The Wildlife Film School – wildlife photography tours and expeditions

Following the extremely popular boat based tours we have been running for wildlife and landscape/seascape photography enthusiasts we are teaming up again with The Wildlife Film School to run boat based photography tours aboard Voyager during 2012. Evening tours to capture sunsets over the iconic Fastnet Rock and Lighthouse have proved very popular and our tutor led “landscape days” where we drop a group off on Cape Clear Island for the day, returning via The Fastnet Rock and islands of Roaringwater Bay following pick up are a firm favourite with local and visiting photographers.

Groups and individuals are all welcome. For further details click here and join the mailing list if you would like regular updates on boat based photography tours and expeditions.

During February 2012 we are running a wildlife and landscape photography expedition to The Sea of Cortez, Baja California Sur, Mexico where there will be many opportunities for large whale photography both in the Sea of Cortez with humpback whales and also on the Pacific side of the peninsular with the gray whales and their calves of Puerto San Carlos and Magdalena Bay.

Landscape photography enthusiasts will not be disappointed with the amazing desert landscapes with the amazing “stovepipe” cacti characterised in the western movies we used to watch as kids. The islands and bays of the Sea of Cortez provide some of the very best seascape images I have ever seen.

If escaping the winter blues and indulging your passion for photography appeals to you then click here for more information.

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Expanding the Fleet

During 2012, for the third year running, we will be expanding our fleet to be able to take parties of larger than 12 people out whale watching; groups varying in size between 25 and 65. During the last couple of years many groups have joined us for whale and dolphin watching expeditions aboard KaryKraft, a very well appointed, 65′ twin engine craft licensed for up to 100 people. During the main part of the season she plies the ferry route between Schull and Cape Clear but during the summer evenings and at weekends in October, with her high observation deck and good passenger deck space, she is an ideal platform for whale and dolphin watching around the islands of Roaringwater Bay and along the coast towards the Galley Head. We are also looking at adding a smaller, fast 8-seater RIB to the fleet during 2012 which would permit fast reconnaissance trips for smaller groups of avid whale and dolphin watchers…more news on this in the New Year.

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Updates to our Mailing Lists…

We are undergoing a thorough list cleaning during the later part of 2011 and early 2012 and we would ask that you take just a few moments to update your email preferences and which newsletters and email updates you would like to be subscribed to..

If you WOULD LIKE TO SUBSCRIBE to any newsletter

This can be done in one of two ways..

1) You can email us directly requesting to be put on the Whale Watch West Cork newsletter and update mailing list simply by putting SUBSCRIBE in the subject box of the email. You will be placed on the mailing list.

2) You may enter the website at http://www.whalewatchwestcork.com and simply click on the Join our Mailing List lozenge on the right hand side and select your preferences. Click Her

If you WOULD LIKE TO UNSUBSCRIBE from any newsletter

This can be done in one of two ways…

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2) On any email newsletter or update you may receive you can click on the link at the bottom which says Manage your Subscription. This will take you to a page where you can select your email subscription preferences.

If you have any questions about the management of your subscriptions which you cannot find answers to please don’t hesitate to contact Whale Watch West Cork directly by email or phone, full contact details are on the website.

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In between the windy weather we are getting some love sightings of Minke Whales and Harbour Porpoise and surprisingly good Common Dolphin sightings – which is quite early for this species…

Out on the water now…will update

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One of the largest Fin Whale gatherings ever recorded off the british or Irish coast has been spotted in the Celtic deep off the North Cornwall coast…70 odd miles offshore which makes them a little difficult for the morning tour!!

Perhaps they will move inshore…?

Click here for more details

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Here is a short clip taken recently by Rory Jackson as a large basking shark cruised past his RIB much to the delight of the children!

A Blue Whale was spotted from the Brittany Ferry three hours out of Santander last week. There was much excitement all round as these huge animals are rarely spotted in European waters and if they are it is usually towards the end of the summer when the big Fin Whales move into the bay to feed.

Click here for more details

There was an acoustic study conducted by Cornell University some years ago that indicated there may be more Blue Whales in the North Eastern Atlantic than previously thought.

These lovely images were taken recently by one of our customers Les Dean from Suffolk in the UK…a lovely calm day…clear water…and gorgeous basking shark activity…

Lovely images Les, thank you for sharing…

Basking Shark by Les Dean 1

Basking Shark by Les Dean 2

Basking Shark by Les Dean 3

What a lovely week…weather and sightings.

Great sightings and lovely weather concluded an excellent April. Some lovely sightings of Risso’s Dolphins made the week for many of our customers but also good Minke Whale sightings and more Basking Sharks under a warm sun and on calm seas enhanced the tours we have run every day this week.

Here are just some of the images we managed to get amid the excitement…

Basking Shark

 We have had several Basking Shark sightings this week…

Fulmar - our very own albatross

a not very good - Risso's Dolphin

I called my friend Micheál when we found these Risso’s Dolphins and he managed to get this shot of Voyager and customers enjoying the company of these enigmatic animals as they foraged between the tip Cape Clear Island and the iconic landmark (or is it seamark) …The Fastnet Rock and Lighthouse…one of the top 10 most famous lighthouses in the world!

