Sea Watch News
15 November - Sowerby's beaked whale found dead on the Culbin Sands, Moray
Sea Watch regional coordinator Alan Airey reported that a Sowerby's beaked whale has been found dead on a beach off Culbin Forest on Tuesday 11th of November, most probably the same whale Iain Macdonald saw off Nairn on Saturday 1st of November. It is believed that the whale live stranded on Sunday or Monday morning, in the area that is a maze of tidal lagoons and shallow sands.
Body initially was found on Monday 10th of November by a walker on the Culbin Sands east of Nairn, and described as a very recently stranded but dead dolphin. The animal was found to be a young female Sowerby's beaked whale, 3.94 meters in length. The whale appeared to have been healthy, stomach contents contained fish, eaten recently and a good thickness of blubber layer.
6 November - Sowerby's beaked whale spotted off Nairn, Moray Firth
On the 1st of November at 13:45 through a shore mounted telescope Iain Macdonald spotted a beaked whale off Nairn, Moray Firth. According to the observer the whale was more than 1 km out and surfaced at least twice.
Here is how Iain described his encounter:
“The first surfacing was located by a large splash, but I did not see the whale and the second surfacing immediately after involved the whale extending its head out of the water facing west, and the head slipping back under the water at a steep angle. The head went out stopped like a spyhop and slid back down into the water. The whale had a long beak and appeared just like Sowerby's beaked whales which I have seen at close quarters off the Azores.”
According to Sea Watch regional coordinator Alan Airey Sowerby's beaked whales are rare, but have been seen in this area over the past few years. Alan saw two off Fort George in August 2006, and a Sowerby's calf live stranded at Chanonry Point early this year.
21 October - Northern bottlenose whale in Loch Eil found dead
Sadly,on the 18th of October northern bottlenose whale was seen in the middle of the Loch Eil, floating head-up and motionless. It was towed to the Ardgour shore by the Coastguard. According to the SSPCA person who assisted in this, it had probably been dead for a couple of days at least. A post mortem is expected to be conducted by experts from the Scottish Agricultural College in Inverness. The whale was an adult female, 8 meters long.
10 October - Northern bottlenose whale in Loch Eil, Scotland
For the last two weeks the northern bottlenose whale has been seen in Loch Eil, near Fort William, in Lochaber. According to the observers the animal appears to be quite healthy and active. It is hypothesised that the whale might have followed after herring or mackerel. SSPCA and Northumberland-based British Divers’ Marine Life Rescue staff continue to monitor the situation. Hopefully, the whale will swim back down Loch Eil into Loch Linnhe, and then towards the Atlantic.
22 September - Blue Whales in SW Ireland
On Monday the 15th of September a boat from Kerry Marine Tours of South West Ireland were taking clients on a fishing trip. On board there was Irish Whale Dolphin Group (IWDG) Dublin member Ivan O' Kelly who has been taking part in this cruise. In the afternoon probably two, very large whales approached the boat close enough for Ivan to take a few images. From these pictures IWDG confirmed the sighting of blue whales from their very pale colouration and unique mottling pattern. According to the IWDG this is the first validated sighting of a blue whale in any Irish waters since the organization began its activities almost 20 years ago. Sightings of this species remain extremely rare events, reflecting both their preference for offshore shelf edge waters and their globally low numbers.
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