The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) is a cetacean

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

and

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

organisation based in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

The IWDG was founded in December 1990 to establish a cetacean stranding and sighting scheme, and to campaign for the establishment of a cetacean

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

. In June 1991, the

Irish Government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...

responded by declaring Irish Waters to be the first European whale and dolphin sanctuary. The group was granted a charitable status in December 1999.

Organisation

The IWDG is a

Limited Company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by shares, the lia ...

with charitable status. It is guided by a number of officers, of which Dr. Simon Berrow is the current Acting CEO, who are overseen by a Board of Directors. The charity is a member of, and funded by, the

Irish Environmental Network The Irish Environmental Network (IEN) is a network of environmental Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) that was established in 2002. The network is designed to give greater reach and access to funding for disparate and sometimes small member organ ...

Current activities

Stranding and sighting scheme

One of the main activities carried out by the IWDG is the collection and storing of reported cetacean sightings and strandings in Irish waters. The complete database of reports is disseminated through the IWDG website. The main objective of this scheme was to ensure that cetacean stranding reporting was done in a geographically uniform and objective manner. Part of the scheme involves training a network of local observers through both training workshops and the provision of identification material. In the case of humpback whales, the group maintains a catalogue of fluke identification photos in order to distinguish between individuals.

Cetacean welfare

The IDWG lists the importance of engaging with external groups and promoting responsible

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

in its mission statement. To this aim, it has released a document outline guidelines to be followed by groups who may come in contact with live cetaceans, such as fishermen, whale-watching groups and research vessels, in order to better safeguard the wellbeing of the creatures. As part of these guidelines, the group advises against swimming with cetaceans.

Cetacean conservation

The IWDG has been involved in the collection of

biopsy A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiologist. The process involves extraction of sample cells or tissues for examination to determine the presence or extent of a dise ...

samples from stranded large

baleen whales Baleen whales (systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in the ...

since 2003. They have also applied for a licence to attach tracking tags to

fin whales The fin whale (''Balaenoptera physalus''), also known as finback whale or common rorqual and formerly known as herring whale or razorback whale, is a cetacean belonging to the parvorder of baleen whales. It is the second-longest species of ceta ...

in order to determine their distribution outside of Irish waters.

Outreach

One of the stated objectives of the IWDG is to promote Ireland's suitability for observing cetaceans. In addition to engaging with the press, the group organises workshops to train members of coastal communities in the identification of cetacean species and reacting to live strandings. As part of these outreach activities, the group organises an annual Whale Watch Day to promote land-based whale watching, with the assistance of volunteers.

Vessels

RV Celtic Mist

RV Celtic Mist is a 56ft steel-hulled

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

, donated to the IWDG in 2011 by the Haughey family. The vessel underwent an EU-sponsored refit, before being relaunched in August 2012. It is used for training members in cetacean identification and monitoring, and for research projects, including the use of acoustic survey techniques. On its maiden voyage, the research vessel encountered 11 cetacean species, including

blue whales The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can b ...

Other vessels

Prior to obtaining use of the RV Celtic Mist, cetacean surveys were carried out by IWDG members onboard the Marine Institute's RV Celtic Voyager and

RV Celtic Explorer The ''Celtic Explorer'' is a multi-purpose research vessel operated by the Marine Institute Ireland, Marine Institute in Galway, Ireland. It came into service in 2003 for use in fisheries acoustic research, oceanographic, hydrographic and geologi ...

ships for many years.

References

{{reflist

External links

IWDG Official Website

TEDx Talk - Pádraig Whooley, IWDG Sightings Co-ordinator
Environmental organisations based in Ireland Animal welfare organisations based in the Republic of Ireland