|
27-Apr-2008
Brian Maddrell called at around 9:30 this morning to say that there was a Minke some 1500m or so, off-shore from Dalby Point.
A little later, about 10:40 we spot a Minke very close in, some 250m off the rocks, which appeared to be feeding.
Just after 1pm, another Minke sighting close to Dalby Point, this time within 150 metres of the shore.
It's great to have the Minkes back, and with luck there will be lots more sightings in the weeks and months to come.
We expect to see the Minkes here on the west coast of Mann from now until September, feeding on the various shoalling fish that are themselves, feeding and gathering in these westerly Manx waters.
In September the Minkes will move around the Island following the spawning herring to the east coast, but until then, we can look forward to a summer of Minkes, the occasional Fin whale and even the odd Sei whale off the west coast - so keep a sharp look out and you might see one of these Manx wonders just yards offshore.
Top
18-Apr-2008
The Risso's dolphins are being seen very regularly off Onchan Head, Douglas Head, Little Ness and even 1 sighting so far off Scarlett Point.
It's difficult to know quite how many there are around at the moment as they are tending to be in very small groups and recognizing individuals from shore is often difficult.
There are at least 5, seen at different locations at much the same time and there are probably very many more individuals, mostly not readily identifiable one from another.
However here is one that is nearly all white from nose to fluke with a pale, black edged dorsal fin and huge amounts of scarring and damage, especially around the head. This dolphin is new to the catalogue.
Top
14-Apr-2008
The 2007 documentary, "Go wild on the Isle of Man" and first seen on the 'Inide Out' series is now available as a download at this address:-
< http://www.visitisleofman.com/Special_Interest/videoclips.xml >.
Filmed along the south and south-west of the Island with stunning coastal scenery and some spectacular footage of our Risso's dolphins and Basking sharks, it shows some of the wonderful animals encountered during one of the survey days around these shores.
Top
13-Apr-2008
Sunday 13th April and another spectacular sighting of Risso's dolphins, this time by intrepid local kayakers Craig Whaley and Shane Stigant.
They were escorted by 3 large mature, scarred and grey Risso's dolphins as the two paddled south, 800 metres off Santon Head.
The dolphins were swimming extremely quickly as they dived under and around their kayaks and stayed with them for over an hour around Sunday midday, before deciding to leave, swimming off towards Langness at high speed.
Two of the dolphins were constantly together, one rolling over the other, nudging and cajoling, in nearly constant physical contact and highly attentive. Unlike some physical interactions which have been seen to be quite rough, this was describe as gentle.
We see many new born calves in these waters as well as juvenile and mature dolphins, so it is entirely possible that these and the earlier social swimming described by Mike Craine are part of some courtship behaviour played out in the waters around Mann.
Top
06-Apr-2008
For the last 3 weeks increasing sightings of Risso's dolphins are being reported from around Onchan Head, Douglas Head and down along Marine Drive.
Often within a few metres of the rocks, these wonderful, large and athletic dolphins have provided some spectacular entertainment to those on the coast road above them.
There have been many sightings reported by regular observers Mike and Lynn Craine, Sharon Keig, Paul Moore, Simon Mitchell as well as many others.
Mike and Paul witnessed a pair of dolphins, one large, grey, scarred adult and another, an all black juvenile interacting and socializing intimately, in what Mike described as possible courtship activity, such was the constant attention and physical interaction, the larger grey dolphin becoming apparently very excited.
On the 3rd, Simon Mitchell, one of the survey team, had climbed down the brooghs (cliffs/rough land to the sea) at Douglas Head to within about 15 metres of the sea when below him, not 20 metres offshore, a large mature, grey dolphin with a tall straight dorsal fin came slowly to the shore and milled around below him for 30 minutes, regularly surfacing, showing its huge, grey and silvery body and that amazing smiley face.
With two enormous full breaches clear of the water, this was descibed by Simon the best sighting ever - better than anything he'd seen even close up from a boat.
The Isle of Man is one of the few places anywhere in the world where you can watch these elusive dolphins with ease, that you can watch them from the coastal paths and roadways is truly a Manx wonder.
