Dolphin activity spurs call for special area of conservation

An expert group is to recommend to the Wildlife Service an extension of a special area of conservation (SAC) for dolphins from the Shannon estuary into two of Kerry’s bays.

Dr Simon Berrow, founding director of the Irish Whale & Dolphin Group (IWDG), said his organisation had been carrying out a study of dolphin activity in the Tralee and Brandon bays and discovered significant numbers of the creatures.

This week, an IWDG team aboard the Celtic Mist sailing boat (donated in 2011 to the charity by the Haughey family) spotted a pod of more than 60 bottlenose dolphins in the bays. “We recognised a large number were dolphins which are usually in the Shannon estuary. We know this because of the unique markings on their dorsal fins which are like fingerprints.”