#MARINE WILDLIFE - The East Coast of Ireland was treated to a rare sight yesterday morning with the spotting of a basking shark at Dun Laoghaire.

According to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), the gentle giant was sighted by Ronan McLaughlin of the Naval Service vessel LE Ciara at the entrance to Dun Laoghaire Harbour - which may allow for the perfect opportunity to easily observe the visitor.

IWDG sightings co-ordinator Pádraig Whooley said: "So far 2012 has been another very good year for sightings of this 'honorary whale', with 78 validated sightings to date, almost all of which have come from the south and west coasts."

He added: "In recent years only between 1-5% of all basking shark sightings have been off the Irish East Coast, which is at odds with the fact that [the] nearby Isle of Man is considered to be one of the best sites to observe the planet’s second biggest shark species."

Basking sharks are protected under EU law, which makes it illegal to disturb or harass them.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the UK's Shark Trust has published a code of conduct for anyone encountering basking sharks in British or Irish waters this summer.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) reports that two marine science students from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) have joined IWDG members on an eight-day transatlantic cetacean and bird survey on board the RV Celtic Explorer.

"The mid-Atlantic is rarely surveyed for marine mammals so the results of this survey will be a large contribution to our limited knowledge of the species richness and relative abundance in this region at this time of year," said the IWDG's Conor Ryan.

"Last year, we surveyed a similar route during the winter/late spring and encountered fin whales, sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins, striped dolphins, common dolphins and pilot whales."

Students Paddy O'Dwyer and Enda McKeogh are keeping a daily blog of the trip for those interested in following them across the Atlantic which can be read HERE.

#MARITIME FESTIVALS - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) will have a stand at the Maritime Matters Festival in Hook Head, Co Wexford this bank holiday weekend from 5-7 May.

Representing the IWDG are Deirdre Slevin and Paddy Roche, who will be on hand to present photos of recent whale activity off the Wexford coast, as well as giving the opportunity to look out for whales and dolphins from the watch tower.

Hook Head has already witnessed a wide range of cetacean activity in 2012, with the likes of fin whales, humpback whales, minke whales, common and Risso's dolphins, harbour porpoise and basking sharks visiting the waters of the 'Sunny Southeast'.

The annual Maritime Matters Festival will also feature displays from The Irish Coast Guard, Irish Water Safety and the Irish Seal Sanctuary, as well as displays and manoeuvres on the water by the Irish Marine Rescue Services.

Cick HERE for more details on the weekend programme of entertainment and outdoor food on the Hook Lighthouse website.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The mystery creature washed up on a Co Clare beach last month has been confirmed to be a long-finned pilot whale, and not a narwhal as had been alleged.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the situation was a source of puzzlement for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) as the carcass was removed from Liscannor beach before their scientists could examine the remains.

Experts had been hoping to verify an eyewitness report that the carcass was indeed that of a narwhal, an Arctic cetacean renowned for its unicorn-like tusk. It would have been the first recorded sighting of a narwhal in Irish waters.

But RTÉ News reports that images sent to the IWDG confirm at last the identity of the animal as a long-finned pilot whale.

It marks the fourth reported stranding of a pilot whale in Co Clare and the 16th around Ireland this year alone.

The IWDG added that it was "always sceptical that the whale was a narwhal", and said Clare County Council did not deserve the criticism it received for removing the carcass over public health concerns.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has confirmed a new humpback whale sighting, this time in Northern Ireland.

According to the IWDG, this is the third consecutive year that a humpback whale has been spotted in Northern Irish waters, with this sighting being only the fourth ever validated record for the species in the North.

IWDG sightings co-ordinator Pádraig Whooley described it as "an important development [that] highlights a trend towards increased sightings of this large baleen whale species in Irish waters."

He also remarked on the "unusual" location of the sighting in the fast-running waters of the Strangford Narrows at the Ards Peninsula.

The discovery comes just a week after confirmed sighting of two humpback whales at the opposite end of the island of Ireland, off Galley Head in West Cork, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - This past weekend saw confirmation that two humpback whales have made an unseasonal visit to Irish waters.

As previously noted on Afloat.ie, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) had received reports of a sighting of the large cetaceans by birdwatchers off Galley Head in West Cork - an event described as "unusual" by sightings co-ordinator Pádraig Whooley.

