Training in observing marine mammals in Irish waters is to be funded for a second year by ESB Ireland.

Up to five places will be awarded on the Marine Mammal Observer (MMO) training programme, which is run by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG).

The programme is open to graduates, final-year undergraduates and postgraduate students who are studying or working in the area of marine science or related disciplines.

Last year, five participants successfully completed the programme and availed of industry-approved training courses and medicals which were also funded through the initiative, ESB says.

“A key objective of the programme is to assist in developing marine ecology education and skills to support successful applicants at the early stages of their careers in the marine environmental profession,”it says.

“An additional key aim is to fill a gap in the Irish offshore wind industry’s local supply chain due to a lack of locally-based MMOs on the island of Ireland,”it says.

IWDG chief executive Dr Simon Berrow said that “over the last 30 years the IWDG has been at the forefront of whale and dolphin conservation in Irish waters”.

“Now, with increasing pressures on our seas, especially the coastal zone, there is more demand than ever for trained and experienced marine mammal mitigation experts,”he said.

“The IWDG is delighted to be continuing this collaboration with ESB in providing pathways to joining the offshore industry in an environmental capacity, working to ensure safeguarding of marine mammals in Irish waters,”Berrow said.

The training programme is being endorsed by the Marine Mammal Observer Association and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology .

All applicants must be available to participate in person for training at Kilrush, Co Clare in September. The programme includes classroom-based training, two nights’ accommodation and a half-day at sea experience onboard the research vessel, Celtic Mist.

Application forms can be requested from ESB via [email protected]. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, July 31st, 2024.

A new report from Fair Seas and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has raised fresh concerns about the lack of monitoring of Ireland’s inshore waters by the state, just days before World Ocean Day this Saturday, June 8th. The Celtic Mist 2023 Scientific Report details the findings of five months of research surveys along more than 3,200 kilometres along the coastlines of counties Cork, Kerry and Clare.

The focus of researchers from the IWDG, with the support of Fair Seas, was on two large Areas of Interest (AOI), which both showed low numbers of harbour porpoise sightings. In the Southwest Coast AOI, researchers say sightings were ‘significantly lower than expected’ especially within the Roaring Water Bay and Islands Special Area of Conservation (SAC), which aims to conserve harbour porpoise under EU law. In the Loop Head to Kenmare AOI, no harbour porpoises were observed at all within the Blasket Islands SAC, which is also designated to protect harbour porpoises.

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group Science Officer and Fair Seas Partner Rebecca Dudley says theirs is the latest piece of research that points to the issue: “Harbour porpoise numbers have been shown to be in decline off many parts of Ireland in recent years. We need more research to explore the drivers behind the decline but it is undoubtedly a cause for concern, given the importance of this species to our Special Areas of Conservation. It is disappointing to see that still no management plans for these supposedly ‘protected areas’ have been developed by the Government.

“It’s vitally important that additional state resources are allocated to this kind of research. We are lucky to have a group of dedicated volunteers working with us, but effective monitoring of what’s going on in the water off our coastline is a mammoth task and beyond the scope of groups like our own.

If the Irish Government is to meet its target of protecting 30% of Irish waters with Marine Protected Areas by 2030, then monitoring must drastically increase along with robust management plans for all designated areas. The message is all the more timely given this Saturday marks World Ocean Day 2024, which has ‘Catalyzing Action for Our Ocean & Climate’ as its action theme”.

The report highlights how no humpback whales were observed in the survey areas in the southwest at all, which tallies with reports from the IWDG’s Sighting Scheme of sightings being recorded further north, off the Sligo and Mayo coasts.The number of large baleen whales recorded were low in both areas surveyed, while eight sightings of fin whales occurred within the Loop Head to Kenmare section.

A total of 462 sightings of large marine animals or megafauna were recorded during nine surveys conducted between April and September last year. Some of the results include:

• 48% of those seen were common dolphins
• 22% were grey seals
• 12% were minke whales
• 25 sightings of bottlenose dolphins
• 1 blue shark was spotted

Researchers have paid tribute to the 66 volunteers who assisted in last year’s survey, including skippers and first mates. The work is being expanded in 2024, as Rebecca Dudley explains: “We have now begun our latest round of surveys which will continue right through the summer and into September. Celtic Mist will be taking crew and volunteers all along the west coast of Ireland, from Bantry in Cork up to Killybegs in Donegal with quayside events taking place at various locations. It’s an incredible experience but it’s also an important project in the context of understanding what’s happening to marine life around the Irish coast”.

