Ocean voyeurs have a whale of a time

THROUGHOUT the month of July seven ships and three aircraft will be deployed off the western coast of Europe mapping the distribution and the abundance of whales, dolphins and porpoises.

It’s a multinational research effort supported by the EU LIFE programme and coordinated from Scotland.

But there will be three Irish observers from University College Cork involved and two of the survey vessels will be working in Irish waters, covering the western seaboard and the Celtic Sea. The Irish Sea and some of our inshore waters and estuaries will be surveyed by aircraft.