downloaded here - Irish Whale and Dolphin Group

Sperm whales in the Irish Northwest. Photograph © Air Corp Maritime Squadron.
Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus)
Caisealóid
The sperm whale has a large geographic range and can be
seen throughout the North Atlantic from the equator to high
latitudes. In the northeast Atlantic it is widespread in deep
waters to the west of the continental shelf, over sub-marine
canyons and close to volcanic islands in waters deeper than
200m. Sperm whales were largely absent from inshore waters
and sightings here were likely to be associated with live
stranding events. Acoustic and visual surveys to the west of
Ireland have shown this species to be present in the deep
waters of the Rockall Trough and in subsea canyons located
along the shelf slopes and slopes of the Porcupine Bank.
There have been 67 stranding records, all of single individuals,
in Ireland since 1753. Most records were from the west and
south coasts with a concentration in Co Galway. There were
peaks in January and March with 53% of stranding records
from the first four months of the year. There has been an
increase in strandings since the 1960s, which may be due to
a combination of increased reporting and increased mortality
due to anthropogenic factors. Three live stranded sperm
whales have been reported, all since 2004. The majority of
sperm whales stranded in Ireland are adult males, thus the live
stranding of a neonatal calf in Co Clare in May 2004 was very
unusual. It was the second smallest sperm whale recorded
stranded in the North Atlantic.
18
Irish Cetacean Review 2000-2009