Displaying items by tag: Cork Whale Watch

28th November 2023

‘We Have No Whales to Watch’ Says West Cork Business as It Ends Season Early — And Blames Overfishing of Sprat

A West Cork-based whale-watching tour business has ended its 2023 season early, blaming overfishing of sprat for the absence of the usual whale visitors to the South Coast.

In a social media post on Monday (27 November), Cork Whale Watch said: “Over the past week we carried out long searches of all the favoured areas, in idyllic spotting conditions and found the sea to be absolutely barren of any life at all, not even bird life. Nothing at all remaining in our patch of the Atlantic.

“There is a simple reason for this situation, there are no sprat shoals anywhere for whales to feed on in West Cork waters as there always was.”

The company claims that sprat “have been overfished to the point of extinction by the large Irish pelagic trawlers that target the shoals as they assemble to spawn”.

Describing the situation as “ill advised, unsustainable and destructive” and comparing it to the decimation of West Cork’s herring stocks in the 1990s, Cork Whale Watch says that overfishing of sprat “has gone on for decades now, unregulated, no quota system, no conservation measures of any kind, to the inevitable conclusion of where we are now, they are gone, not a shoal anywhere”.

Sprat is a highly lucrative fishery worth more than €3 million annually to the Irish fishing fleet. Most is sold as fishmeal to the aquaculture industry, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

But it is also a key food source for “almost every species of fish in the north east Atlantic”, as Cork Whale Watch argues, “as well as all seabirds, whales and dolphins”.

It adds: “In this way [sprat] are the very life blood of a healthy oceanic food chain. Fishing them to extinction is all part of the dreadful abuse of the ocean carried out by human greed, and pathetic fishery management.”

Published in Marine Wildlife

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About the Golden Globe Race

The Golden Globe Race is the original round the world yacht race. In 1968, while man was preparing to take his first steps on the moon, a mild mannered and modest young man was setting out on his own record breaking voyage of discovery. Off shore yacht racing changed forever with adventurers and sailors, inspired by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, following in his pioneering wake. Nine men started the first solo non-stop sailing race around the World. Only one finished. History was made. Navigating with a sextant, paper charts and an accurate and reliable time piece, Sir Robin navigated around the world. In 2018, to celebrate 50 years since that first record breaking achievement, the Golden Globe Race was resurrected. It instantly caught the attention of the worlds media as well as adventures, captivated by the spirit and opportunity. The original race is back.

The Golden Globe Race: Stepping back to the golden age of solo sailing

Like the original Sunday Times event back in 1968/9, the 2018 Golden Globe Race was very simple. Depart Les Sables d'Olonne, France on July 1st 2018 and sail solo, non-stop around the world, via the five Great Capes and return to Les Sables d'Olonne. Entrants are limited to use the same type of yachts and equipment that were available to Robin Knox-Johnston in that first race. That means sailing without modern technology or benefit of satellite-based navigation aids.

Competitors must sail in production boats between 32ft and 36ft overall (9.75 10.97m) designed prior to 1988 and having a full-length keel with rudder attached to their trailing edge. These yachts will be heavily built, strong and steady, similar in concept to Robin's 32ft vessel Suhaili.

In contrast to the current professional world of elite ocean racing, this edition travels back to a time known as the 'Golden Age' of solo sailing. Suhaili was a slow and steady 32ft double-ended ketch based on a William Atkins ERIC design. She is heavily built of teak and carried no computers, GPS, satellite phone nor water-maker, and Robin completed the challenge without the aid of modern-day shore-based weather routing advice. He had only a wind-up chronometer and a barograph to face the world alone, and caught rainwater to survive, but was at one with the ocean, able to contemplate and absorb all that this epic voyage had to offer.

This anniversary edition of the Golden Globe Race is a celebration of the original event, the winner, his boat and that significant world-first achievement. Competitors in this race will be sailing simple boats using basic equipment to guarantee a satisfying and personal experience. The challenge is pure and very raw, placing the adventure ahead of winning at all costs. It is for 'those who dare', just as it was for Knox-Johnston.

They will be navigating with sextant on paper charts, without electronic instruments or autopilots. They will hand-write their logs and determine the weather for themselves.

Only occasionally will they talk to loved ones and the outside world when long-range high frequency and ham radios allow.

It is now possible to race a monohull solo around the world in under 80 days, but sailors entered in this race will spend around 300 days at sea, challenging themselves and each other. The 2018 Golden Globe Race was a fitting tribute to the first edition and it's winner, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

Background on Don McIntyre (61) Race Founder

Don is an inveterate sailor and recognised as one of Australia s greatest explorers. Passionate about all forms of adventure and inspiring others, his desire is to recreate the Golden Age of solo sailing. Don finished 2nd in class in the 1990-91 BOC Challenge solo around the world yacht race. In 2010, he led the 4-man Talisker Bounty Boat challenge to re-enact the Mutiny on the Bounty voyage from Tonga to West Timor, in a simil