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Eyes on the prizeDr Simon Berrow’schildren, Muireannand Ronan, left, hada whale of a time onboard the Celtic Mist;below, humpbackshave been spottedin our waters

Fins can only get better forIreland’s burgeoning porpoise,dolphin and whale populationthanks to the efforts of aconservation group which ismarking its 25th anniversary,writes Yvonne Gordon

I t’s early afternoon on the RiverLiffey in Dublin and as we motor past thePoolbeg chimneys where the river opensinto Dublin Bay, Dr Simon Berrow pointsout a colony of terns nesting on anabandoned mooring platform.We’re just a couple of miles from

O’Connell Bridge, yet as I watch theseabirds on the platforms and the blackguillemots nesting in holes in the walls, Irealise how little connection there isbetween people in the city and thewildlife of the bay. That’s before weeven start looking to see what’s underthe surface of the water, which is theday’s mission.Dr Berrow is the chief science officer

and acting chief executive of the IrishWhale and Dolphin Group (IWDG),which has just celebrated its 25thanniversary. “We’ve carried out a lot ofsurveys in Dublin Bay over the past 10years and it always amazes me the wealthof wildlife in the bay and thesurrounding areas, from harbourporpoises to minke whales and greyseals,” he says. “The seabirds are justastonishing; not just off Howth Head,Ireland’s Eye and Lambay Island, but inthe heart of the city we have ternsnesting. Wildlife really is everywhere.”Ireland’s waters were declared a whale

and dolphin sanctuary in 1991 — the firstof its kind in Europe — thanks to theefforts of the IWDG. Dr Berrow was oneof the co-founders of the group,along with Johnny Woodlock,Don Conroy and BrendanPrice, and John Bowlerof Greenpeace, asupporter of theproject.We are all aboard

Celtic Mist, the oldyacht of formertaoiseach CharlesHaughey, who theIWDG lobbied todeclare Irishwaters a whale anddolphin sanctuary,and who granted therequest in 1991. AfterHaughey’s death in 2006,the yacht was donated to theIWDG by his family.In 1991, few people even knew there

were whales in our waters, and many stilldo not realise the amount of whales wehave, including the minke, long-finnedpilot, humpback, sperm whale, bluewhale and even the killer whale.Fungie, the Dingle harbour resident,

may be our most famous dolphin but he’sfar from alone. In addition to thebottlenose dolphin we have six otherspecies, including the Atlantic white-sided dolphin and Risso’s dolphin. There

are other permanent residents in theShannon estuary, and smaller harbourporpoises are also plentiful.As well as spotting species and logging

their activity, the IWDG’s remit is toidentify possible threats and

to take action. “We have toensure the wateris clean and providesafe interactions,”says Price, in theyacht’s saloon.

Anotherdevelopment inestablishing thesanctuary is thegrowth in whale-and dolphin-watching. “Beforethe sanctuary the

idea of going out withthe hope of seeing a

large whale was unheardof,” says Woodlock.

The IWDG has a system forsightings, and all are validated andlogged. Most of these are casual sightingsreported by members of the public.About a quarter of sightings are from“effort watches” — when an observergoes to an area, either by boat or on land,to conduct a watch for a certain period oftime with the hope of sighting a cetacean(whale, dolphin or porpoise). There arealso regular monitoring programmes,including surveys on sea-ferry routessuch as Rosslare to Pembroke and Dublin

to Holyhead. The IWDG runs workshopsand courses on whale-watching andlive strandings.There have been some notable

milestones over the years. In 1996, theIWDG collaborated with UniversityCollege Cork to count the residentbottlenose dolphin population in theShannon estuary for the first time.In June 2001, three killer whales

arrived in Cork harbour and stayed forthe summer. In July 2007, the IWDGlogged its 10,000th cetacean sighting (aharbour porpoise) and it has logged26,500 sightings to date.The group runs research programmes

to identify what is in our waters and theanimals’ movements. One of the mostvital tools is a hydrophone, anmicrophone designed to be used

underwater. On board the Celtic Mist, DrSimon Berrow shows me how the deviceworks, as he drops a line behind theyacht as we move along.The hydrophone is towed underwater,

and on board we can listen tovocalisations through headphones. Thesounds are put through software with a“click” and “whistle” detector. We werehoping to hear porpoises but it was aquiet day.I learn that the clicks of porpoises are

at a much higher sound frequency thanthose of humpback whales or dolphinwhistles. Those of baleen whales,including fin, blue and sei whales, are atvery low frequencies.Sometimes a hydrophone will be

dropped to the sea bed and recoveredafter six months, with recordings logged,or a click detector will be attached to amooring. Other research vessels will alsotow hydrophones to pick up signals thatindicate vocalising cetaceans in an area.They tow in specific patterns, such aszigzags, to increase the efficiency of thecoverage.

