Whales play a key role in sustaining healthy oceans — to allow them to recover from the near-complete annihilation they suffered at the hands of historic whaling, and now with naval and other sound pollution in the sea, enormous conservation efforts are still very much needed

From bug identification to bee-keeping and whale-watching, there's something for everyone interested in wildlife

If you see people on clifftops along the south and west coasts, with cameras, long lenses and binoculars from now until the early autumn, you can take it they’re almost certainly on the lookout for some of the biggest creatures found in the sea, writes Donal Hickey