Whale Watching News & Expert Views

Wall to Wall Fine Weather..and fine sightings…

With probabley the best stretch of fine weather on record over the past eight weeks we have been having sightings to match… From excellent sightings of lunge feeding Minke Whales around the Calf Islands and Tourane Rocks to an estimated 500 Common Dolphins as far up Roaringwater Bay as the Mullin Rock our sightings culminated last [...]

Exhibition of Nature Photography by Sheena Jolley…

The renowned wildlife photographer Sheena Jolley brings her stunning exhibition of wildlife photographs to Kinsale. To be opened by the journalist Donal Musgrave on 6th July at 6pm in her new gallery in Kinsale, ”Island Magic” promises to be a truly magical experience. Sheena brings a quality and “feel” to her wildlife images seldom seen in [...]

Killer Whales in Baltimore Bay…and minkes and sunfish!

Following several days of stunning Minke Whale and Harbour Porpoise sightings we headed out again this morning on a glassy sea with slight swell anticipating finding some feeding Minke Whales offshore… …a few moments later I picked up an animal surfacing around 100 metres away. Unmistakably the dorsal fin of a young male Killer Whale. Further [...]

A stunning weekend of Minkes, Baskers, Porpoises and sunshine…

Wow. What a weekend! Stunning views of all three iconic species for this time of year. The Minky Whales were very cooperative with some lovely feeding behaviour underneath clouds of Gannets diving into the water and Manx Shearwaters “buzzing” back and forth across the waters surface…both east and west of Cape Clear. With the strong sunshine the [...]

First Sunfish…

YEAH…FIRST SUNFISH OF THE SEASON REPORTED TODAY…Yeha!

Joy of Joys…

It’s not like me to follow on with another post so soon…but I just have to tell you the Minke Whale watching yesterday was superb… Several animals both sides of Cape Clear but away off near the Fastnet Rock and Lighthouse we encountered an animal feeding hard. Creating the characteristic huge display of Gannets and Shearwaters [...]

Exceptional sightings for the time of year…

It is always with great expectations that we look at the first part of the season in terms of variety of sightings. The timing of when the animals move inshore to feed varies enormously and the weather conditions can influence our sightings considerably… Well, for the past three weeks the weather and the sightings have not [...]

Excellent sightings…last 10 days

Good weather conditions and excellent sightings off West Cork herald the start of an action packed season of wildlife sightings. Bird sightings inshore these past six weeks have been stunning with rafts of razorbills, guillemots and occasional puffins delighting customers young and old. For pure showmanship the gannet steals the avian show with their jaw dropping [...]

Minke Whale activity on the increase…

Day before yesterday we observed a minke whale south of Rabbit Island followed by a surfacing animal east of Adam Island…possibly the same animal. Travelling and not attracting much bird activity we are looking forward to some settled weather and with lots of visitors about are getting out on the water regularly. Out and about south [...]

Great Sightings in April…

April is traditionally a quiet month for cetacean sightings off West Cork as we wait for thr waters to warm and the plankton to bloom and rise in the water column… This April however, has proved the exception. Although the waters off West Cork remain cold sightings that have been reported by us and others this [...]

Sea Shepherd is a Fundamentalist Darwinist Anti-God Organization?

Sea Shepherd and Captain Paul Watson are no strangers to controversy and the fall out from the apalling act of irresponsibility conducted by the Japanese whaling fleet when they deliberately rammed and sunk the anti whaling Sea Shepherd boat, Ady Gill, continues… The latest bout of misleading, poorly written commentary to be published over The Christian [...]

Humpback Whales off Wexford Coast…

During the closing stages of last week we received reports of Humpback Whale sightings off the Wexford coast… …since that time confirmed sightings have been made by observers of a number of Humpback Whales off the County Wexford coast indulging in what is a fairly common behavioural activity for this species – launching themselves high out [...]

Japanese Whalers employ dangerous tactics…

In an unprecedented attack on one of the Sea Shepherd vessels monitoring their illegal whaling activities in the Southern Ocean the Japanese whale catcher boat Shonan Maru No 2 rammed the much smaller Ady Gil causing extensive damage to the vessel and seriously endangering the crew. This reckless endangerment of life on the high seas by [...]

Copenhagen – failure and fudge

A huge opportunity has been lost and the leaders of the free world should resign in disgrace at the pathetically weak and unenforceable “agreement” reached at the climate summit in Copenhagen last week. Unless nation states take it upon themselves to curb CO2 emissions over the next decade we are consigning our children to a [...]

Whale Watching Holidays

Whale Watching Holidays Around the World Whales World Wide is the overseas whale and dolphin watching arm of Whale Watch West Cork. We specialise in taking small parties of dedicated whale and dolphin watchers to different parts of the world to experience first hand the special behaviour of whales and dolphins in their natural habitats. [...]