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the watch site, water depth off the headland drops rapidly to
30-40m. Slea Head is the most frequently watched site in
Ireland, with 293 watches carried out since 1999. A total of
564 sightings have been made of seven species. The
proportion of watches with sightings is very consistent and
remarkably high, especially since 2004 when the number of
watches per annum increased dramatically. Sightings were
recorded on over 80% of watches carried out in sea-state 2 or
less. Harbour porpoise (42%) was the most frequently
observed species, followed by minke whale (34%), shortbeaked
common dolphin (13%), bottlenose dolphin (4%),
Risso’s dolphin (1%) and fin whale (two sightings). Harbour
porpoise have been recorded throughout the year, with minke
whales recorded from March to December, short-beaked
common dolphin from February to October, Risso’s dolphins
during the summer and bottlenose dolphins sporadically.
There were 106 watches in sea-state ≥3 which were removed
from the analysis. The proportion of watches carried out in
sea-state ≤2 with sightings of harbour porpoise was also high,
though this has declined over the last two years. The
proportion of watches with minke whales increased through
2004 to a peak in 2007 before a decline since 2008, while the
proportion of watches with short-beaked common dolphin
sightings also peaked in 2007 and 2008 and declined in 2009.
There were no significant differences in sighting rates of
harbour porpoises between 2004 and 2009 nor of shortbeaked
common dolphins between 2006 and 2009. There
was a significant variation in sighting rates of minke whales
between 2004 and 2009, with an elevated sighting rate in
2007.
Loop Head, Co Clare
Loop Head extends to the west with the approaches to the
River Shannon to the south and the Atlantic seaboard of Co
Clare to the north. The Shannon plume where the River
Shannon mixes with the Atlantic can be clearly seen extending
to the west. Water depth drops rapidly to 60-70m. The first
watch from Loop Head was carried out in January 1994 but
coverage has been good since 2006. Since then, 89 watches
have been carried out with sightings on 60% of watches. A
total of 78 sightings have been recorded of at least six species.
Most sightings were of bottlenose dolphin (31%), shortbeaked
common dolphin (27%), minke whale (18%) and
harbour porpoise (13%), with single sightings of Risso’s
Whalewatching at Ram Head, Co Waterford, February 2005. Photograph © Pádraig Whooley/IWDG.
Irish Cetacean Review 2000-2009
49