THE BLUE whale, the Earth’s largest living animal, has been photographed off the southwest coast of Ireland for the first time.
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) says the sighting is particularly significant as the species faced extinction 50 years ago. “We’ve waited a long time, for some of us a lifetime, but we are delighted to announce that blue whales have been observed and photographed in southwest waters,” said IWDG sightings co-ordinator Pádraig Whooley.
“Recently a very diverse range of both whale and dolphin species have been seen off the south and southwest coast, but this sighting was an extremely unusual event.”
The blue whale was spotted by the crew and passengers of the MV Atlantic Explorer, a vessel used for whale-watching trips by Cahirciveen-based tour operator Kerry Marine Tours. The sighting was recorded on Monday along a continental shelf some 80km (50 miles) off the Co Kerry coast.
Henry Macaulay, the skipper, said he never expected the trip to become such a big deal. “At 2.30pm we were watching a fin whale mother and calf blowing dead ahead when, all of a sudden, this incredibly large creature surfaced 15-20 yards off our starboard side,” Mr Macaulay said.
“We all watched in stunned silence as the blue whale cruised alongside for a good five minutes, all the while being surrounded by fin whales . . . Everybody was stunned by the sheer size of the animal – the closest thing to a submarine breaking the surface as you’re likely to see.”
Blue whales were plentiful in most oceans until the beginning of the 20th century, but 40 years of whaling caused numbers to dwindle until the mammal was protected under law in 1966. It can grow to more than 30 metres (98ft) long, weighs 100-150 tonnes and lives for about 110 years.
Acoustic monitoring studies conducted in the North Atlantic by Cornell University in the US indicate more than 50 blue whales pass through Irish offshore waters in autumn and early winter on their southbound migration, but sightings have been rare. Blue whales were spotted off Bantry Bay, Co Cork, in 1957, and from Magilligan Strand, Co Derry, in 1907.
