JUNE 2008

Warm weather attracting big sea creatures

The recent hot weather during the month of May has resulted in attracting numbers of whale and dolphin off the coasts of Inishowen.

Emmett Johnston, the local Ranger said that not only had the good weather conditions been perfect for whale and dolphin watching, they also saw the return of the usual high numbers of Basking Sharks to Inishowen's inshore waters. "The record breaking temperatures experienced during May gave rise to a natural algae bloom around our waters. This annual bloom attracted large concentrations of sprat and white fish such as herring and mackerel as well as Basking Sharks in from deeper off shore feeding areas," said Emmett.

Emmett added that the high concentration of fish also attracted larger predators in the form of Dolphins and Whales. "This year exceptionally large Pods of over 40-50 Bottlenose Dolphins have been sighted in the Swilly and off Culdaff bay as well as smaller satellite pods of 6-8. Local charter fishing skippers, staff at Fort Dunree and even the RNLI were also surprised and awed by their encounters with some of our planet's largest animals and Fin, Humpback and Sperm whales have all been sighted off the coast of Donegal in recent weeks along with Rissos and Common Dolphins."

The wildlife Ranger added that many beach users and coastal walkers have also seen the fins of Basking Sharks glinting in the sun close to shore as they fed on Krill and minute plankton. Emmett would remind the public that it is important to remember that Basking Sharks might be the second largest fish on the planet but they are completely docile and harmless filter feeders.

"Very little is known about the Basking Sharks life cycle, but Inishowen's waters are regarded on an international level to be some of the most important waters in the world for Basking Sharks during the warm summer months,"

According to Mr. Johnston, Inishtrahull Sound off Malin Head is one of only a handful of places where Basking Shark courtship activity has ever been witnessed and the National Parks and Wildlife Service are currently instigating research in this area. Meanwhile he also suggested that people interested in catching a glimpse of the wonderful sea creatures should also keep an eye out for Inishowen's all year round resident cetacean the Porpoise who can be easily seen from Fort Dunree or Dunagree Point (beside Stroove beach).

Anyone interested in finding out more about these creatures or wishing to report a sighting of a dolphin/whale or basking shark log onto www.nature.ie or www.iwdg.ie

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