Do we now have seal eating Killer Whale pods in Irish Waters

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Rows Grower wrote: »

Highly unlikely.

http://www.nasco.int/pdf/2014%20papers/NEA_14_6.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/806275/SalmonAssessmentReport-2017-final.pdf


Perhaps not factory ships but commercial fishing certainly is/was a major player in the reduction of stocks and poor numbers of returning fish to spawn.

Rows Grower

Arely Colossal Snack wrote: »

Rows Grower wrote: »

Highly unlikely.

http://www.nasco.int/pdf/2014%20papers/NEA_14_6.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/806275/SalmonAssessmentReport-2017-final.pdf


Perhaps not factory ships but commercial fishing certainly is/was a major player in the reduction of stocks and poor numbers of returning fish to spawn.

That report concerns English and Welsh salmon.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Rows Grower wrote: »

That report concerns English and Welsh salmon.

The pressures on wild Atlantic salmon are the same in Ireland as England and Wales. Plus, there are references to Ireland in the report.

Rows Grower

Any reference to factory ships in it?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Rows Grower wrote: »

Any reference to factory ships in it?

I clearly said

Perhaps not factory ships but commercial fishing

But look, there are many factors at play in this.

You've your own opinion, others are looking further afield and trying to find a solution.

Rows Grower

Perhaps is an interesting word.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Rows Grower wrote: »

Perhaps is an interesting word.

Okay, carry on, I'm not going to start arguing over the use of simple language.
The reports speak for themselves and I'll leave it at that rather than justify every phrase to you.

tricky D

Rows Grower wrote: »

A lot of the times the simple answer is usually the right one, in this case common sense would dictate that the seals are indeed to blame for much of the decline in our salmon stocks.

This disagrees https://www.fisheriesireland.ie/documents/412-a-pilot-study-of-seal-predation-on-salmon-stocks-in-selected-irish-rivers-and-estuaries-1/file.html


Common sense for most of us others here is that effects of natural predation have long been overtaken by human factors.

OpenYourEyes

Mod Note: Just a reminder that the thread is about Killer Whales primarily, and seals secondarily - lets get it back on course.

Rows Grower

tricky D wrote: »

Rows Grower wrote: »

A lot of the times the simple answer is usually the right one, in this case common sense would dictate that the seals are indeed to blame for much of the decline in our salmon stocks.

This disagrees https://www.fisheriesireland.ie/documents/412-a-pilot-study-of-seal-predation-on-salmon-stocks-in-selected-irish-rivers-and-estuaries-1/file.html


Common sense for most of us others here is that effects of natural predation have long been overtaken by human factors.

That study doesn’t disagree, it actually confirms my point.

tricky D

If between 1.6 and 15% is semantically enough 'much' for you, then it sure does confirm your point.

Rows Grower

tricky D wrote: »

If between 1.6 and 15% is semantically enough 'much' for you, then it sure does confirm your point.

33% is what is stated for Kerry.

wexandproud

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I've never seen so many seals in the last 10 years as I seen in the 20 before, if it's overfishing causing the problem how in the jaysus are their numbers increasing? Makes no sense.

same down here seals everywhere 100's and 100's on the sand banks at wexford , if they only eat 1 salmon a day that a lot of fish , but they fellow poaching a few fish now and again is seen to be the problem [ not defending it] . A few frinds of mine who used to fish salmon in Kerry were told by scientists during the licence buy back discussions that predation by seals and cormorants , pollution and fishermen in that order were the problem with salmon stocks . the department told the marine institute that seals and pollution were to be dropped , fishermen were the target
overfishing is the great buzzword , Im sure your aware of the complete f..k up made with the mackerel stocks in the Atlantic . scientists admitted their calculation method was wrong and have adjusted the stock upwards by approx 2 million tonnes . Still if somebody gets no mackerel on their local beach they blame over fishing , they never allow for the fact that fish stocks have changed migratory patterns . Boats have been throwing back increasing amount of dead fish in the name of conversation . If you are out at sea and throw tonnes of dead fish back its called conservation if you threw dead fish of a pier wall its called dumping
any way back on topic . Don't know if they eat seals or not but killer wales seen fairly regularly when the herrings arrive in the s/east

Rows Grower

wexandproud wrote: »

same down here seals everywhere 100's and 100's on the sand banks at wexford , if they only eat 1 salmon a day that a lot of fish , but they fellow poaching a few fish now and again is seen to be the problem [ not defending it] . A few frinds of mine who used to fish salmon in Kerry were told by scientists during the licence buy back discussions that predation by seals and cormorants , pollution and fishermen in that order were the problem with salmon stocks . the department told the marine institute that seals and pollution were to be dropped , fishermen were the target
overfishing is the great buzzword , Im sure your aware of the complete f..k up made with the mackerel stocks in the Atlantic . scientists admitted their calculation method was wrong and have adjusted the stock upwards by approx 2 million tonnes . Still if somebody gets no mackerel on their local beach they blame over fishing , they never allow for the fact that fish stocks have changed migratory patterns . Boats have been throwing back increasing amount of dead fish in the name of conversation . If you are out at sea and throw tonnes of dead fish back its called conservation if you threw dead fish of a pier wall its called dumping
any way back on topic . Don't know if they eat seals or not but killer wales seen fairly regularly when the herrings arrive in the s/east

There was a wildlife program on RTE 1 at 6.30 this evening that showed 1,000 seals on the beach at the Blasket Islands.

