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

The Ring Whale

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 Greatest Show on Earth

The humpback whale, nicknamed Hook, breaches off of Hook Head, Co. Wexford. Image copyright of Padraig Whooley, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG)

Sometimes we're really spoiled when it comes to enjoying nature up close and personal. In the early part of this week, newspapers and RTE television news reports were full of images of humpback whales launching themselves majestically through the air off Hook Head in Co. Wexford.

The humpback was first seen off Wexford in early January and on the 22nd, a team of researchers from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and a camera crew from Crossing the Line Films chartered the MV Rebecca C to view and film the animals.

Padraig Whooley, IWDG's Sighting Co-ordinator reports that this is a new humpback to Irish waters. He's sure of this because of analysis carried out on photographs of the whale's tail. Each whale has a slightly different one - a bit like a human fingerprint, which allows scientists to track them around the world. Just as long as they can get a good look at their tail.

This new animal brings the number of humpback's officially sighted in Irish waters to eleven. Many of these are regular visitors and return every year and despite the seemingly small numbers, the IWDG believe there is a slow but steady recovery going on in the Irish humpback population.

On Saturday last, as if to celebrate this good news, the humpback put on a spectacular 45-minute show where it breached the surface of the water on eleven occasions. All of this activity was documented in high definition by Ross Bartley from Crossing the Line films and the footage will form part of a new series of "Wild Journeys" due to start on RTE television later in the Spring. I for one am really looking forward to seeing that.

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeanfliae) is one of the baleen whales. This means it filters its food directly from the water. Rather than having teeth with which to eat, the humpbacks are equipped with a baleen filtration system. This is made up of stiff plates which grow down from the gums of the upper jaw and extend in rows down both sides of the mouth. Baleen is made out of keratin- the same protein that our hair and fingernails are made from.

It is estimated that an adult humpback will eat up to 4% of its body weight per day. To do this, the whale gulps crustaceans and schooling fish in to its mouth and uses the filtration system to separate the food from the water.

In some cases, humpbacks will use a "bubble net" to capture food. The animal dives down beneath its prey then swims in a spiral upwards blowing bubbles from its blowholes as it does so. These bubbles form a sort of tubular net in which prey are trapped and pushed to the surface where the whale eventually gobbles them up.

Humpbacks have even been known to bubble net collectively. So, while one animal is blowing bubbles, another might be diving deeper to 'herd' prey into the net while more animals may be driving prey into the net by singing at them.

This whale song or vocalisation is particularly prevalent in humpbacks who may sing for 24 hours non-stop.

Scientists seem to be in dispute as to why baleen whales, and particularly humpbacks put on such amazing aerial acrobatics shows. One theory is that it is all an effort to attract a mate. Presumably the higher the whale can jump or the bigger the splash the whale can make, the fitter the animal is and all the better to mate with. In fact, breaching seems to increase when the animals are in groups, so this does suggest some sort of social function.

There is also some evidence that slapping the water with such force serves to stun and disorientate prey. This may be true, but it would hardly explain such elaborate displays seen off the Wexford coast.

Another theory gaining ground is that the animals are trying to dislodge parasites which attach themselves to their sides.

The IWDG website records 157 sightings of humpback whales in Irish waters going back to 1984. Despite a tiny handful sighted off the north coast and elsewhere, the vast majority of sightings have been recorded in an area stretching from Dingle to Hook Head. That means that in Cork, we have a front row seat for what Padraig Whooley describes as the "greatest wildlife show on earth".