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Whales,
dolphins and porpoises all frequent the Irish Sea, but our knowledge
of how many there may be and where they go is somewhat sketchy.
About a dozen species have been recorded since 1980, but only three
are seen fairly often. These are the Harbour Porpoise, Bottlenose
Dolphin and Common Dolphin. The more rarely seen species
are Minke Whale, Fin Whale, Sei Whale, Sperm Whale, Northern Bottlenose
Whale, Long-finned Pilot Whale, Killer Whale or Orca, White-beaked
Dolphin, Striped Dolphin and Risso's Dolphin.
Harbour
Porpoise - This is probably our most common cetacean.
It's also our smallest. Unlike its cousins, the dolphins,
it doesn't leap out of the water in play. As a result
it is rarely seen from land by the casual observer,
except as a corpse or bones washed up on the shore.
Bottlenose
Dolphin - There are estimated to be only four hundred bottlenose
dolphins left in British Waters. The nearest large population to
our coast is probably that centred on Cardigan Bay, off west Wales.
Individuals and larger pods (as groups of dolphins are known) are
occasionally seen off our coast.
Common
Dolphin - This is a more southern species of dolphin, with a
significant presence in St George's Channel, but recorded sightings
appear to be moving further north, possibly due to increasing sea
temperatures, and it may be seen more often off our coast in the
future.
The
Common or Harbour Seal and the Grey Seal
are both resident in the Irish Sea. Common seals breed
in Strangford Lough, Co Down, grey seals in south
west Wales and, in small numbers, on the Isle of Man.
Grey Seals haul out, but do not breed, off the islands
of Hilbre, Wirral, Merseyside and Walney, Barrow-in-Furness
Borough, Cumbria.
Grey
Seal - Non-breeding groups of grey seals haul out at the West
Hoyle Bank near Hilbre Island off the Wirral Peninsula in south
Merseyside; and at Walney Island, Cumbria. Individuals and small
groups may occasionally be seen in waters off Lancashire and North
Merseyside and some individuals occasionally travel miles upstream
in tidal stretches of our rivers.
Harbour Seal
- Individuals may occasionally be seen anywhere around
the Irish Sea, though the main breeding populations
are centred on Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland.
Otters
frequent the coasts of Cumbria, Dumfries & Galloway, parts of Northern
Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales. They are absent from
the Isle of Man and there are no recent records for the coasts of
Lancashire or Merseyside.
Click
here
to be taken to the Seawatch
Foundation web site, reporting recent sightings
of marine mammals in and around the Irish Sea.
Also
click here
to be taken to Cumbria
Wildlife Trust's South Walney Seal Survey
If
you find a live stranded whale, dolphin or porpoise on the coasts
of England, Scotland or Wales contact the British Divers for Marine
Life Rescue. It has a good network of contacts and is active in
rescues or assisting others with rescues. Contact telephone number
is 01825 765 546.
In
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland the Marine Mammal Rescue
Team (MMRT) has a 24-hour contact number at: 283 0800 UNIT 13 99
66 and a mobile number: 087 233 3406 (We presume these numbers will
work in both jurisdictions). Alternatively, contact the Irish Whale
& Dolphin Group during normal working hours.
We
currently have no information for the Isle of Man.
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