Pilot whale and Sowerby's Beaked whale strand in Ireland

A second Pilot whale has washed up on the shore of Southern Ireland. Credit IWDG.

Pilot whales strand in Co Wexford
November 2009. A 5.1m long finned pilot whale Globicephala melas washed up on Dollar Bay, 2 kms south of Duncannon on the south coast of Ireland on Sunday, 22 November 2009.

This is the second stranding of this species on the Wexford coastline recently and only the 5th recorded stranding for this species off the Wexford coast. A 4.9m female pilot whale was found at Rostoonstown on 31 October. The carcass was extensively predated with quite extensive bite marks all around the tail stock area and around the anus; these bite marks were most likely caused at sea.

A Sowerby's beaked whale that stranded in Co Clare. Photo credit Conor Ryan/IWDG

Sowerby's beaked whale
A 4.5 metre long male Sowerby's beaked whale stranded in Co Clare. This is the third recorded stranding on of this unusual species in Ireland in 2009. Sowerby's beaked whale is only found in the North Atlantic, as far south as the Canaries and north to the Artic Circle.

Courtesy of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group - "All records are validated and available on www.iwdg.ie".