A whale of a time: cetacean watching in West Cork

Whale watching in West Cork is some of the best in the World, especially at this time of year, writes Daniel Lettice.

Humpback whales, fin whales, minke whales, common dolphin and harbour porpoise all in the one day. Whalewatching in some far flung destination? No, whalewatching off the South west coast of Ireland. Over the last two weeks the whalewatching off the West Cork coast has been world class. When it's good here it’s great and to see five species all in the one day is something you would do very well to equal anywhere else in the world.

The stars of the show this time around have been the humpback whales. This iconic species are regular visitors to Irish waters but with a minimum of 5 humpbacks in West Cork waters at the moment whalewatchers are certainly being treated to a pre Christmas gift.

Last Wednesday, as part of an Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) photo ID trip we photographed two humpbacks and a further two were photographed nearby. On another trip yesterday we again photographed two of these animals, this time in difficult conditions. All four animals were ‘known’ whales already recorded on the IWDG Irish humpback whale catalogue, which now has a total of 21 unique animals, the newest recorded off West Cork in the last two weeks. The famous Boomerang, who keeps coming back, has also been photographed in the area. Humpbacks are identified by their unique tail fluke patterns and they certainly provided ample opportunity this last two weeks for identification by putting on some fantastic tail fluking shows. Throw in some pectoral fin slapping and bubble net feeding and it all adds up to an amazing show.

Not to be outdone, the Fin whales who are the second largest animals ever to have lived on the planet also gave us a great show. There are numerous Fin whales in the area, some feeding in association with the humpbacks and some on their own. Lunge feeding is common amongst the fin whales at this time of the year. The whales line up a bait ball and engulfs it at that surface with their huge mouths open and throats distended, a sight to behold. At times this week the Common Dolphins seemed to have been showing off around the boat in an attempt to distract our attention from their larger cousins but they’ve had to take a back seat for a little while. Fleeting glimpses of Minke whales and the shy Harbour Porpoises have added to the magic of an amazing couple of weeks.

I would encourage anyone with an interest in whales and dolphins or just an interest in seeing one of natures great shows to get on down to West Cork when the weather settles again. For further, up to date information on the whales see www.iwdg.ie

Simon Duggan's amazing photo of a humpback made the
front page of a number of national newspapers

Picture Special: Stalking Deer in Killarney

Alone in Killarney National Park with a solitary powerful red deer stag as day broke on a frosty foggy November morning is a good as it gets for a nature lover and photographer, writes Dan Lettice.

Having located the Stag as the sun came up it took quite a while of slow, careful and very quiet approach to get close enough to get a good shot of him. Using a tree for cover I grabbed my shots before the Stag decided I'd had enough and moved away into nearby forest but not before at I was able to wonder at the sheer size and power of Ireland's largest wild land mammal.

Killarney national parks deer population is thought to be something between 700 and 800 animals. It is made up of lowland and highland animals. The lowland red deer are considered to be made up of two loose populations, one in Knockreer estate and one in Muckross estate. The highland deer population can be found mainly on Torc and Mangerton Mountains.

Red Deer have been present in the Killarney area since the last Ice Age and their survival was greatly aided by their protection in the 19th century in two of the large estates, Kenmare and Muckross estates. There was however a considerable decline in the numbers from 1900 to 1970 when there were possibly less than 100 red deer left in the Killarney area. Thankfully since then the herd population has increased considerably through rigorous protection. The herd in now fully protected by law and high priority is given to protecting its genetic purity.

In late September and early October the rut will begin, the stags will become more aggressive and less tolerant of each other and they can be heard ‘roaring’ as they seek to gather hinds together to form a harem which they will attempt to protect from other stags. When the hinds come into season he will mate with the fittest hinds. Stags can often be seen during this time clashing with each other in competition for the hinds.
Calves are born around June.

Viewing or photographing the deer in Killarney is probably best done around rut time when the stags are most active but care should be taken to avoid coming between a stag and his hinds. Whenever you choose to view these magnificent animals, being in the close presence of a big powerful stag is a wonderful privilege.

Lunar Eclipse Photo Special

Pictures hot off the press of tonight's total lunar eclipse. Taken at Rosscarbery in West Cork. Click on each for a larger version.

 

Science Gallery: Dublin Zoo

Regular readers will know that we here at Communicate Science very much believe in the old saying that 'a picture paints a thousand words'. 

With that in mind, we sent our part-time roving reporter Daniel Lettice to Dublin Zoo recently to work his photographic magic and bring us some wonderful examples of the type of animals that the Zoo is home to.

Dublin Zoo was opened in 1831 and received all of its animals from the recently opened London Zoo.

The Zoo has had an interesting history since then: receiving its first giraffe in 1844; its first lions in 1855;surviving the 1916 rising by feeding some of the less fortunate animals to the lions; right up to the present day when it is one of the most visited attractions in the state.

Our first photo is of one of the Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) - the smallest of all still existing tiger subspecies. The tigers are critically endangered in the wild. Around 400-500 were thought to exist in 1998 and their numbers continue to decline.

Next, it's the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiaca): an easily recognisable yellow-eyed bird. This guy is a male - the males are virtually pure white, while the females have dark markings.

This hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) looks right at home in the water. Dublin's hippos are named Henri, Hoovie and Heidi. native to central and southern Africa, they are classified as 'vulnerable' in the wild.

Finally, an Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus), from the herd at Dublin Zoo. they have smaller ears than their African counterpart and those ears (kind of) look like India! it's estimated that there are only around 35-50,000 Asian Elephants left in the wild.

Dublin Zoo is open all year round; except for Christmas Day and St. Stephens Day. It's really worth a visit.