The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Young humpback whale washes us dead in Dún Chaoin
A young humpback whale that washed up dead on Béal Átha strand in Dún Chaoin on Friday probably died near the Blasket islands just a day or two earlier.
Marine life expert Kevin Flannery said the 9m-long whale was about a year old and, given the nature of sea currents in the area, it would probably have died in the vicinity of the Blasket Islands, north of the Blasket Sound. The condition of the animal’s skin when it washed ashore during a gale (storm Lorenzo) indicated that it had been dead for less than two days, he added.
Kevin’s daughter, Marine Biologist Dr Grace Flannery, examined the whale at Béal Átha on Friday and an Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) volunteer took a blubber sample from the carcass of the female whale for analysis.
There has been some speculation that the whale may have died as a result of becoming entangled in fishing gear – which is a common cause of humpback whale deaths – but Kevin thought this was unlikely and that cuts and marks on the whale’s skin were more likely to have been caused by abrasion on rocks as it came ashore.
Over 20 humpback whales have been sighted off the West Kerry coast this summer and among them were a mother and her calf. However, in the absence of identifying photographs, there is no way of knowing if the dead whale at Béal Átha was that calf.
On Tuesday local Kerry County Council workers buried the whale on the strand at Béal Átha.
Meanwhile, scores of Portuguese man o’ war have been washed up on Kerry beaches over the past couple of weeks and the public are being warned to be cautious of the jellyfish-like creatures which can deliver an extremely painful and potentially fatal sting, even when they are dead.
A man o’ war was found on Clogher strand on Monday, another was washed up on the same beach last Friday, yet more have been discovered at Stradbally and Inch beaches and over 50 were found on Derrynane strand in South Kerry last week.
The man o’ war is similar to a jellyfish and is easily identified by its float bladder which usually measures about 10cm (four inches) or longer. The bladder acts as a sail which allows the man o’ war to be blown along the surface of the water by the wind and Kevin said the recent southerly winds are the reason for the current invasion.
With weather patterns changing and water temperatures rising because of global warming, Kevin added that we can expect to see even more Portuguese man o’ war arriving on Kerry beaches.