Massive ships on the Shannon Estuary have been asked to reduce their speed to avoid hitting a humpback whale, which has been spotted in an Irish river for the first ever time.
The immature humpback whale has been spotted off Clare’s southern coast on a number of occasions over the past week. It was most recently seen feeding south of the village of Querrin, close to Moneypoint Power Station, on Tuesday evening, December 10.
According to The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), the appearance of a humpback whale in the Shannon Estuary is “unprecedented” and the whale is likely to remain there for at least a month before undertaking a 4,000 migration to breed off West Africa.
The group is appealing to ships travelling in the estuary and the Shannon Foynes Port Company (SFPC) to introduce a 10 knot or 19 kilometre per hour speed limit to prevent large commercial ships from colliding with the whale.
“Ship-strike, or when large vessels hit whales, is quite a problem in some parts of the world. We have seen big ships coming into ports like Rotterdam with whales actually on the bows of the ships after being hit in open ocean,” said Simon Berrow of the IWDG.
“It is not normally a big issue in Ireland but now that we have a lot of traffic in the Shannon Estuary and we have a whale, which you wouldn’t expect to see in the Shannon Estuary, there could be an issue.
“The ships are slowing down anyway when they come to the estuary, but speeds above 14 knots increase the risk of collision with a whale. At that speed the whale won’t see the ship coming and they can’t get out of the way.
“We have asked the port company to ask pilots to reduce their speed to around 10 knots. They said that they would and we are hopeful that they have passed on that message to the pilots.
“This is a really critical time for this young whale to put on food reserves and grow before it migrates 3,000 or 4,000 miles down to its breeding ground.”
A spokesperson for the Shannon Foynes Port Company said they are in contact with the IWDG but declined to confirm if a speed limit was being introduced.
“We are aware of a humpback whale sighting on the estuary and have been in contact with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. Any reported sightings by ships or SFPC personnel will be reported to IWDG. SFPC continues to monitor the situation and will engage with the IWDG as necessary,” said the spokesperson.
The IWDG are continuing to monitor the humpback whale and are using drones to measure and possibly identify it. The group have records of dozens of humpback whales which have appeared in Irish waters and can be identified by markings and blemishes on their skin.
“We have been monitoring humpback whales in Ireland for more than 20 years and we can track individual whales. Over the past 20 years the number of whales have increased year on year. They used to be off of west Cork, but we are seeing more humpbacks off Loop Head in recent years, usually in the Autumn,” continued Mr Berrow.
“Over the past two years the humpbacks have moved really far north, up as far as Donegal Bay, probably driven by changes in the distribution of the fish that they feed on because of climate change.
“We never, ever expected a humpback whale to appear in the Shannon Estuary. To be honest with you, if someone had told me this a month ago I wouldn’t have believed them.
“I have spoken to some of the old folks [in West Clare] and none of them ever remember seeing the likes of a humpback whale in the Shannon Estuary. It is unprecedented.
“A woman called Marieke Dunk was crossing on the ferry and filmed the whale from the ferry.
“We were all shocked, it was unbelievable. The day after that, pilots on the estuary saw it.
“The weather broke in the days after that but the IWDG spotted it a few days later just west of Scattery Island, feeding away in calm seas.
“I think the whale will stay for a while. There is a lot of feed in the sea just south of Querrin and if there is feed there, the whale will stay.”
Many of the whales which appear off the west coast of Ireland will migrate to West Africa to breed after spending a number of weeks feeding in Irish waters.
“We used a drone to film the whale and photograph it. It is quite a small whale, a young whale. The whale is not very well marked so we can’t identify it yet, but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t seen it before,” said Mr Berrow.
“These humpbacks are here in Irish waters to feed, to grow and build up strength before they start breeding. Of course, these humpback whales breed in tropical waters.
“We have tracked the humpback whales from Ireland to Cape Verde in West Africa. This is likely to be an immature whale who is feeding up until it is ready to breed.”
Andrew Hamilton is a journalist, investigative reporter and blogger who has been working in the media in Ireland for the past 20 years. His areas of special interest include the environment, mental health and politics.