A rare sight was caught on camera this past week with the birth of a bottlenose dolphin in Glandore Harbour.
Following reports on Monday (15 April) to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) of a large gathering near Mizen Head of some 25 bottlenoses — a dolphin species not frequently seen off West Cork — a second similar-sized group was spotted two days later some 60km to the east at Glandore.
Local IWDG member Heather Mahmood flew her drone over the Glandore pod to capture some footage and images, and upon reviewing the results with her daughter Ruá on Thursday evening, the pair were surprised to discover what appeared to be a dolphin giving birth.
After sending the footage and images to the IWDG, sightings officer Pádraig Whooley came to the same conclusion.
“[It appeared] that it was indeed a female either giving birth or in the process of, as the appendage [seen protruding from the dolphin] looked very similar to a tiny, floppy tail fluke,” Whooley said.
“It is known that to maximise the chance of a successful birth, which can be a long process for all mammal species, cetacean calves are born tail-first. This is an adaptation to living in an aquatic environment, as it gives the new born the maximum breathing time inside the birth canal — that first breath being the critical one.”
Whooley referred to the IWDG’s resident experts on bottlenose dolphins, Simon Berrow and Mags Daly of the Shannon Dolphin Project, who were just as astounded.
“Neither of them have ever witnessed the birth of a bottlenose dolphin, despite being involved in monitoring the resident Shannon population now for over 30 years,” Whooley said.
“In fairness, how could they have, as this behaviour could really only be detected from an aerial perspective, which we now have at our disposal.”
The IWDG shared their findings with Cromarty-based Dr Barbara J Chaney, who studies the Scottish bottlenose population that overlaps with our own, “and her thoughts mirrored ours, that this footage was unique, both in a British and Irish context, as this event has never before been seen, let alone recorded,” Whooley added.
See the remarkable video on the IWDG website HERE.
