The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has, after a 16-year search, located a breeding ground for humpback whales that have been documented while feeding in Irish waters.
During a recent expedition to Cape Verde off the west Africa coast, the IWDG photographed a humpback whale which had been seen four years previously off west Kerry.
This is the first resighting of an individual humpback whale from Ireland to a known breeding ground, and for the first time locates a known breeding ground for humpback whales in Ireland.
Humpback whales have been increasing in number in inshore Irish waters since the IWDG first started documenting them through photo identification in 1999.
To date, 92 individual whales have been recorded from unique and permanent markings on their tail flukes and dorsal fins.
IWDG sightings officer Pádraig Whooley, who manages the Irish Humpback Whale Catalogue on behalf of the IWDG, said that: "after almost 1,000 validated Irish humpback sighting records and hundreds of encounters over several decades, resulting in thousands of images being shared with colleagues throughout the North Atlantic, we’ve finally found a really important missing piece of the jigsaw.
"But it’s a very large puzzle, which still has lots of missing pieces. With this important discovery, we now know we are on the right track to solving one of the biggest mysteries in Irish natural history."
Dr Simon Berrow, CEO of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group and discoverer of this important find, says: "it comes as a relief that we finally find at least one breeding ground for Irish humpback whales.
"It also raises issues regarding how is Ireland going to use this important finding to enhance the conservation status of this endangered humpback whale population".
He added that "those responsible for marine conservation in Ireland will have to build relationships with, and provide assistance to, the Cape Verde government in their efforts to protect this critically important breeding ground".
