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Tag Archives: Dr Simon Berrow

Have a whale of a time at special west Clare wildlife event

AN UPDATE on the 145 dolphins that are unique to the Shannon Estuary will be presented this Friday night in Kilkee. Members of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), as well as their supporters, will gather at Cultúrlann Sweeney for a discussion that will cover the life marine life off the Clare coast, including humpback whales, fin whales and basking sharks. ‘The Wonderful Wildlife of West Clare’ is open to all and bookings can be made on the IWDG website. Those attending will see incredible new images of sea creatures off the Clare coast, including drone footage shot by Dr Simon Berrow off Doonbeg. “Fin whales are the second largest marine creatures ever,” he explained. “They’re big beasts and can be seen from the shore. I captured drone footage off Doonbeg which is simply wonderful.” IWDG has spent the past there decades monitoring the estuary’s dolphins and are well placed to track their daily lives. “Mags Daly is Project …

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Fears for estuary dolphins’ health

ALTHOUGH a report published by the Zoological Society in London has found that the effect of pollution on bottlenose dolphins in the Shannon Estuary is the lowest in Europe, Dr Simon Berrow of the Kilrush-based Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has expressed alarm at the level of pollution in the estuary. Levels are above the toxic threshold thought to impact on bottlenose dolphins’ health and reproduction. Information collected by the IWDG in Irish waters fed into the research led by Dr Paul Jepson of the Zoological Society. Dr Berrow, project manager with the IWDG and lecturer in applied freshwater and marine biology at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, was one of the co-authors in the study. “We provided samples from bottlenose dolphins in the Shannon Estuary for the study and, although concentrations in the Shannon dolphins were the lowest in Europe, the levels were still well above the toxicity threshold, which leads to serious impacts,” Dr Berrow said, adding that …

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Not enough of a splash about Shannon Dolphins

THE founder of the Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation (SDWF) has claimed West Clare tourism interests have failed to capitalise on the “unique resource” of the family of 140 dolphins that populate the Shannon Estuary. Dr Simon Berrow says this is despite a “20-year head-start”, while he is also fearful about the future of the dolphin monitoring centre in Kilrush, which has been operating for 22 years. The centre receives no funding, although it did in the past. “As a region, I think we’ve failed to make the most of what, to me, is a completely unique resource. Loop Head Tourism has done a fantastic job promoting Loop Head but the area doesn’t look any different to me from 20 years ago. The lighthouse is the lighthouse. It’s not unique. They are packaging it together in a lovely package but I still think the dolphins are our unique product. Nowhere else in Ireland has dolphins that are so accessible. Very …

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