Fears grow over safety of whales in Bantry Bay

IWDG Sightings Officer Pádraig Whooley says he fears the sighting of the bottlenose whales 'is not an isolated incident but part of a much bigger and rather worrying picture'.

Concern is mounting for the safety of three northern bottlenose whales who have spent more than a week in Bantry Bay in Co Cork.

The trio, normally seen in deep seas, arrived in the bay 10 days ago. They were last spotted off Garnish Island in the inner section of the Bay as those aboard an anchored yacht could hear them blowing throughout Thursday night and could see them from the mooring on Friday morning.

All three have been moving between the south side of Garnish Island and Eagle Point which are six kilometres apart. Members of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) aboard the yacht Celtic Mist have been observing. This is a distance that can be easily covered in about 30 minutes at a leisurely pace by a healthy whale.

IWDG member Patrick Lyne went out on his kayak on Friday to take some acoustic hydrophone recordings, which might help us understand better what's happening beneath the surface.

The IWDG is concerned that the trio may attempt to strand themselves on a beach which makes it very difficult to save them from dying.

IWDG Sightings Officer Pádraig Whooley explained that even “more worryingly” a single northern bottlenose whale washed up dead last Thursday at Ballymacormick Point, Co Down.

Mr Whooley said: “(This) helps us build the case, that this occurrence in Bantry Bay is not an isolated incident but part of a much bigger and rather worrying picture.

“As this deep diving species is now showing up in both the southwest and northeast of Ireland, West Sussex- England, Glengorm in the Hebrides and Skye, Scotland as well as the Faroes.” 

He noted that the “timing and inshore location of these events is curious”, and so the public’s sighting and stranding reports are critical in providing the Group with the evidence they need to protect the species from anthropogenic threats. 

This article was edited on August 30 to remove a reference to dynamite or cyanide.