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
Irish research will take centre stage this weekend when UCC and NUIG research that has led to discoveries in the mid-Atlantic Ridge, which will feature in a National Geographic programme to be broadcast this Sunday, 28 October.
National Geographic has produced a five part series, The Alien Deep, which takes viewers into underwater worlds where no human has gone before.
The series takes viewers into an underwater world 3,000m deep, where, on the slopes of the Mid-Ocean ridges that divide the earth’s tectonic plates, chimney-like formations spew black plumes of superheated water, packed with chemicals, minerals and dissolved gases allowing life to thrive against the odds.
The scientific team leader was Dr Andy Wheeler, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at University College Cork who worked with scientists from the National University of Ireland Galway, Geological Survey of Ireland, the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre in the UK. “It's great to see Ireland's expertise recognised on TV”, says Dr Wheeler. “Discovering a new volcanic landscape three kilometres below was a thrill.”
The scientists were on board the Irish National Research Vessel, Celtic Explorer and used the Remotely Operated Vehicle Holland 1 - named for the Irish submarine pioneer John Philip Holland- for their explorations of the deep and was supported by the Marine Institute under the 2011 Ship-Time Programme of the National Development Plan.
The team named the previously uncharted field of hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the first to be explored north of the Azores, the Moytirra Vent Field. Moytirra is the name of a battlefield in Irish mythology, and appropriately means ‘Plain of the Pillars’. Patrick Collins from the Ryan Institute, NUI Galway led Ireland’s marine biological team on the survey.
The programme featuring Irish scientists will be broadcast this Sunday 28th October at 6pm on the National Geographic channel on Sky (channel 526) and also UPC (channel 215). The programme presenter is explorer Dr Robert Ballard who discovered the wreckage of the Titanic in 1985.
In what sounds like an April Fools story, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has appealed for the return of a narwhal corpse, which they believe may have been stranded on a North Clare beach in late March.
Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) are normally found in Arctic waters and, if confirmed, this will be the first recorded stranding of such a creature in Ireland. The thing is, it can't be confirmed, because the body of the dead cetacean has been removed in mysterious circumstances.
I can remember the first time I saw a Narwhal in either the Paris or Berlin Natural History Museum (I can't remember which) and being amazed that such a creature existed. For me, it falls into the same category as the duck-billed platypus, i.e. someone's having a laugh and clearly just stuck a fake tusk on a dolphin. But no, these creatures are perfectly real and their strange appearance has led to them being the source of some confusion over the centuries. Medieval Europeans, when presented with the excised tusks, believed them to be horns from the mythical unicorn.
The IWDG say that Max Halliday spotted the stranded corpse near the Rock shop in Liscannor, Co. Clare (incidentally, that's the birthplace of one John Philip Holland, the Irishman who invented the submarine) on Sunday, March 25th. He reported the strange find to the IWDG on Monday 26th but the message wasn't picked up until Friday the 30th.
By the time IWDG and GMIT researchers were on site, the carcass was missing and all that remained was a grease stain and a lingering smell of rotting cetacean.
According to the IWDG, Max's description is as follows: "a cetacean that was larger than a dolphin at c15ft, with no dorsal fin, but most interestingly with a spiral tusk, about the length of a hurley, protruding from its head".
Liscannor, Co. Clare
Are there any photos? Unfortunately not. "I am absolutely mad that I didn’t take a photo. I am notorious for taking photos all the time, but for some unknown reason I didn’t take the photo. There were two women who were out on a walk at the time that I met than can corroborate what I saw" Max told the Irish Examiner.
Researchers were able to take small tissue samples from the site of the stranding which should be able to confirm if it was indeed a narwhal but they are keen to locate the corpse, not only to identify it, but to ensure it's preserved for posterity at the Natural History Museum.
"If we can prove this, then this is a very important finding, as this is a first for Ireland, bringing to 25 the number of cetacean species recorded in our waters", said Pádraig Whooley of the IWDG.
The group have appealed to people living in Co. Clare who may have seen the animal before it was removed to contact them with their observations and photos. They have also reminded those who removed the corpse that "all cetaceans in Irish waters, dead or alive, are fully protected by Irish law, and a special licence is required from NPWS for anyone in possession of such an animal or parts of".
"This is a potentially significant extralimital record of an Arctic vagrant, which to the best of our knowledge has never previously been recorded this far south."
"Clearly we are disappointed that thus far this animal has produced no photographic evidence which would be a far simpler way of confirming species ID, as male Narwhals are the only cetaceans that exhibit such a tusk, which is actually a protruding tooth on the upper jaw. So this is a public request for assistance and once again is not a 1st of April prank."