Top
22-Mar-2008
Your sea watching trips could really help provide a better understanding of these fabulous whales and dolphins around the shores of Mann.
Simply by recording when, where and how long you watched and whether you saw anything will allow us to build a valuable scientific record of the presence of cetaceans in our waters.
A new on-line reporting form to record the time spent watching for whales and dolphins has been added to the website.
A new click-on button called 'Effort Based Watch Report' on the left hand side accesses the simple report page below.
If you could please report all watches of 30 minutes or longer, regardless of whether anything was sighted, and it will generate real scientific data about the number and frequency of cetaceans around our shores.
Watches where nothing was sighted are just as important scientifically as watches when animals were seen - so a 'NIL Sightings' watch has real significance.
Any sightings will also be automatically posted to the 'Recent Sightings' section so that you will only need to enter the data once.
Here is an image of the new page and the simple click-on boxes to report your watches.
We are grateful to have had a lot of dedicated observers report their watches in the past using the old paper forms and we hope that this new on-line facility will make it easier for everyone to join in.
Many thanks to everyone for their help and support - good whale watching.
galps
Top
20-Mar-2008
On Wednesday 19 March, about 1pm a pair of Risso's dolphins were seen by Mike Craine and Paul Moore close to the rocks off Douglas Head.
The dolphins approached to within 20 metres of the shore giving a spectacular view of their excited and atheletic behaviour.
One dolphin appeared to be a young adult, full sized but still all black while the second was distinctly grey and scarred, signs of an older mature animal.
The grey dolphin was seen breaching, leaping clear of the water while in constant attendance upon the darker animal. The grey animal was seen to nudge, roll onto, push and contact the black dolphin in what Mike thought looked like some sort of courtship activity.
Little is known about these dolphins, how, when and when they mate and how they interact socially.
It is known that much of the scarring and scratching on their bodies is the result of dolphin on dolphin interaction - the scrathings being the results of one dolphin raking its teeth across another. Physical butting and fairly violent behaviour seems to be reasonably common.
Mike and Paul last saw the dolphins disappearing northwards and then 30 minutes later, the keen eyes of Sharon Keig, another seasoned cetacean watcher, saw one swimming north at Onchan Head.
Here is a photo of the pair that Mike was able to capture as the dolphins cavorted off Douglas Head.
Top
19-Feb-2008
The Department of Tourism and Leisure has posted the final video diary of the 2007 Manx Cetacean Survey.
The clip can be seen at < http://www.visitisleofman.com/Special_Interest/videoclips.xml >.
Filmed in December 2007, it brings to a close the off-shore whale and dolphin survey work for the year and includes footage of the Risso's dolphins and Minke whales which were still feeding close to shore even as winter began.
The survey work was supported with grants from the Manx Government through their Department of Tourism and Leisure and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry through the Wildlife and Conservation Division. We are most grateful to these Departments and the Manx Government for their support of this work.
We are extremely grateful to these Departments for their agreement to support and sponsor the planned survey work in the forthcoming 2008 season.
We are also extremely grateful for the help, support and effort of all those who gave freely of their time to help conduct the survey work.
Thanks also to everyone that recorded their sightings on the website and for all their encouragement and goodwill.
Top
11-Jan-2008
A number of people have seen and reported Bottlenose dolphins around the south and west of the Island today, 11 January 2008.
The first sighting was just off the Ledges by Clifton Road, Port St Mary around 8:15. The dolphins were leaping and breaching clear of the water for about 10 minutes before moving off towards the Calf. Estimating the number is always difficult but at least 20 dolphins were seen, possibly as many as 30.
Later on, around 10:30 a group of 20 to 30 bottlenose dolphins were seen off Scarlett.
At 11:00, Bob Taylor was delighted to be joined by these dolphins as he fished off Perwick bay. As he motored slowly southwards to Spanish Head and around the Calf, the numbers of dolphins just grew. Bob estimates that there were upwards of 60 and maybe as many as 100 Bottlenoses around his boat and the nearby sea. There were 3 pairs of mothers and their calf seen amongst the groups.
