Report whales, dolphins and porpoises
If you regularly walk on a beach by the sea there is a good chance that, at some stage, you may come across the remains or a stranded whale, dolphin or porpoise. If so, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) would love to get details of anything you may find.
The IWDG keep detailed records of all strandings and sightings of whales, dolphins or porpoises in Irish waters so your find could prove a valuable addition to the wealth of information that the group manages. To get a flavour of how the records are kept get access to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) website at www.iwdg.ie.
On that website you will see that lots of people act as citizen scientists reporting details of sightings and strandings of all manner of blubbery creatures recorded all around our shores. Some people are naturally more expert than others at identifying to species level but via a series of multiple choice questions the IWDG provides expert assistance in narrowing down the possible species.
In addition, the website has descriptions and photographs of all 26 species ever recorded in Irish waters.
Sometimes a whale, dolphin or porpoise dies at sea and its remains get washed ashore in an advanced state of decomposition posing a challenge to identify the species involved. The other end of the spectrum is the discovery of very recently stranded remains in very fresh condition making it easy to note body colours and patterns before they fade as the after-death length of time increases. In addition to colours and patterns, the position, shape and size of the dorsal fin should be noted, the body length should be measured, and several photos should be taken of relevant details.
The porpoise is one of the most common and easiest to identify. Seven species of porpoise are known worldwide but only one, the Harbour Porpoise, occurs in north-west Europe so it cannot be confused with any other porpoise species. Most people think of whales as being big so the Harbour Porpoise can be immediately be separated from whales by its small body length, never longer than 1.5m. And it is easily distinguished from all dolphins by its flattened, spade-shaped teeth somewhat similar to the chisel-like incisor teeth in the front our mouths that we use to bite a piece off an apple. All dolphins have mouthfuls of pointed, conical teeth like small ice cream cones.