Someone had posted a link to a study that they reckoned proved me wrong but they mustn't have even read the study as it states that studies conducted in 2009 and 2010 found that salmonoids comprised 33% of prey biomass in the diet of grey seals on the Blasket Islands.

Some people don't like facts getting in the way of a good old argument, even if they provide the facts themselves.

dodderangler

Send them out to bullock Barbour.
Pain in me arse with that seal taking the mackerel off me line.
I’m aware that orca eat mackerel but I’d rather give to them than that snarky seal that steals your catch

Birdnuts

Getting back to Killer Whales - it was interesting how the big male killed the seal, with a deadly belt of his massive tail. He must be some size with his dorsal fin alone over 6ft!!:eek:

magicbastarder

Birdnuts wrote: »

with the increased sightings of Orca in Irish waters in recent years

when/where do they show up?

BorneTobyWilde

Are seals not used for meat? Shirley if there are so many of them they'd be a good source of meat instead of more farting cattle, we could farm the seals.

Rows Grower

Some scientists reckon they toss the seals about to loosen the skin as they don't eat the skin.

Others reckon they do it for fun.

Check this out...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7WGIH35JBE

Rows Grower

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Are seals not used for meat? Shirley if there are so many of them they'd be a good source of meat instead of more farting cattle, we could farm the seals.

The people that lived on the Blasket Islands used to eat them.

Some Eskimos are partial to them too, might explain the way they kiss.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Birdnuts wrote: »

Getting back to Killer Whales - it was interesting how the big male killed the seal, with a deadly belt of his massive tail. He must be some size with his dorsal fin alone over 6ft!!:eek:

Males are typically 22 to 25 feet and weigh about six tonnes. They are some size for a Dolphin.

They exhibit a lot of learned behaviour and their diet can vary by pod or population, with some groups specialising in particular fish species while others specialise in marine mammals. The pods around the North East Pacific have a diet of 96% Pacific salmon.

They have very complex social structures - only surpassed by the higher primates and elephants.

kowloon

Not a huge fan of the term 'killer whale'.

dodderangler

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Are seals not used for meat? Shirley if there are so many of them they'd be a good source of meat instead of more farting cattle, we could farm the seals.

Seals fart as-well and Don’t call me Shirley



Sorry couldn’t resist that one

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

kowloon wrote: »

Not a huge fan of the term 'killer whale'.

Absolutely agree, Orca will do just fine. They are closer to Dolphins than Whales but Killer Dolphin hasn't the same ring to it. Killer Whale came about because they prey at times on pups of some whale species and early whalers called them Whale Killers; this got twisted to Killer Whale.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

dodderangler wrote: »

Seals fart as-well and Don’t call me Shirley



Sorry couldn’t resist that one

But the source of methane is from ruminants belching or burping, not from farting.

Seals don't digest plant based foods by fermentation, so no gases.

wexandproud

Arely Colossal Snack wrote: »

Males are typically 22 to 25 feet and weigh about six tonnes. They are some size for a Dolphin.

They exhibit a lot of learned behaviour and their diet can vary by pod or population, with some groups specialising in particular fish species while others specialise in marine mammals. The pods around the North East Pacific have a diet of 96% Pacific salmom

They have very complex social structures - only surpassed by the higher primates and elephants.

Thought they'd be bigger , they're a great '' fish'' though , would love to see them around more . the guy's fishing herrings off hook head see the fairly regularly during the winter
no big fan of the seals though but having said that i often feed the resident one in kilmore so the kids on holidays can see it . I do think its time for a cull though

John_Rambo

There were two of Howth not so long ago, here's a video of them close to a trawler that was being tailed by seals.


Language is a bit fruity if you're watching with kids...

https://www.irishexaminer.com/examviral/watch-two-killer-whales-spotted-off-the-coast-of-dublin-886318.html

Do you reckon they were hunting the seals?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

John_Rambo wrote: »

There were two of Howth not so long ago, here's a video of them close to a trawler that was being tailed by seals.


Language is a bit fruity if you're watching with kids...

https://www.irishexaminer.com/examviral/watch-two-killer-whales-spotted-off-the-coast-of-dublin-886318.html

Do you reckon they were hunting the seals?

There's only a very low probability that they were hunting seals, as that population usually specialises in herring.

John_Rambo

Arely Colossal Snack wrote: »

There's only a very low probability that they were hunting seals, as that population usually specialises in herring.

Ah, I see, thanks for the info. There's a huge amount of seals in the area. I wonder will they cop on to the food source and learn to hunt them. Very interesting.

magicbastarder

from this site, it seems the common seal population for ireland is about 5,000; but i can't find estimates for the grey seal population. anyone know?

http://www.conserveireland.com/mammals/common_seal.php