Celtic Mist was donated to the IWDG in 2011, by the family of Ireland’s former Taoiseach, Charles J. Haughey. At 17m, Celtic Mist has become the IWDG’s flagship vessel and can accommodate eight people. It has surveyed Irish inshore and offshore waters since 2012, successfully circumnavigating Ireland on several occasions and sailing to Iceland in 2018.

Deep-sea mining for scarce minerals and trace elements may have a “catastrophic impact” on the ocean floor, a study by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group warns.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA), which Ireland is a member of, “lacks transparency”, and “appears committed to development of deep-sea mining, on which its existence and revenue depends”, the report says.

The report says that deep-sea habitats are “currently largely unexplored by man and far removed from all human settlements”, and it is “difficult for many people to appreciate what impacts deep sea mining might have on marine habitats and resources”.

The increasing demand for scarce minerals and trace elements used in technologies such as smart phones, electric cars and green energy is “putting greater demand on existing land-based sources of these minerals”, it points out.

As a result, “attention is being turned to opportunities in the deep seas (>200 m), where mineral deposits can be retrieved from the sea floor,” it says.

“Ireland has an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), with rich and diverse marine ecosystems, including poorly studied deep water ecosystems and species”, and “could experience emerging deep-sea mining interests in the coming decades”, it warns.

With an estimated value of $15.3 billion dollars by 2030, the development of deep-sea mining would be some of the largest planned mining operations in history, the IWDG report says.

“ Current exploration licences cover an area of 1.5 million km alone, which, if mined commercially to entirety, would be the equivalent to mining the combined area of France, Spain, Portugal, and Germany,” it says.

Exploration companies are required to submit reports to the ISA secretariat, but these reports are not disclosed to the public, and there has been no action taken against companies for breaches of exploration conditions, it contends.

“Any threat to deep-sea ecosystems should be considered as a threat to marine life, and ultimately humanity,” the report says.

“ At this point, without an independent environmental regulator and sufficient knowledge of deep-sea ecosystems and how they impact on the global environment, we are not in a position to responsibly proceed with commercial deep-sea mining, both on the high seas and within national jurisdictions,” it concludes.

It says that Ireland as a member of the ISA and various international treaties, “has a right and a duty to protect the marine environment on the high seas and within Ireland’s EEZ from transboundary effects”.

The full report is HERE

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group are planning major modifications to their flagship, Celtic Mist.

This is the former yacht of Charlie Haughey, which was donated to the Group by the Haughey family in his memory.

The 56-foot motor sailing vessel “has been working hard as a research and training platform since we first received her in 2011,” says the Group. “She is a great platform to survey whales and dolphins on and has given many of our members new or refreshed sea legs.”

However, there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

“In a confused sea, she can turn anyone's stomach. In order to make her a more effective survey platform and more comfortable for sailing we wish to add bilge keels, employed in pairs, one for each side of the ship.”

IWDG Chief Executive, Dr. Simon Berrow, says in a newsletter to members that the work is planned to be done at Leonard’s Shipyard in Howth, Co.Dublin.

It needs support to help fund the cost.

“IWDG must raise up to 40% of the estimated €10,000 cost in order to make these much-needed improvements a reality.”

So it is seeking support.

“If you are in a position to support this fundraiser, we would greatly appreciate it,” says Dr. Berrow.

Ten years ago the family of Charlie Haughey offloaded their yacht, Celtic Mist, to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.

It took most of a year to refurbish it and the cost was put at around €80,000.

The yacht was getting "old and tired and needed rejuvenation," it was stated.

The family said they had great memories of good times aboard, but it was too big for them anymore.

I was invited to do the 'honours' at the relaunch of Celtic Mist at Kilrush Marina on the Shannon Estuary.

Most of the "rejuvenation work" had been done in Kilrush by a mix of volunteers and professionals. I agonised over what to say. For a journalist, there were obvious difficulties, so I approached the event from a predominantly maritime viewpoint – the restoration to a working life of a boat in her proper location – in the water.

Charlie Haughey onboard Celtic Mist

I did have reasonably good relations with Mr Haughey when I became a marine correspondent, as different to my former journalistic incarnation as a news reporter. In the context of our mutual maritime interest, we had discussed the marine sphere, and I was the recipient of friendly Christmas cards. However, it was still an occasion to be treated with great care. In fact, the main interest amongst the public attendance seemed to be to get the opportunity to go aboard and see whether there was, as had been widely reported, a bath attached to Charlie's cabin. In fact, it had been removed during the refurbishment!

