Irish waters will be full of whales and dolphins when Russia conducts tests

Active sonar has been known to have a fatal impact on deep-diving whales and Russian military tests may cause a threat to marine life.

One of Ireland’s leading marine biologists has revealed the Irish waters due to be subjected to Russian missile tests will be full of whales and dolphins at this time of year.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, has revealed his department has received notification from Russia that they intend to undertake military exercises in early February, approximately 240 kilometres off the Irish southwest coast.

Dr Simon Berrow, chief executive of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, said they have notified the minister of their concern over the "potential" impact of the exercises.

“We have lots of good science that there are plenty of whales and dolphins out there.

The ones that we are most concerned with are the deep-diving species. These are the beaked whales and the sperm whales.

"They (the Russians) might be using active sonar which is the thing that really has an impact on whales and dolphins, but we don't know so we've written to the minister.

“If they are firing off missiles that land in the sea, there will be an impact, like an acoustic impact zone around where it lands. It's a different impact from active sonar which is our biggest concern."

Fatal sonar

Active sonar has been known to have a fatal impact on deep-diving whales. 

“It's a way of penetrating the water for long distances looking for things like submarines, but it is of a frequency and a sound intensity that has big impacts”, explained the marine biologist.

“Certain species of whales, certainly the deep-diving species, tend to try and get away from the noise source and surface too quickly, and they get the bends and they die.”