Wildencountersthat willblow youaway

Fungie, the Dingle harbourresident, may be Ireland’smost famous dolphin buthe is far from alone

1 1 . 09 . 2016 / 7

Robert O’Mahony; David Branigan; Ryan McGeady; Tim Melling

The best time to see whales and dolphinsin Ireland is between May and October, and

for large whales betweenOctober and February onthe south coast.Headlands are the bestplaces to spot whales anddolphins as they jut out

into the sea, closer to deepwater. It is easier to spot

cetaceans surfacing in calmseas, and cloudy days can be

better than sunny ones as there isless glare. Here are the 25 speciesrecorded in Irish waters so far:

l Blue whale: the largest mammal onEarth, it can measure up to 33 metres.l Fin whale: it can reach speeds of upto 37km/h.l Humpback whale, pictured: gets its

name from the characteristic humpedshape of its back when diving.l Sei whale: was heavily exploited by thewhaling industry and now listed asendangered.l Minke whale: the smallest and mostfrequently recorded baleen whale in Irishwaters.l Sperm whale: deep-diving species,spending 80% of its life deep below theocean surface.l North Atlantic right whale: onceconsidered the “right whale” to hunt.l Northern bottlenose whale: namedafter its prominent beak and usually seenin small groups.l Cuvier’s beaked whale: usuallyobserved singly or in small groups anddoes not approach boats.l Sowerby’s beaked whale: found only inthe North Atlantic in deep waters beyondcontinental shelves.l True’s beaked whale: shy ofshipping and boats. Photographed

off the west coast of Ireland in 2013.l Gervais’ beaked whale: found only in theAtlantic. One stranding record in Ireland.l Long-finned pilot whale: second-largestmember of the dolphin family and highlysocial.l False killer whale: its name refers to itsresemblance to the killer whale.l Beluga: Arctic species, rarely seen below60°N.l Pygmy sperm whale: deep- andlong-diving, and after surfacing sinksinconspicuously without rolling and isseldom resighted. Known in Irelandfrom strandings.l Killer whale: has been seen all aroundthe Irish coast and been recorded enteringharbours and estuaries.l Risso’s dolphin: has a distinctivepattern, with a grey body and whitescratches which become morenumerous with age.l Bottlenose dolphin: three distinctpopulations are recognised in Irish waters— offshore, inshore and a residentpopulation in the Shannon estuary.l Common dolphin: rarely seen alone,occurring in schools from a few to morethan 1,000. Frequently approaches boatsto bow ride and often very vocal, with clicksand whistles.l Atlantic white-sided dolphin:gregarious and acrobatic, tending tooccur offshore.l White-beaked dolphin: rarely seenalone, usually travelling in groups of upto 50, offshore.l Striped dolphin: rarely seen in Irishwaters, usually seen out to sea.l Harbour porpoise: most widespread andabundant cetacean in Irish waters. At up to1.8 metres in length, this species is smalland shy of boats.l Bowhead whale: an Arctic species, andthe 25th species recorded in Irish waters.

Oncemore unto the breach

Hole lot of funA humpback whalecalf; clockwise fromfar left, the CelticMist, Dr Simon Berrowdemonstrates ahydrophone to YvonneGordon, who scansthe water for signsof whales, and abottlenose dolphin

By strange coincidence, the 25th whaleand dolphin species was spotted in Irishwaters in May, in the IWDG’s 25thanniversary year. The 20ft juvenile Arcticbowhead whale was filmed at Carlingfordharbour, Co Louth, and it provided a raresighting of the species.Despite the best efforts of groups such

as the IWDG, we still know little aboutthe world’s oceans. Twelve people havewalked on the moon since 1969 andabout 540 people have been in space, butonly three have gone to the deepest partof the ocean (the Marianas Trench —10,973ft down in the western Pacific). Wehave more detailed

waters, I realise that it is thanks to peoplesuch as the founders of the IWDG that weknow more about the animals that swimoff our coast. Next time I venture out tosea, it will be nice to know who, andwhat, I’ll be sharing the water with.

iwdg.ie

maps of the surfaces of the moon, Marsand Venus than we have of the oceanfloor. Some scientists regard the ocean asthe final frontier with more mysteries,more strange life forms and morechallenging environments than anythingwe might find in space.Spending a few hours on a yacht in Irish