The dolphins followed Bob and Gemini for about an hour and they finally parted company near Caigher Point at the SW tip of the Calf of Man.
This same group of dolphins was also seen from the Fisheries Protection Vessel - Barrule. The photograph below was taken from the FPV Barrule and we are grateful to the crew of the Barrule and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for thei permission to use it.
At 15:30 another group was spied along the west coast, 500m off Dalby Point, which were travelling at high speed towards Peel.
We see Bottlenose dolphins mainly during the winter months and they are believed to be the same group of dolphins that spend the summer in Cardigan Bay from May to November. Until we acquire some definitive dolphin dorsal fin ID pictures it will remain conjecture.
Top
11-Nov-2007
Minkes continue to be seen yards from the shore in Dhoon and Bulgham bays, just to the north of Laxey bay.
Yesterday, John and Lorraine Donnelly were delighted by the sight of at least one Minke, feeding close to the shoreline. They report seeing the whale swimming around in large circles, blowing bubbles into the water - could this be some form of bubble ring netting - possibly.
Then suddenly from nowhere, an Orca, the Killer Whale, charging through the sea as only Orcas can, big, bold and so very black and white.
Orcas are no strangers to John and Lorraine who have seen many before throughout their years of watching the sea.
This is the second sighting of a Killer whale just off Bulgham bay in the last few weeks.
As if this was not enough, they were also able to witness a Minke breaching, leaping clear of the water.
The Minkes will remain here as long as there is sufficient for them to eat, hopefully still a few more weeks.
Here are some images that John captured yesterday.
Top
04-Nov-2007
A flat calm sea found us surveying around the south of the Island. Rounding Langness we saw the characteristic large dorsal fins of a group of Risso's dolphins heading west.
Squid have returned to the waters around Mann, as they do each autumn and winter and along with cuttlefish, form the principle diet for the Risso's.
The Risso's appeared to be engaged in feeding which continued as they swam towards Port St Mary.
Here are a couple of photos we took from the survey boat.
Top
23-Oct-2007
As autumn slips towards winter, there is still time to see some of the wonderful Minke whales that feed along our eastern shore at this time of the year.
Pick a calm day, and you will see Minkes feeding close to shore from Laxey Bay, north along the east coast.
They can be seen any time of the day, but after 1 pm seems most reliable.
Here are a couple of recent photos, one by Ian Phillips shot just off-shore, with Douglas in the background; the other by Mike Craine taken from the Ballaragh Road, high above Bulgham Bay.
I am grateful to Mike and Ian for their permission to use their images.
Top
18-Oct-2007
Robin Gerrard is the skipper and owner of Hot Totty, the boat we have used all season for the Manx Cetacean Survey. If we have seen a whale or dolphin Robin was there too and saw everything we did.
So on the 18th, with the sea mirror flat, Robin and Julie took Hot Totty to watch the Minkes at Bulgham bay where they have been feeding for some time.
As they arrived the spotted 2 or 3 porpoises very close against the rocks near Carrick Royart at the south end of Bulgham.
Suddenly, from nowhere, a vast black and white whale shot to the surface just feet from their boat. The animal rose high in the water, clearly showing its bright white undersides as well as the distinctive white eye patches and grey-white saddle patch behind the dorsal fin.
They had numerous close encounters as the Orca, oblivious of them, quartered the sea at high speed.
They estimated its size at around 6 metres long with a curved dorsal fin, not unlike the Minke's. All the family were able to clearly descibe the animal which would have been a female or juvenile, not a mature male, which sports that enormously tall dorsal fin.
The sighting continued as the whale dived and then resurfaced some way further north, heading towards Maughold Head.
For over 45 minutes the Orca was seen, sometimes close-by other times far off.
With Minkes regularly sighted in those waters at this time of the year, we should not be overly surprised by the appearance of this top-most predator.
Top
15-Oct-2007
Every Autumn the herring spawn off the East coast of the Island and the Minke whales follow them, feeding on the shoals.
