The IWT Dublin Branch and the Irish Wildlife Trust have jointly led a number of Whale Watch events this year. Debbi Pedreschi lead groups up on to Howth and Bray heads where she demonstrated how to whale watch, how the public can get involved in the IWDG sighting and stranding schemes, the importance of them and the IWDGs work, how IWT members can get involved and contribute to these vital recording efforts.
As with much of the natural kingdom, whale watching often involves a lot of sitting around and patience, sometimes without much reward. Sightings of minke whales and pilot whales are possible off Howth Head, and a humpback whale was even seen in the Irish Sea off Dublin this year! Although none of these were seen by us on our trips, all of our trips this year managed to provide at least some sightings of porpoises, and some produced some great sightings of bottlenose dolphins for durations of up to 20 minutes at a time.
These events were great successes with endless enthusiasm being the order of the day. Some of the events even became extended by a couple of hours as the pleasant weather and company led participants to hang on in the hopes of spotting some more cetacean action. Here’s hoping next year gives us as many happy sightings! (photos courtesy of Tristan)
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