Strandings

Common dolphin dead stranded on Garrettstown beach, Co. Cork.

Image by Rory Horgan.

ORCA Ireland's Marine Mammal Stranding Responders identified the deceased dolphin as a short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and attended the stranding site to conduct an external examination of the carcass on Friday 9th of July 2021. All records of stranded marine megafauna are important to monitor as they represent a minimum measure of at-sea mortality. When trained ORCA Ireland Marine Mammal Responders examine carcasses in the field, they look for evidence of human interaction e.g. by-catch in fishing gear but also sex the animal and take important measurements that can tell us more about the life history of the animal.

On the evening of Thursday, July 8th, a dolphin washed ashore at Garretstown Beach, Co. Cork, and was logged on the OBSERVERS App, ORCA Ireland's Citizen Science pocket-conservation tool for monitoring marine megafauna Thanks again to local "Corkonian" Rory Horgan.

We run regular training courses via Zoom for ORCA Ireland members to become prepared for responding to live and dead stranded marine mammals. To sign up for our next course email us at welfare.orca@gmail.com. The 1-day course costs €80 for non-members and €64 for ORCA

Incyhdoney Beach, Co. Cork.

R E C O R D O N T H E S H O R E

Inchydoney (from Native Irish: Inse Duine) is a small island off West Cork, Ireland, connected to the mainland by two causeways with two Blue Flag beaches, one on either side of the Virgin Mary headland.

Inchydoney is a famous Tourist spot and given the long sandy beaches has proven to be a spot where marine wildlife sometimes was ashore. In 2004, Prof. Emer Rogan of University College Cork reported a mother common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) live stranded and vocalizing at Inchadoney Beach.

This April, a second basking shark (Cetnorhychus maximus) washed ashore at Inchydoney Beach, Clonakilty, Co. Cork. This was the second basking shark to strand in a week. The first basking shark washed ashore at Harbour View Beach, Co. Cork, and was a juvenile male measuring approx. 4.3 meters in length. Thank you again to everyone who has been so supportive of the Observers App over the years. Please remember to fill out a quick report and upload your images. If you have videos to send us you can send them directly to Kathryn Cox, Data Officer, at observersapp@gmail.com.

I N T H E S P O T L I G H T