But as the Irish Independent reports, those sightings have now been confirmed after IWDG members spotted the humpback pair near The Stags at Castlehaven harbour.

The team was able to get close enough to collect skin samples as well as photo identification, which confirmed that one of the duo is completely new to these waters.

Whooley commented: "Why these two young humpbacks are here during spring, when years of data shows them to be absent in these months, is a mystery."

The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The mystery disappearance of an allegedly rare whale carcass from a Co Clare beach last week has been solved.

As The Irish Times reports, Clare County Council admitted yesterday that the "badly decomposed whale" was removed from Liscannor beach "due to public health concerns".

The vanishing of the creature had been a source of puzzlement to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), after scientists dispatched to examine the carcass found no trace on arrival.

Experts had been hoping to verify whether the carcass was indeed that of a narwhal, an Arctic cetacean renowned for its unicorn-like tusk.It would have been the first recorded sighting of a narwhal in Irish waters.

Max Halliday from Shannon, who reported the find to the IWDG, said he was "convinced that what I saw is a narwhal. It had the long tusk protruding from its head, but its head was badly damaged. I am absolutely mad that I didn't take a photo."

According to the Irish Independent, the IWDG had appealed to those responsible for removing the whale to get in touch so the remains could be transferred to the Natural History Museum.

But it has since emerged that the creature was taken to a rendering plant in Derry by a team contracted by the council.

A spokesperson for Clare County Council said no remains of a tusk were found in the removal operation.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - At least two humpback whales have been spotted by birdwatchers off Galley Head in West Cork, according to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG).

"This is the first time since the large whale project commenced in 1999 that humpback whales have been recorded along the Irish south or coast during April, which has been up till now the one month in which large whales have consistently been absent from our inshore waters," said IWDG sightings co-ordinator Pádraig Whooley.

The timing of this sighting was described by Whooley as "unusual". He also confirmed that one of the whales was recorded off Hook Head in Co Wexford in late January and early February of this year, which dispells the hypothesis that large whales leave Irish waters after the herring season in the southeast.

Meanwhile, Whooley sounded a word of caution for anyone hoping to spot the humpbacks for themselves, as the "sheer numbers of basking sharks about" often result in false sightings.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has more on the story, including images, HERE.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - Two killer whales have been spotted near Kinsale in recent weeks, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) reports.

Two separate sightings of the orca pair near Barry's Head have been confirmed by the group, via photos provided by John Murphy and Richard Cussen on 5 March, during what is normally the 'low season' for whale watching in Ireland.

The pair comprises one adult male and a smaller whale which is likely an adult female. It is not yet known, however, whether the whales are new to Irish or Scottish waters.

According to the IWDG's Pádraig Whooley, it is "interesting that they have stayed close to their original position and suggests they may have found 'rich pickings'".

In other news, the Whale and Dolphin Roadshow will be at the Galway Shopping Centre from 22-25 March in time for the European Cetacean Society Conference.

The roadshow "is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about whales, dolphins and porpoise of the ASCOBANS region" that encompasses the Baltic Sea, Northeast Atlantic and Irish and North Seas.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The rate of cetacean strandings on the Irish coast remains unusually high, according to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG).

The group's Cetacean Stranding Scheme recorded 162 strandings in 2011 which, while numbers do vary from year to year, was 25-30 more than anticipated.

And already this year the numbers are up on last year's 'inexplicable' records for the first quarter.

Some 21 strandings were reported to the IWDG in January alone - the highest ever number recorded for that month, well above the average of 13.

February's figures are even more worrying, with 30 strandings reported this year compared to a five-year average of 11.4.

"As we are now well into 2012, it is clear that the numbers have not returned to what we could have considered to be more normal levels," said the group in a statement.

There is as yet no explanation, whether a single cause or a number of factors, for what might be causing this significant rise in strandings of both live and dead animals, although one curious clue is "the number of carcasses which had washed ashore with tail fluke/fins apparently cut away".

In other IWDG news, the group recently announced the receipt of £2,000 (€2,400) core funding support from Scottish-based veterinary X-ray firm BCF Technology Ltd, which funds a number of charities through its BCF Foundation.