Update 05/04/2012: Clare County Council have said that they removed a carcass from Liscannor beach on the 27th March due to public health concerns and it is now destroyed. The contactors who carried out the removal did not report any tusk but that the corpse had already been significantly decomposed at that stage. Perhaps the eyewitness was mistaken is seeing a tusk? Perhaps the tusk was removed prior to the council moving the animal? Looks like this mystery will only be solved when the results of the genetic analysis are known. Stay tuned!
If you saw the creature and/or took photographs of same, you can contact the IWDG on strandings@iwdg.ie
The use of tools had long been considered a uniquely human trait until Jane Goodall's reports of tool use in chimpanzees in the 1960s. Now many other primates, some birds, dolphins, elephants and other animals have been observed using tools. Although there have been some reports of fish doing the same, we now have conclusive evidence, with stunning video footage of an orange-dotted tuskfish using a rock to open a clam.
The video has been published in the journal Coral Reefs by Giacomo Bernardi, an ecologist at the University of California. While diving in four feet of water, the scientist watched the fish carry out the elaborate procedure twice before switching on his camera and recording the event.
Shot in Palau in July 2009, the video shows the fish digging a clam out of the sand, carrying it to a rock and throwing it repeatedly against the rock to crush it.
"What the movie shows is very interesting. The animal excavates sand to get the shell out, then swims for a long time to find an appropriate area where it can crack the shell," Bernardi said. "It requires a lot of forward thinking, because there are a number of steps involved. For a fish, it's a pretty big deal."
The actions recorded in the video are remarkably similar to previous reports of tool use by fish. Every case has involved a species of wrasse using a rock as an anvil to crush shellfish.
"Wrasses are very inquisitive animals," Bernardi said. "They are all carnivorous, and they are very sensitive to smell and vision."
Writing in the published article, Bernardi notes: "the similarity of the behaviours [between wrasse species] suggest that either they emerged independently or they correspond to a deep-seated beahvioural trait"
Bernardi says there may well be other examples of tool use in fish that just hasn't been observed:
"We don't spend that much time underwater observing fishes," he said. "It may be that all wrasses do this. It happens really quickly, so it would be easy to miss."
Here are some images I took last week (Sunday 21st August) near Ring, Co. Waterford of the remains of a 10 metre long Sperm Whale which live-stranded on the previous Friday.
The animal had tracked close to the South East coast of Ireland for a number of days prior to stranding, leading experts to believe that he was sick.
The whale is now gone - removed and incinerated by Waterford County Council. The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) had earlier called for the remains to be used constructively:
"This is a wasted opportunity", according to the group. "The specimen, could have made a fantastic educational resource, not to mention the tourism potential that would flow from such a unique local attraction. The lack of vision from the powers that be is disappointing, especially when one considers that Youghal, in East Cork is only 15 miles away, and is where the original masterpiece "Moby Dick" was filmed with Gregory Peck back in 1955."
I have to say, it was disturbing to see that the carcass had already been poorly treated by the time I reached Ring on Sunday- two days after the stranding. Names and slogans had been carved into the dead animal's blubber and people had obviously attempted (successfully in some cases) to remove teeth from the whale.
According to the IWDG, by the 23rd, "human scavengers had already sawed off the lower jaw bones over-night, so the specimen was no longer intact and the initiative was lost".
The scientists leave Galway this morning aboard the Marine Institute's research vessel, the RV Celtic Explorer. The mission is being filmed by the National Geographic Channel.
The mission will investigate life 3,000 metres below the surface of the sea and seek out hydrothermal vents using the ship's Remotely Operated Vehicle, the Holland 1.
The Holland 1 is named for the Irish scientist and inventor John Philip Holland who invented the first modern submarines. I've written extensively about Holland on this blog already.
Patrick Collins of NUI Galway says this mission will allow him to find some new marine species: "We hope to find a whole community of previously unknown species, increasing our understanding of deep sea biogeography. There is potential here to put Ireland on the global map as a serious player in deep sea science. This is all the more timely with the exploitation of deep sea and hydrothermal vents for precious metals and rare earth minerals now a reality.”
You can find more information on the VENTURE mission here.
For a Q&A on the mission, see here.
The scientists will be maintaining a blog of their activities during the trip here.
Aaron Lim, a 4th year Earth Science student from UCC is also blogging from the mission here.
Europe's first Marine Nature Reserve and one of the world's most studied marine sites, Lough Hyne, celebrates its 30th birthday this year amidst a flurry of activity.