From September to November, Minkes are a easily spotted close to shore, from Port Soderick to Maughold Head.
October is a fantastic time to watch the Minkes close to the rocks around Laxey Head where the photo below was taken last Friday afternoon.
Throughout October and November a trip to Laxey Bay, Bulgham Bay and Dhoon Bay will generally be rewarded with a sighting of these wonderful animals.
You can see them from the breakwater or from the coastal path around the Head and sightings can last for several hours.
The Isle of Man is one of the few places in the world where you can seen such a wide and diverse number of whales and dolphins from the shore - it's a wonderful viewing platform set within the Irish Sea.
Top
21-Sep-2007
Sharon Keig reports a fantastic display of Minke whales in the centre of Bulgham Bay.
At 17:00 until 18:30, a group of 4 Minkes were seen herding shoalling fish to the surface. Once confined, the Minkes appeared at the sides of the shoal and then passed up through the middle of the gathered ball of fish.
Sharon describes how one of the Minkes even breached up through the pool of bubbling fish, lunge feeding upon the shoal. The overall impression was that of an organized team of animals working together to share their catch.
Throughout this extended period of feeding, gannets were to be seen in large numbers, diving from enormous heights into the shoal.
Finally, after 90 minutes, the animals moved off together towards Laxey Bay.
The Isle of Man is one of the few places anywhere in the world where such amazing sights can be seen and enjoyed so close to the cliffs and shoreline.
With luck, this same scene will be repeated throughout the coming weeks as Minkes continue to feed on the spawning and spent herring.
Here is one of the Mikes that we saw feeding in the same area a week ago.
Top
13-Sep-2007
A calm quiet day on the 12th of September saw us return to the East coast to continue the 2007 Cetacean Survey.
As we drew closer to shore we encountered 3 Minke whales just off Groudle Glen.
We had been hoping to see Minkes, as now is the time that the herring move from their summer feeding grounds off the West coast of the Island to their spawning grounds on the East of Mann.
Every year, about this time, we see the Minkes along our eastern shore, from Langness to Laxey. You will see them progress slowly northwards through the coming months as they feed on the spawning and spent herring.
This year has proved to be very different from normal, fewer animals, often in unusual locations, but now the Minkes and the herring are clearly where they are should be - which is some comfort.
As we progress into October and November you can expect to see Minkes throughout the afternoon, feeding in Laxey Bay.
Here is a photo by Eleanor Stone of one of the Minkes we saw on Wednesday.
Top
17-Aug-2007
A call from Brian Maddrell sent me back to my binoculars in time to see around 85 Common dolphins racing past Dalby Point, heading South. They were in 4 or 5 groups, the leading school of about 45 were flanked and followed by smaller groups. All were porpoising through the water at great speed, their slender bodies slicing through the air as they swam towards Niarbyl.
Top
15-Aug-2007
I have just posted a sighting report from Mike Craine, a regular and very successful observer of cetaceans around Mann.
This afternoon, the 15th, he witnessed a Minke whale make multiple breaches, just 1000 metres off Dalby Point.
Mike was at "Dalby Prom", as it's known locally, the large lay-by at the north end of the village which gives good views across to Dalby Point and the sea to the NW.
At 17:00 hours he saw a Minke leap clear of the water a 'dozen or more times' flashing its silvery underside as it leapt through the air - fantastic.
So far, the Minkes have been a bit scarce this year, so it's good to get a report of them off Dalby Point, where we would expect to see them - perhaps the summer is getting back to normal.
Top
06-Aug-2007
It has been a wild and windy year, nothing seems to be normal. Instead of gentle south-westerlies we have strong and sometimes ferocious northerlies and nort-easterlies - what strange year.
But at last, the gannets are here in some numbers off Dalby Point, spearing into the sea from a great height.
Close to shore I watched 3 large basking sharks this morning and while staring through my binoculars at the sharks, a Minke!
The Minke was moving at high speed, travelling south, no more than 800 metres off shore.
