dolphin watching.?

evogirl

hi everyone, sorry if this is wrong forum. was just wondering if anyone has any advice on best place in ireland to go dolphin watching. thanks in advance.

greeneyedspirit

Apparently there's a dolphin (named Dusty) in Co. Clare ... White Strand, Miltown Malbay area.

Also, I've heard people say there's been dolphins in Galway Bay recently. Haven't seen them myself, though, unfortunately

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

You can from time to time find Dolphins in almost any bay or harbour in Ireland but this site will point out the better locations. The Irish Whale & Dolphin Group are the acknowledged experts in this field (or water in this case )

http://www.iwdg.ie/?id=1

Click on the Whalewatching Tab and there's a link at the bottom of the page to Where and then there's a link to the Whalewatching Map

123oclock

if you see this in time check out rte1 at 7pm tonight (19th may) and you will see some amazing footage of humpback and fin whales off the irish coast i am sure they will show some dolphins.....

evogirl

cheers lads. goin to have a look at that site now. im planning on a weekend sometime soon in the west somewhere with my 6 yr old son who is dolphin mad! got here just in time, i have rte 1 on now

Morganna

I saw dolphins going over to clare island it was a great experience.

Corb

West Cork, was on RTE tonight.

Kess73

The Shannon estuary has a huge amount of bottlemose dolphins. If you take the ferry from Tarbert to Kilimer, then you can see them following the ferry.

evogirl

thanks again to everyone for replies. seems like we have a good choice of locations.
srameen, that site is very helpful. plenty of sightings not too far from home on it too
123oclock, cheers for telling me about the programme, i cant wait to see them for real now

jmkennedyie

I recommend the IWDG talks and whalewatching courses too...when he grows up in a few years yee could head to Cape Clear for a great weekend assuming they keep running them. The weekend involves some watching from cliffs and often a boat ride too.

edit - just got email from iwdg:

There will be a public talk at Johnson's Hall in Kinvara, Co Galway on Friday night 22 May at 9pm for those interested.
The talk is entitled Whales and Dolphins of the Western Seaboard of Ireland by Dr Simon Berrow
All Welcome

donalglackin

greeneyedspirit wrote: »

Apparently there's a dolphin (named Dusty) in Co. Clare ... White Strand, Miltown Malbay area.

there is i swam with him two years ago i was scuba diving there and it came in right beside us it would let us rub its underside and just sit float there happily. not a bad experience for a first time dive.

Connacht

By far the best place to see dolphins in IRL is the Shannon Estuary, taking a boat from either Carrigaholt or Kilrush. Have done so several times and never disappointed. The school (?) there is the largest sedentary one in Europe. The boats stop their motors when they come across the dolphin to lessen the disturbance. I have never been on one not to do so, which is very good practice.

greeneyedspirit

donalglackin wrote: »

there is i swam with him two years ago i was scuba diving there and it came in right beside us it would let us rub its underside and just sit float there happily. not a bad experience for a first time dive.

:eek: wow. that's brilliant! A friend of mine used to go swimming with the dolphin for years and years, what an experience... I only saw her (according to my friend, the dolphin is female - I couldn't tell ya!) once, and even that was pretty special...

Birdnuts

Broadhaven bay and generally around the Erris peninsula Co. Mayo. Although you'd want to go soon before Shell oil ruin the place:(

neil_hosey

The ferry to Aran Mór, you will usually have a good few dolphins racing the boat all the way over. Then on the island , teres actually a spot, cant remember where where you can see them, bit far out though.