This is the title of a new book by Terri prepared with the assistance of the Gwendoline Harold Barry Trust, Skibbereen Credit Union and the Heritage Council.
The School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences (BEES) at University College Cork and the Skibbereen heritage Centre are also organising a series of events this week, including a conference on Friday, Lough Hyne at 30, to celebrate the 30 years since Lough Hyne was designated Europe’s first Marine Nature Reserve.
The Lough is a semi-enclosed marine lake, located about 3 miles west of Skibereen in West Cork. It's believed that the Lough was a freshwater lake up to 4000 years ago, when a rise in sea level joined it with the sea. It is now a highly sheltered, seawater basin connected to the North Atlantic by a narrow inlet.
This inlet constricts at one point to form the "Rapids" - 5 metres deep at high tide. It leads to an 'asymmetrical tide' with water flowing in for 4 hours and taking 8.5 hours to go out. This rock pool effect means it is a very unique ecosystem and a popular location for scientific studies.
The School of BEES, UCC operate three research laboratories on shore of the lough - the Renouf, Kitching and Bohane Labs.
The Kitching lab is named after Prof. Jack Kitching who carried out marine biology research at the Lough from 1946 to 1986. He built two of the onsite labs. The Bohane lab is named for John Bohane, a Lough Hyne resident who was involved in UCC research at the site for over 60 years and was the first warden when the Lough became a Marine Reserve in 1981.
The Lough is one of the most studied marine biological areas anywhere in the world! Well over 300 scientific papers have been written about the biology and ecology of the lough.
Last night's talk was a lively jaunt through over 120 years of scientific endeavor in this corner of Ireland. From Victorian expeditions to early 20th century visits aboard the Helga (before it was fitted with guns to play a role in War of Independence and Civil War).
The triumph of fashion over the logistical nightmares of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, the development of the various laboratories and the people who visited and continue to visit, they were all touched upon during the evening.
The strongest characters to emerge from the many photos on show were those, such as Louis Renouf (who built the first research station), who spent years, and in many cases decades, of their lives at Lough Hyne, returning year-in, year-out (as many still do) to work there.
It was noted that, in many cases, scientists who have been returning for 30 years are almost unknown by the wider community – capturing the strange sub-culture that existed, no doubt encouraged by the sense of remoteness, self sufficiency and adventure felt by earlier scientists.
The pictures also showcased Skibbereen, Lough Hyne and Baltimore in bygone days and the local people who helped the scientists along the way. It also captured the almost-military-like way in which the logistics of the expeditions were run.
You can read about Louis Renouf's early work at the Lough, in his own words, here (pdf).
Here are some images of the John P. Holland commemoration at the National Maritime College of Ireland on Saturday.
The event, organised by the North Monastery Bicentennial Committee and the NMCI, was a very enjoyable and informative occasion which was a fitting tribute to an Irishman who deserves to be recognised as the 'Father of the modern submarine'.
As we learned from a number of speakers, including Bruce Balistrieri of the Patterson Museum and Dr. Donal Blake of the Christian Brothers, had Holland not been engrossed in his submarine work, it is probable that he would have rivalled the Wright brothers to be the first to accomplish manned flight.
The event was attended by the Mayors of Cork and Clare County as well as the Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork City. The Minister for the Marine, Mr. Simon Coveney TD also spoke and unveiled a commemorative plaque which will adorn the walls of the newly re-dedicated John P. Holland Library at the College.
The Band of the No.1 Southern Brigade, Collins Barracks were in attendance and added a wonderful sense of occasion. The event was also attended by the a representative of the Japanese embassy in Dublin who reminded us that Holland designed the first submarines for the Japanese Navy.
Holland received the Fourth Class Order of Merit Rising Sun Ribbon from the Japanese for his distinguished service to that nation. He remains one of a very few Irish people to receive such an honour.
A team of Irish and UK scientists will shortly embark on a 25-day trip to the depths of the Atlantic ocean as part of a National Geographic-funded study to examine a previously uncharted hydrothermal vent ecosystem.
The Marine Institute's research vessel, Celtic Explorer will travel to the mid-Atlantic ridge to examine the unique ecosystem in July. "It is literally, an alien world", according to Andy Wheeler.
Patrick Collins, a researcher at NUI Galway, also taking part in the project, has organised an exciting competition for secondary school students in Ireland. The prize? To get to put your name on one of the many newly discovered species that the team are likely to find as part of the study.
The competition is open to all secondary school students across Ireland and the UK. To enter, students must use their imaginations and understanding of biology and habitats to design their own deep sea hydrothermal vent creature.