Celtic Mist in her new livery

Since that event, I've been bound with an interest in the voyages of Celtic Mist and am impressed by her new livery in which she has emerged from her latest treatment at Howth Boatyard. She has been on 'shakedown survey work' prior to her annual hosting of members of the IWDG who will be doing more marine wildlife surveys.

The Group's Chief Executive has been telling me about the current state of the yacht and the plans for this year as my guest on this week's Podcast.

Listen to the Podcast here.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has recommended that a single body should handle all mitigation measures to reduce impact of offshore wind farms on marine mammals.

A policy document published by the NGO includes recommendations to ensure offshore wind farms have “only minimal and not significant impacts” on whales, dolphins and porpoises and their habitats. 

“The marine renewable energy industry in Ireland is set for explosive growth in the coming years with a production target of 5GW of offshore wind energy by 2030 and an ambition of 30GW by 2050,” the IWDG says. 

The policy document is due to be published today at the IWDG annual “WhaleTales” meeting which takes place online.

The NGO said it supports the decarbonisation of the Irish economy.

“We have looked at recent research and international best practice to inform this policy document, and present a series of recommendations to try and help guide offshore windfarm development over the coming years,” senior author Patrick Lyne said. 

“The aim is to mitigate or reduce our impact and to measure our impact such that future developments can be better planned, and existing ones perhaps improved,” he said. 

In the document, the IWDG have highlighted the need to protect areas identified as being important for whales and dolphins and has called for changes to mitigation practices.

It says passive acoustic monitoring is the only effective way to detect presence of the marine mammals and should form part of a 24-hour mitigation strategy.

It also says the use of acoustic deterrent technology should be reviewed according to species present and exact parameters of the device used, in order that it acts as an effective deterrent prior to operations. 

“ The amount of contact the IWDG have had with offshore windfarm companies in recent months is huge and we felt it was important to publish our thoughts about the development of this industry and its potential impacts on whales and dolphins,” IWDG chief executive officer Dr Simon Berrow states. 

“We are worried the state agencies involved in assessing planning applications and awarding licenses could be overwhelmed in the near future leading to bad decisions and delays”.

It recommends that “all mitigation procedures and the assessment of requirements should be coordinated by a single body to avoid differences in implementation by different regulators and that the current guidelines be now updated in line with best practice internationally”.

As Afloat reported earlier, more information is on the IWDG website, and the link to “WhaleTales” which takes place today is here

A new home education initiative from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group goes live on social media this morning (Friday 3 April) with its latest edition.

Join Sibéal Regan, Simon Berrow, and other marine mammal experts from 11am for Flukey Friday on Facebook Live, and learn all about the whales and dolphins that populate Irish waters.

The virtual classroom, which started last Friday 27 March, encourages viewers to contribute their whale stories or questions live in the comments — or by email to [email protected] before next week’s session.

It comes as the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School launched its own ‘Sailing School from Home’ remote learning programme, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Meanwhile, the IWDG has also launched a ‘Flukey Art’ competition for children ages 13 and under who are challenged to create marine wildlife-themed art in any medium of their choosing.

Details of how to enter are HERE and the winner will be announced in June.

For the past six years, the first few weeks of the year have seen an increase in the number of dolphins being washed up on the Irish coastline.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group is making a determined effort this year to try to establish the cause and has begun the first post-mortem examinations of dead dolphins by a veterinary laboratory.

In this week’s podcast, the Chief Scientific Officer of the IWDG tells me what is being done and says that fisheries by-catch is particularly being looked at.

If there is another increase this year in the number of stranded dolphins, the IWDG is hoping the post-mortem scheme will provide a definite insight towards the cause of dolphin deaths.

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group reports eight strandings since Jan 1 ....There were two on New Year’s Day, a common dolphin in Tralee Bay and a white-beaked dolphin at Ballyconneely in Co,Galway. There have been strandings since in Counties Wexford, Clare, Mayo, Waterford and two more in Kerry.

Listen to the Podcast below.

A Life on the Edge survey voyage is an attempt to log the abundance of life on Irelands’ southern shelf edge in September. Irish Whale & Dolphin Gropup's Patrick Lyne is issuing an invitation to join this survey to assist with sailing and logging of sightings and acoustics. This is the fifth year of operation and for the first time Lyne says he will visit the Whittard canyon and adjacent areas in what is one of Europe’s most remote and seldom studied offshore areas.

