ve witnessed. 

On the evening trip we had two separate encounters with harbour porpoises and another sighting of a minke. This one was slightly further away from the boat but surfaced several times ensuring everyone on board got a good view of it. There were a few light rain showers on the evening trip yet it still produced some fantastic sightings, proving that in Ireland you just have to embrace the weather. The following footage of an inquisitive minke was captured by Billy on a tour that occurred before this bursary began.

                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVoIepoI_gs

(c) Billy Connors-Blasket Island Marine Tours 

Wednesday the 12^th, since there were no bookings and conditions were deteriorating I decided to go surfing on my ‘day off’. This, in hindsight, was a bad idea. When I got back to the car I had a missed call from Mick, I called him back only to find out that a last minute booking and a suitable short weather window resulted in his decision to go on a short morning trip. On this trip they had encountered a pair of killer whales. While killer whales are not a common species in this area they are seen on occasion, especially during the summer months. Images of these killer whales have been sent to the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust to see if they can be matched to the Scottish West Community of killer whales. In the past the killer whales spotted in this area have been identified as being from the Scottish West Community. When they are spotted they never seem to hang around long in the area and almost appear to be doing a summer tour of the Irish coast. The Irish Whale and Dolphin group run a sightings network and sightings can easily be reported online here: http://www.iwdg.ie/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2117                                      Reported sightings allow the IWDG to track the movements of cetaceans as they travel along the Irish coastline resulting in valuable information on how and when they use different areas.

In addition to all the cetaceans we have seen, everyday has produced great views of the grey seal population in the Blaskets and also spectacular opportunities to see puffins, turns, gannets, razorbills and other birds. On one of our trips this week we even saw a longtailed skua which are not very common inshore at this time of year.

Puffin (c) Paddy O'Dwyer- IWDG

For more information on any of the cetaceans we have seen so far have a look at the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group website: http://www.iwdg.ie/index.php

What it's all about!

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) in collaboration with Blasket Islands Eco Marine Tours are funding a summer bursary based in West Kerry in order to collect information on cetaceans around the Blasket Islands. The Blasket Islands are home to a variety of cetaceans and are an extremely important area for them, and this is recognised internationally as  the area designated a Special area of Conservation (SAC) for Harbour porpoises and Grey seals under the EU Habitats Directive. The area is also important for various bird species. The intention of this blog will be to keep people updated on the cetaceans we encounter during the study period as well as any interesting bird or other animal sightings I will do my best update this blog as frequently as possible in order to keep people as up to date as possible.

For those of you who have never been on an Eco tour around the Blaskets you have no idea what you are missing out on. It’s amazing to see the coastline of West Kerry including the breathtaking cliffs below the Slea Head Drive from a whole new perspective. Add to this the unparalleled beauty of the Blasket Islands themselves including the lighthouse on Tearaght and the towering Cathedral Rocks of Inis na Bro. In addition to the beautiful scenery the area boasts a variety of wildlife.

Thousands of seabirds including gannets, storm petrels, Manx shearwaters, and plenty of Puffins (to name but a few) are frequently seen in the area. Basking sharks are also frequently encountered in and the Great Blasket Island and its smaller neighbour Beginish are home to a colony of about 700 grey seals.

                                                          Seals and gull (c) Paddy O'Dwyer, IWDG

However it’s the cetaceans in the area that I’m most interested in. Common dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Minke whales, Risso’s dolphins and harbour porpoises are regularly seen in and around the islands and Killer whales are occasionally recorded in the area. In the later summer months and during the autumn the Humpback and Fin whales arrive in the area providing fantastic opportunities to observe these amazing creatures just off the coast.

Common Dolphin (c) Joanne O'Brien, IWDG

Blasket Islands Eco Marine Tours have kindly offered to allow us to observe from their vessel the 43ft MV Blasket Princess. The boat is skippered by Mick Sheeran and crewed by Billy and tour guide Britta. It is a pleasure to share a boat a boat with these people who aside from having an encyclopaedic knowledge of everything from the wildlife to the history of the area are also very passionate about what they do. They ensure that everyone on board enjoys the trip and leaves the boat a whole lot wiser.

Despite crossing the Atlantic and surveying the shelf edge off Irelands West coast some of my best experiences of observing whales and dolphins have occurred onboard the M.V. Blasket Princess including watching a Humpback whale bubble net feeding and seeing the world’s second largest mammal the Fin whale. I recommend there tours to locals and tourists alike, it never fails to amaze me how many people are unaware of the amazing wildlife that is located just off the coast. I look forward to meeting you over the summer.

For more information about these tours check out: http://marinetours.ie/

For more information about Whales and Dolphins around Ireland check out: http://www.iwdg.ie/index.php

Become a member of the IWDG: http://www.iwdg.ie/index.php?option=com_mijoshop&route=product/product&path=34&product_id=1&Itemid=117

Apart from supporting conservation work like this, IWDG membership has other benefits
which include:

1. IWDG News: our e-zine and regular newsletters and a host of other
    publications

2. Monthly group email updates and local reports on strandings and sightings
    of interest in your area

3. Discounts on all IWDG events, weekends and training workshops.

4. Reduced rates on IWDG publications: sighting reviews, posters etc

5. Opportunities to take part in IWDG research cruises and fieldwork

6. An opportunity to join like-minded people interested in marine
    conservation.

7. Advice on whale-watching and related topics

Tools of the Trade (c) Paddy O'Dwyer, IWDG