The organisers are looking for carefully thought out illustrations along with a description of the creature’s habitat, diet, life and evolutionary history, and whatever else you think is important. The competition will close on June 15 2011, and the winner will be announced after the Celtic Explorer returns to Ireland in August.
The wonders of Irish marine life will be investigated at Cork's Lifetime Lab with the launch of a fortnight of school workshops in collaboration with the “Explorers” Primary Marine Outreach and Education Programme.
The "Explorers" Education Programme brings the excitement of the sea into the classroom and has already been successfully rolled out to some 40 primary schools in the West of Ireland from Mayo to Clare, and in six schools in the greater Dublin area. The Cork project is a collaborative effort between the Marine Institute, Forfas Discover Primary Science, University College Cork and Lifetime Lab.
The Explorers Education programme aims to integrate marine themes as closely as possible with lessons already taught in national schools through the Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE) curriculum and other cross curricular subjects and hopes to reach 500 primary school pupils in Cork.
Workshops will run from March 28th to April 8th ,are available to primary schools free of charge, and may be booked by contacting Lifetime Lab at 021 4941500 or lifetimelab@corkcity.ie
Mervyn Horgan Manager of Lifetime Lab said “We are delighted to be involved in the pilot series of workshops, we are always looking for new and innovative ways of engaging in science education and raising the awareness of marine science in Cork classrooms can only bring long term benefits” He further added “We perceive Lifetime Lab as an extra classroom for every school in the city and county, a science nursery for institutions whose high level graduates ensure that Cork has a well educated and highly skilled workforce long into the future”.
“The Explorers Programme focuses on Ireland’s two greatest natural resources – our vast undersea territory and our young people,” said Dr. Peter Heffernan, CEO of the Marine Institute. “If Ireland is to develop a thriving marine sector in tomorrow’s world, then it will be the young people of today who will make it happen.”
Pupils will engage in activities based around animals and plants that live in Irish waters, the power of the sea, the real map of Ireland and will also make their own submarine and periscopes.Classes participating in Discover Primary Science can use an explorers workshop visit to fulfill Step 2 of the steps required to achieve a DPS Award of Science and Math’s Excellence.
A US scientist has discovered a new species of sea slug in a Californian state park.
Jeff Goddard of University College Santa Barbara found the new species at Carpinteria Reef. It is a species of nudibranch - a group of brightly coloured sea slugs.
After observing the creature back in the lab for a few days he had it identified by a leading authority on the taxonomy of sea slugs, Terrence Gosliner who confirmed it was a new species and named it after it's discoverer.
Flabeliina goddardi was fully described in the September 15th edition of the Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences.
Goddard said: "it was pretty exciting to find a new species right under our noses...Only one specimen was found, so now we need to find out where more are hiding, what they feed on, and whom they interact with." The creature measures about 3 cm long when stretched out and crawling.
Jeff Goddard
In the published article, Goslinger writes: "Flabellina goddardi is named for friend and colleague Jeff Goddard who found the only specimen of this distinctive species. Jeff is the consummate naturalist with superb powers of observation."
Irish researchers have managed to successfully track five Lion’s Mane Jellyfish!
“As it had never been done before, attaching a tag to a Lion’s Mane was an extremely difficult and dangerous task. Eventually we found some way of attaching the tag to the underside of the jellyfish in amongst the hundreds of meter long tentacles”, explained Dr Tom Doyle, Coastal Marine Resources Centre, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork (UCC).
Dr Doyle is a member of a group of researchers involved in The EcoJel Project - a four year project funded by the European Union Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Ireland Wales Programme 2007-2013 - Interreg 4A. EcoJel is a collaboration between University College Cork and Swansea University (Wales) and aims to assess the opportunities and detrimental impacts of jellyfish in the Irish Sea.
During the last few weeks, the researchers have been investigating the behaviour of the Lion’s Mane Jellyfish in Dublin Bay by attaching tags to their underside. Tracking these jellyfish is one of the only ways we can learn how much time they spend at the surface and whether or not they are residents or just passing through. These questions are important to answer as many bathers and open water swimmers in the Dublin area have been badly stung during the last few years and more recently in the last few weeks. Indeed, a bad encounter with a Lion’s Mane may result in severe pain for 5 or 6 hours, weeping skin and back spasms.
With the help/support of Ocean Divers in Dun Laoghaire, the researchers have now followed five individuals for up to eight hours. All individuals were tagged near the famous Forty Foot bathing spot and depending on the tide (ebb or flow), the jellyfish either went north or south along the coast. One jellyfish hugged the coastline from the Forty Foot to Bullock Harbour and along to Sorrento Point never moving more than 20 metres from shore. Another jellyfish went past the entrance to Dun Laoghaire Harbour and on towards Seapoint before heading south again with the ebbing tide.