'We are sailing from Castletownbere in West Cork to Camaret in Brittany and have a few limited places to fill in the outward or return legs', Lyne told Afloat.ie

'We would normally expect to encounter large numbers of fin whale and would hope to encounter blue whales, humpbacks, sperm whales and many other species. It is an opportunity to see many species in a rather short time, in an undisturbed and natural setting' he says.

The vessel is Jessy a 37ft–yacht and all details of the trip and costs can be found here or for further information contact Patrick Lyne at [email protected] 

Voyages out as far as the edge of the Continental Shelf on the Atlantic Ocean has produced rare sightings for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group and this August there is a chance to see the join the crew and see the whales again writes Patrick Lyne

Back in 2012 when the Celtic Mist became available to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group we were looking at ways the boat could be used to support the work the Group does and demonstrate to people in Ireland the wealth of life that exists in Irish waters. So for three years from 2012 to 2014 we took the Celtic Mist to the shelf edge in early September. Indeed we were blessed when first arriving on the shelf edge only to be greeted by two blue whales. It took several minutes in close proximity (200m) to the whales before we believed our eyes. We had expected large whales but not those to be waiting for us. They stayed around and passed either side of the boat moving from port to starboard for what seemed like an age, before moving further away. We could manage a top speed of maybe 8 knots while blue whales could travel at up to 25 knots approximately and there was no way we could keep pace with these animals if they decided to leave us behind.

Shortly afterwards the Irish Air Corps Casa (C253) appeared and called on the radio and managed to get some excellent shots of both the Celtic Mist and the blue whales.

Two blue whales in the Porcupine Seabight 60 miles off the Irish coast (Photo coutesy of Irish Air Corps)

In 2013 had some remarkable sightings of beaked whales again in the Porcupine Seabight and while unable to confirm that the animals that passed close to the vessel in 2013, were True’s beaked whales, it seems highly probable that they were. Beaked whales are particularly difficult to study being adverse to noise and spending large periods of time underwater. The Cuvier’s beaked whale holds the record for the longest recorded dive of any cetacean of 2 hours 17 minutes while attaining a depth of 2,992m. These animals are rarely seen close to shore and when they are, they often end up stranding and dying. The deep ocean off the shelf edge is their natural habitat.

Each year has produced it’s own spectcular moments and the humpback whales off Dingle have become more and more reliable and are a feature of our trips every year. Last year we were treated to one beautiful day on the shelf edge with calm weather. It is this calm weather that always produces the best results. While whales numbers wer not spectacular they were considerable and most if not all animals were engaged in feeding. We simply allowed the boat to drift while fin whales fed in close proimity to the boat and we could see the huge jaws opening to envelope the krill underwater.

Last year we changed vessels to Jessy of Adrigole a 37 ft–yacht, the Celtic Mist being unavailable and this year we have decided to continue using Jessy but for a longer trip. We propose starting in Castletownbere and sailing to Camaret in Brittany along the shelf edge. The shelf edge between here and Brittany is some of the most dramatic in the world with drop offs from 200m down to nearly 4000m. The EEZ of the UK is slowly squeezed such that French and Irish waters will eventually meet as boundaries extend.

It is more important than ever to record the variety and abundance of Ireland’s offshore environment. While oil exploration will suffer from the current over supply, exploration rights has been granted to both Russia and France by the International Seabed Authority (ISA – not the Irish Sailing Association but a UN body based in Jamaica) in the mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic. The marine environment is constantly under greater and greater pressure. Protection for cetaceans is critical to mainting the entire marine habitat. Reduction in large whale numbers in the Southern Ocean due to whaling did not result in an increase in their favourite prey, krill, but rather reduced krill abundance. Whale faeces enriches the ocean with iron, producing plankton blooms which start the food chain and absorb excess carbon from the atmosphere. The South West in particualr sees large numbers of tuna arrive in August and September, follwoed by French and Spanish and Irish fishing vessel as well as whales. It is important for the whales that they are able to build blubber reserves at this time, especially for the females as without sufficient reserves to sustain them during pregnancy of 11 or 12 months, the whale will abort. Recovery rates are slow with these large whales and even with protection it will be manay many decades before fin and blue whale numbers reach pre-whaling levels.

Fin whale feeding Porcupine Seabight (Photo – Patrick Lyne IWDG)

In August we will embark again to try and find calm weather on the shelf edge and hope to add significantly to the picture of cetaceans in Irish waters in a time when they are at their most abundant. It is a unique opportunity for people to become involved with our marine mega fauna in a way not available elsewhere and to add to knowledge of the area. The charge to crew of €1310 allows the work to take place and is an enriching experience and an education. If interested contact Patrick Lyne by email ([email protected]).