A new study has mapped the behaviour of some interesting creatures entering Irish waters, reports Mireia Pomar
A blue whale, the biggest animal on the planet, has been noted travelling within our waters. Other frequent visitors include some of the world's smallest seabirds flying around the Atlantic borders of the Irish Sea. Are these animals finding a new home in Ireland?
No, they have always been there in Irish waters, and now scientists from University College Cork (UCC) can document their presence. Zoologists at the Coastal and Marine Resources Centre (CMRC) at UCC completed a study that maps the distribution of dolphins, whales and seabird populations in the Irish Atlantic margin.
The study, Cetaceans and Seabirds of Ireland's Atlantic Margin, indicates the status of marine ecosystems in the Atlantic margin off the west coast.
"This is the outcome of a three-year project," says the manager of the CMRC, Val Cummins. "Basically it involved sending observers to sea to acquire data on the distribution and abundance of cetaceans and sea birds.
"The idea is to have a greater understanding of where the animals are, how many animals are actually out there, different types of species and so on."
The study was funded under the Government's petroleum infrastructure programme. The information researchers obtained is important in terms of developing affective coastal and ocean basin management policies. In the case of an oil spillage incident, for example, it would be impossible to determinate the impact unless there is a very good knowledge base providing data on the distribution of these animals.
"The study involved obviously spending plenty of time at sea," says Cummins. "There is a tremendous effort by our researchers; it is very important that they are highly trained and highly professional.
"We were very fortunate to have research vessels that were heading out to the Atlantic margins and they accommodated our researchers. But also we had very strong collaboration and co- operation with Irish neighbour fleets - they were wonderful in taking observers on board and facilitating that opportunity."
The study began in 1999, the idea being to understand the complex marine puzzle there along the borders of the Irish Sea. The results are presented in three volumes.
"The first volume looks at the seasonal distribution of seabirds in particular," says CMRC researcher Mick Mackey. "It is the analysis of the data that was collected over those years of investigation.
"The second volume is about distribution and abundance of cetaceans. It is the same type of approach, but in terms of analysing data that was collected for whales and dolphins.
"The third volume is about the analysis of acoustic data. A lot of the data was collected using visual techniques, but also it was complemented with what we call hydrophones.
"Hydrophones can detect frequency of cetaceans and cetaceans' noises at different levels, so basically, as well as the visual observations, the hydrophones give additional data on the location of certain types of cetacean species."
The research presented constitutes an important contribution to our knowledge of seabird and cetacean abundance and distribution in Ireland's Atlantic margin, particularly in deep waters from which little information was available prior to this study. The information gathered is important in terms of planning a response to marine biological emergencies.
This type of work hadn't been done in Ireland before. The Irish Atlantic margin has largely remained unknown to researchers, says Cummins. Waters off western Ireland were reputed to contain significant numbers of these animals, but quantitative data on seabird, dolphin and whale populations was particularly lacking until now.
Some of the cetacean species recorded during the study were seen in Irish waters for the first time and are among the most rare species occurring in the North Atlantic. Significant data on rare and migratory seabird species was also recorded.
The study also identified zones of high concentration for whales, dolphins and seabirds. The conservation of these areas is very important for the protection of European marine biodiversity.