“This is a great success as only three weeks ago we had no idea of where they went and how they behaved. We now know that they these jellyfish are residents, moving about with the ebb and flow of the tide. As the jellyfish are now beginning to wash up in large numbers (they are dying off) we have stopped tagging until early next year,” said Dr Doyle.
Here at Communicate Science, there is nothing we like better than a night at the movies. So, stuffed to the metaphorical gills with popcorn and ice cream, I recently settled down in front of James Cameron's epic Avatar.
It's a good film (it should be since it cost a reported $300 million to make and another $150 to market) but I know you didn't come here for a film review. One of the startling images of the film is the use of special effects to create bioluminescent plant and animal life on the alien planet Pandora (I think, strictly speaking, it's a moon, but that's not important).
As the cast of characters move through the lush forest, the plant life is glowing around them. As they brush against leaves and fronds, the plants glow stronger as if influenced by the contact.
Whereas bioluminescence (that's the ability of living organisms to generate light) isn't as common or spectacular as illustrated in the film, it is evident in nature.It's estimated that up to 90% of deep sea creatures exhibit some form of bioluminescence.
During the (all too brief) Summer we had in 2009, I was lucky enough to take a night-time kayaking trip in the waters surrounding Castletownshend in West Cork. The whole aim of the trip was to look for bioluminescent algae which are at their brightest during late summer. As we paddled through the water and the night got darker, I was amazed to catch flecks of silver spilling from the paddle and lapping at the side of the boat. In places, these flecks became almost like a thick soup of silver sparks. It was as if a child had emptied a jar of glitter into the water, except on a massive scale.
Once we ceased moving, the algae too switched off, and we returned to darkness. But, by trailing your hand through the water again, I could set off a beautiful cascade of stars to rise to the surface of the black water.
You can try this out for yourself by taking a trip with Atlantic Kayaking.So what were the algae up to? There are three basic reasons for organisms to produce their own light: to locate food, to attract a mate or to defend itself against attack.
Unfortunately, no plant or animal produces its own light on land. So, James Cameron was certainly in the land of make believe there. However, it's reported that he was influenced by marine life that bioluminesce when designing his forest scenes.
Anglerfish are an example of deep water fish which utilise bioluminescence to attract food. At the bottom of deep, dark oceans, the ugly looking creature waves about a brightly lit lure at the end of an extended 'fishing rod' attached to the front of its head.
Once the preyfish has spotted this tasty bait (often disguised as a small fish itself) it moves closer to investigate. This is generally the last thing it does, as out of the darkness, the anglerfish's mouth opens and the prey is gobbled up in an instant.
In fact, the anglerfish is a tad unusual because it doesn't make its own light. It actually has some light producing bacteria inside the lure to do the job for it.
Back on land, scientists have now identified almost 70 species of fungi that are bioluminescent. Quite why they glow seems to be a bit of a mystery. In some cases, just the cap of a mushroom glows, suggesting that it may have something to do with the dispersal of spores. Alternatively, some scientists suggest that the glowing may just be a byproduct of normal metabolic function of the fungi and serve no purpose. I'm inclined to be suspicious of this theory - these things do usually have some sort of evolutionary advantage.
In West Cork, and in many other parts of the world, the bioluminescent single-celled algae which create such wonderful displays are called dinoflagellates. The light show in this species has been described as a sort of 'burglar alarm' designed to light up the water around a potential threat (or kayak). This is a shout for help.
The dinoflagellates are working on the theory that the best chance of avoiding getting eaten themselves is to attract something bigger to eat their enemy. Hence the big light show.
What's happening at the cellular level is that a chemical known as a luciferin is converted to oxyluciferin by the enzyme luciferase. This basic reaction involves the release of energy in the form of light.
As we've seen, at the organism level, this phenomenon can be used for a variety of purposes. The result is often quiet beautiful. Almost as spectacular as the movies.
Welcome to Communicate Science. I'm a plant scientist, so expect lots of plant-related posts but also lots on science in general and science communication. Enjoy!
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All content, unless otherwise stated, is copyright of Communicate Science and should not be used without prior consent. Opinions expressed on this blog represent my own views and not those of my employer. Any comments on posts represent the opinions of visitors.
I'm passionate about the need to enthuse, inform and engage everyone in society about science.
I'm a full-time researcher and lecturer and a part-time blogger. I'm interested in all things to do with science. In particular, education and communication of science - especially biology.
This blog represents my personal views.