Voyager among Risso's Dolphins

Thanks for the image Micheál…

Minke Whale Feeding

ENDS…for now!

The warm sunshine is bring the phytoplankton to the surface waters and this is attracting the Basking Sharks. We encountered three “Baskers” this afternnon on the south side of Sherkin Island all good sized animals of around 7 metres long. It is lovely to start to get regular sightings of these huge animals…the second largist fish in the world!

Ian O’Driscoll phoned through a possible sighting of Killer Whales today but searches by another boat this morning did not reveal this species…later this afternoon however, WWWC encountered a group of Risso’s Dolphins between Cape Clear and The Fastnet Rock and Lighthouse heading east from The Mizen Head. It is likely these were the animals seen this morning and thought to be Killer Whales. They were all large animals with very large dorsal fins and are the species most commonly confused with Killer Whales.

We were stopped by a small boat during this afternoon tour who had been around The Mizen and they said they had seen many more animals earlier in the day including some very young Risso’s Dolphins. A lovely sighting of this unusual species.

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Well, April is going out with a bang!

Stunning weather and lovely sea conditions have enabled us to get out every day for the past two weeks with some lovely early sightings of Harbour Porpoises and Common Dolphins…it is quite early to be seeing the Dolphins. Very heartening to see the Porpoises with very young animalsin attendance.

Minke Whales in the sunshine yesterday off Goat Island in Roaringwater Bay were a great culmination to several days of good sightings amongst a large group of Gannets. The animals had stopped feeding by the time we arrived.

Reports this morning are coming in of Killer Whales off The Brow Head…possibly attacking a Minke Whale…we are heading out now to investigate…watch this space.

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Although April is early in the season and sightings can be a little sporadic we have really had some lovely sightings this past two weeks during some really excellent weather.

For the third time this month we have encountered a rather shy and retiring Minke Whale east of Cape Clear island, a traditionally excellent spot for Minkes, but usually later in the season. We suspect there were two animals but could only confirm the presence of one animal.

Since our early April Basking Shark sighting off  The Kedges we have not encountered any more but the sea conditions have not been conducive to sighting these fish, the second largest fish in the world! May going into June is usually a better sighting time for Baskers but with evident plankton blooms in the water we may start to get regular views of this amazing animal earlier in the season.

We have had some lovely early Harbour Porpoise sightings around the islands of Roaringwater Bay and east to the Toe Head - single animals and in small “family” groups. These lovely little animals, the smallest of the toothed whale species to come into Irish waters during this part of the season, are greatly underrated. Shy and retiring and not liking boats, engines or people very much, good sightings as we have had this week, are a real treat.

The highlight of this week has to be the encounter with a group of 40+ Short Beaked Common Dolphins, unusually right in Roaringwater Bay close into the Gascanane Sound. We had a supergroup towards the end of last season in the same place numbering over 500 animals. It is quite unusual to see such a large group this early in the season but was a real treat for our customers that day which started off a little misty.

Short-beaked Common Dolphins

On a sadder note a very decomposed body of a small toothed whale washed up on the beach of one of Toe Head during the last two days. Thanks to Rory Jackson who notified WWWC immediately he found it managed to get some pictures on his camera phone before the tide reclaimed it. Looking at the pictures (very difficult as it was so decomposed) we are fairly sure that it is a Risso’s Dolphin or small Pilot Whale. Live and dead strandings have been on the increase in Ireland over the past few years, a worrying trend given the ever increasing strains being put on marine ecosystems both here and elsewhere in the world.

Mid Section of Dead Whale

With the fantastic weather during the last few weeks we have been running tours from the end of March having had early sightings of minke whale and basking sharks off Toe Head and The Kedges respectively during the closing days of the first quarter. Reports of basking shark sightings off the west and east coast were also recorded by sharp eyed individuals enjoying the Spring sunshine.

Although we have a spell of a few days of unsettled weather coming through at the moment the week forecast is looking good and we anticipate a return to settled weather towards the end of the week when we will be able to start getting further afield for early sightings off The galley Head, The Mizen Head and around The Fastnet Rock and Lighthouse.

This all bodes well for this summer being another cracker like last year with equally stunning sightings to match. With the increase in plankton blooms inshore we anticipate more basking shark activity once the inshore water calm further.

Baslking Shark off The Kedges

Minke Whale (taken 2010)

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…so says the introduction to this new app available now from the iTunes store. This App has been developed by the well known green tourism journalist Catherine Mack.

More details may be seen at the following link…

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ireland-green-travel/id427184283?mt=8

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An evening with Sea Shepherd Ireland

On Monday 28 March

@ 7:00 Beginning with the Film “First 30 years of Sea Shepherd”

Followed by the Quiz Night with spot prizes and finger food

A Good Night with the film and quiz open to students and general public.

Location NUIG, Corrib Room, College Bar

For further details contact Sue Anthony on 086 067 9933

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