The whale passed between the 3 sharks which were swimming about 100 metres apart, and was seen to surface a couple of times as it sped towards Niarbyl.
With luck, this might be the beginning of more Minke activity here, it's all so different and late this season.
Traditionally, watching from Niarbyl from about 1800 to 2000 hours has been a good spot to see these wonderful whales. Often through August and early September they can be seen throughout the afternoon - let's hope this season starts to become more normal soon.
Top
25-Jul-2007
There have been a number of sightings of Risso's dolphins around the Calf and near the Sound.
It seems that 1600 hours onwards is the time that the dolphins have been seen in the area.
Try parking at the Sound car park and walk just over the fence towards Port Erin, onto the higher ground to get a better chance to see these wonderful dolphins.
Top
24-Jul-2007
On Sunday, filming for the BBC 'Inside Out' programme took to the water. We left Douglas in Hot Totty, our survey boat, and headed south to near Port St Mary to complete a survey leg left unfinished from a few nights ago due to failing light.
As soon as we began the Line Transect route the keen eyes of Tom spotted a group of 7 Risso's dolphins logging and swimming to our north west. We broke off the Line Transect and began gathering photos for the ID catalogue.
This wonderful display of relaxed and unhurried dolphins provided some unique footage for the BBC film.
Leaving the dolphins to continue their Sunday afternoon siesta, we headed to into harbour for some more location shots.
From Port St Mary we headed into Box 6 to undertake a Line Transect survey.
During the second leg of the survey we came across a different group of 5 Risso's, but this time they provided a spectacular display of breaching and tail-slapping.
Here is one of the photos from that encounter - the good news is that the BBC film crew caught most of the action which will be seen on BBC North West this Autumn, possibly on 19th September.
We finished the day with a Basking shark coming right up to the bow of the boat before turning and diving beneath us.
All together, the Island showed just how stunning and beautiful a place it is and what fantastic marine animals we have all about us.
Top
21-Jul-2007
It is so easy to get it wrong. We have a BBC film crew here at the moment, filming the Manx Whale and Dolphin Survey. We were at the Sound yesterday afternoon getting some location shots as well as a few minutes of interview about the marine wildlife, in particular the wonderful cetaceans we see just from shore. The following is a message I received from my friend Graham Hall "Hi John, Saw you at the Sound with Film people so did not bother you, however just as you pulled away the pod of 6 Risso's dolphins arrived - obviously they were late." Right place - wrong time, it is so easy to get it wrong - just.
Top
01-Jun-2007
Perhaps the most extraordinary report ever to be received by the Manx Whale + Dolphin Watch, a group of 10 Minke whales within 150 metres and less of the shore at Bradda Head! Visitor to the Island, Ian Kirkland was stunned to be watching a gathering of 5 mature Minkes and 5 accompanying juvenile Minkes just yards from the shore as he walked the coastal footpath from Port Erin north towards Fleshwick. This is such an extraordinarily rare sighting that it was immediately passed to the Sea Watch Foundation's key Minke whale specialist and after extensive discussions with Ian, the sighting has been confirmed as a group of Minkes. Such aggregations are not unheard of, but extremely rare, especially so close to shore. It is conjectured that the whales had gathered together to feed on a particularly abundant food supply - possibly our traditional herring which shoal in those waters and have provided the Island with one of its main sources of protein throughout history and given us our famous Manx kippers. Minke whales will be a regular sight around our shores until November. Throughout the summer, the west coast is their favoured location as they feed on the shoals of fish close to shore. Come September, the herring go to spawn off the east of the Island and the Minkes will follow them.
Top
01-Jun-2007
As part of the Isle of Man Cetacean Survey 2007, Sharon Bond is being funded by the Mammals Trust UK to study the importance of Manx waters to the Risso's dolphins often seen in these parts and we need your help!
This is the first year of an ongoing research project to build a photo-identification catalogue of these very special Risso's dolphins as well as all the identifiable species of whale and dolphin sighted around the island.
Photo-ID concentrates on the dorsal fin, its sha |