The Celtic Mist will set sail on its final season with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group after over a decade of service.
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has announced that 2026 will be the last season for the dedicated research vessel.
The 17m yacht was donated to the IWDG by the Haughey family in 2011 and has surveyed more than 100,000km of Irish inshore and offshore waters since 2012.
The vessel undertakes systematic visual surveys for whales, dolphins, porpoises and wider marine wildlife around the Irish coast, contributing essential long-term data for marine conservation, research and policy.
Celtic Mist has circumnavigated the island of Ireland on five occasions, sailed to the Isle of Man and the Inner Hebrides, Scotland, twice to connect with like-minded groups in the UK.
In 2018, she embarked on a seven-week expedition to Iceland where she rounded the famous Hornstrandir, Iceland's most northernmost peninsula, entering Arctic waters in search of humpback whales.
Last year, the Celtic Mist completed a 3,300km survey with Fair Seas as part of the campaign for Marine Protected Area (MPA) legislation to protect, conserve and restore Ireland's marine environment.
Over 11 weeks, volunteer skippers and crew recorded more than 2,000 individuals of eight species of whale and dolphins.
Celtic Mist officer Andrew Shine said the group is sad to see the end of the Celtic Mist’s journey with the IWDG.
Mr Shine said: "Our members have had an incredible experience over the last 14 years living, sailing and surveying along Ireland’s stunning coastline.
"They have encountered some of the most spectacular marine wildlife in the northeast Atlantic and that would not have been possible without the Celtic Mist and the generosity of the Haughey family.
"This wonderful vessel is now 50 years old and the rising cost of maintenance and challenges in finding willing and experienced volunteers to skipper and crew her means that 2026 will be her last year with us."
Grand Canal Basin in Dublin was her winter home for over ten years but now she is based in Kilrush, Co Clare, and this season will find her plying the waters of the south and southwest coast for the final time on behalf of the IWDG.
IWDG Marine Advocacy and Policy Officer Eva Lambert said "Celtic Mist is about far more than numbers and maps".
"Year after year, volunteers give their time, energy and skills to Celtic Mist, often in challenging conditions," she said.
"It’s about people working together at sea, learning from the wildlife around them, and turning those experiences into data that genuinely helps protect the places that matter most for whales and dolphins, including areas now being considered for Marine Protected Areas," Ms Lambert added.
Celtic Mist has completed 30 weeks of research surveys on behalf of Fair Seas since 2023.
Fair Seas Campaign Coordinator Dr Dónal Griffin said: "I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to spend two weeks on board the Celtic Mist over the last few years.
"There is something really special about living on board for a week, learning about sailing, maritime heritage and marine ecology.
"While the list of recorded species sightings was long, I must admit it was the people on board that impressed me most.
"Even the skipper and first mate charged with the crew’s safety and the safe operation of the boat itself were volunteering their time, and had been doing so for decades.
"The social and ecological benefit of people volunteering along our coast is something I know will continue long after the Celtic Mist retires this year."
The Celtic Mist's skipper and former director of the IWDG said the well-known yacht garnered attention wherever it went.
"The Whale and Dolphin Group's main core activity is to raise consciousness about cetaceans in Irish water and because the vessel is somewhat notorious, when it arrives somewhere, it gathers attention," Fiacc O'Brolchain said.
He said its addition to the group was an "exciting project" at the time.
Mr O'Brolchain said: "We ran it nearly exclusively with volunteer labour, with volunteer skippers, but also volunteer maintenance crew over the winter.
"We had a big team of people who were doing it and that was how we were able to afford to do it."
However, he said the yacht's age means it is "getting beyond easy" regarding maintenance and the time had come to move the yacht on from the IWDG.
"So we've decided we'd wrap it up and we'd put it up for sale," he said.
Mr O'Brolchain noted he had "put a lot of work into it over the years", but added "everything comes to an end".
The IWDG is hosting an event at Poolbeg Yacht Club, Dublin this evening to launch the results of the 2025 season, and announce Celtic Mist’s retirement, bringing together skippers, volunteers, members and supporters to highlight the role of community-supported research in informing marine conservation and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Ireland.
