Humpback whale spotted in Irish river for the first time

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group ask ships to slow down to avoid hitting immature whale

The humpback whale spotted in the Shannon Estuary. Photogrpah: Irish Whale and Dolphin Group
The humpback whale spotted in the Shannon Estuary. Photogrpah: Irish Whale and Dolphin Group

Ships in the Shannon Estuary have been asked to reduce their speed to avoid hitting a humpback whale, which has been spotted in an Irish river for the first time.

Fears have been raised of a potential “ship-strike” if speeds in the estuary are not reduced to 10 knots or 19km/h, which could damage vessels and injure or kill the whale.

The immature humpback has been spotted off Clare’s southern coast on a number of occasions over the past week. It was most recently seen feeding south of the village of Querrin, close to Moneypoint Power Station, on Tuesday evening, December 10th.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) said the appearance of a humpback whale in the estuary is “unprecedented” and the whale is likely to remain there for at least a month before undertaking a 4,000km migration to breed off west Africa.

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The group is appealing to ships travelling in the estuary to slow down and has asked the Shannon Foynes Port Company (SFPC) to introduce a temporary speed limit.

“Ship-strikes, or when large vessels hit whales, is quite a problem in some parts of the world. We have seen big ships coming into ports like Rotterdam with whales actually on the bows of the ships after being hit in open ocean,” said Simon Berrow of the IWDG.

“The ships are slowing down anyway when they come to the estuary, but speeds above 14 knots increase the risk of collision with a whale. At that speed the whale won’t see the ship coming and they can’t get out of the way,” he said.

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He said the port company has said it would pass the IWDG message on to pilots.

“This is a really critical time for this young whale to put on food reserves and grow before it migrates 3,000 or 4,000 miles down to its breeding ground,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Shannon Foynes Port Company said it was in contact with the IWDG but declined to confirm that a speed limit has been introduced. “We are aware of a humpback whale sighting on the estuary and have been in contact with the IWDG. Any reported sightings by ships or SFPC personnel will be reported to IWDG. SFPC continues to monitor the situation and will engage with the IWDG as necessary,” a spokesperson said.

The IWDG is using drones to track the whale. The group has records of dozens of humpback whales that have appeared in Irish waters and can be identified by markings and blemishes on their skin.

“Over the past 20 years the number of whales has increased year on year. They used to be off west Cork, but we are seeing more humpbacks off Loop Head in recent years, usually in the Autumn,” Mr Berrow said.

“Over the past two years the humpbacks have moved really far north, up as far as Donegal Bay, probably driven by changes in the distribution of the fish that they feed on because of climate change.”

Mr Berrow said the IWDG had “never, ever expected” a humpback whale in the Shannon Estuary.

“To be honest with you, if someone had told me this a month ago I wouldn’t have believed them,” he said. “I have spoken to some of the old folks [in West Clare] and none of them ever remember seeing the likes of a humpback whale in the Shannon Estuary. It is unprecedented.”

Speaking earlier on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Mr Berrow said the IWDG is trying to establish if the whale has been here before. He said the group was trying to get a photograph of the whale lifting its tail or “fluking”.

“If you lift the tail out of the water, you can recognise the pattern on [the] underside of its tail, which is unique to that whale. So [it’s] like a fingerprint, and we would recognise it. And we’ve got 136 individual whales in our Irish humpback whale catalogue. So we’d like to know, have we seen this whale before?”