Deep diving whale stranded on Donegal coast as reports of cetacean strandings hit worrying high
The whale was discovered near Horn Head
A Curvier's Beaked Whale has been found stranded on a beach beside Hornhead.
The deceased mammal is 15'7" and is described by the Donegal branch of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) as a subadult male.
A spokesperson for Donegal IWDG said there were no obvious signs of injury or trauma on the body of the animal. Skin, blubber and stomach samples were taken. They will be sent to IWDG for scientific analysis in the areas of genetics, toxicology, etc.
"Not a lot is known about this species as it is a deep diving whale, spending most of their lives far out at sea, at the continental shelf," said the spokesperson.
The stranding was reported on March 31. It is one of an incredible 83 reported strandings of whales, dolphins and porpoises along the Irish coast throughout the month of March.
In a recent report, the IWDG described 93 records of stranded cetaceans for January and February combined as being exceptionally high. These latest 83 strandings bring the total for the first three months of 2021 to 176. The most commonly stranded cetacean was the common dolphin.
While the increase in people walking on beaches is no doubt a contributing factor, the IWDG believes there is still cause for serious concern.
According to the report on www.iwdg.ie: "9% of reported animals have presented with gross signs of bycatch in fishing gear which include cut off tails, tips of dorsal fins cleanly cut, broken jaws, and the most obvious, found entangled in fishing gear.
"This is likely to be a minimum as diagnosing bycatch can be quite difficult if the lesions are more subtle, or drowning has taken place with no external lesions.
"There is no doubt the trend with increasing common dolphin strandings identified by the IWDG in recent years is still occurring, and we must continue to monitor this going forward.
"Although increased reporting may also be a factor playing a contributing role, if this were the only cause, we would not expect this increase to be occurring so dramatically with just one species."
Anyone who wished to report a cetacean sighting or stranding can do so at iwdg.ie
These important citizen science records help create a picture of cetacean populations in our coastal waters, and to flag trends that are cause for concern.
Of the 83 reports in March, seven were in Donegal:
March 1, harbour porpoise, Rossnowlagh
March 14, harbour porpoise, Narin Strand
March 15, bottlenose dolphin, Magheroarty
March 17, common dolphin, Falcarragh
March 27, common dolphin, Rathmullen
March 27, common dolphin, Ballyliffin
March 31, Cuvier's beaked whale, Dunfanaghy
Sadly, none of these were live strandings.