Isle of Man whales and dolphins

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This video is of an encounter with minke whales in Pleneau Bay in Antarctica, December 2005.

From Wildlife Extra:

The Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch online diary was launched on Friday 1 June.

Throughout the summer, Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch is carrying out surveys to establish the range and numbers of whales, dolphins and porpoises which can be seen off the Island’s coastline.

The forthcoming diary will update people by giving monthly reports but during July, the hot month for these cetacean sightings, video clips and weekly updates will be provided.

In anticipation of the extra visitors logging on to www.visitisleofman.com with a particular interest in sea life activities the homepage will be given a ‘Coast’ theme. …

As though it was organised bythe PR department, the first sighting to be recorded in the new diary was a pod of 10 minke whales that were seen a couple of hundred metres from Bradda Head on the Isle of Man.

National whale and dolphin watch in Britain: here.

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3 thoughts on “Isle of Man whales and dolphins”

  1. Dolphins get annual check- up
    Driftnets blamed for decline in numbers

    (ANSA) – Rome, July 17 – Italy’s dolphin population is set for an annual check-up, as a group of students and marine biologists take to the seas to monitor the health and numbers of the country’s cetaceans.

    The Environment Ministry-backed campaign surveys 1,500 miles of Italian coastline in eight different regions, looking at dolphins in 15 national parks and protected areas.

    Now in its fifth year, the dolphin monitoring initiative uses a boat owned by Italy’s student travel agency CTS to carry volunteers around the Mediterranean as they map developments among the country’s marine life.

    For the first time this year, participants will also be looking at Italy’s shark population, with a particular focus on vulnerable species such as the white shark and the basking shark.

    Another key addition is a “dolphin-friendly” rating for local municipal authorities, the results of which will be announced at the end of summer.

    This will see ministry experts and volunteers grade authorities in their efforts to safeguard local marine life.

    A number of environmental organizations, including the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Tethys Cetacean Monitoring Institute, have warned that dolphin, whale and shark populations around Italy’s coasts have dropped in recent years.

    They blame the fishing industry for a reduction in food sources due to over-fishing and indiscriminate fishing techniques, particularly the use of driftnets.

    Although officially outlawed by the European Union in 2002, environmentalists say they continue to be used, either openly or covertly, in several countries.

    Dubbed the “walls of death” by critics, the nets are left to drift at sea entangling everything that swims into them, including non-targeted fish, dolphins, whales and sea turtles, which die as a result.

    Before the ban, an estimated 8,000 dolphins died every year because of the nets.

    Speaking at the presentation of the monitoring project, Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio pointed to loopholes in current laws and said more legislation was needed to protect dolphins from the continued threat posed by driftnets.

    “Authorities must be allowed to confiscate all banned nets they find – not just when they are being used but also when they are simply found on board,” he said.

    Despite the shrinking cetacean population, Italian environmentalists are doing their best to help the country’s marine life.

    In addition to organizing numerous studies and seeking to reduce dangerous pollution, Italy has been a driving force in creating the Mediterranean’s only marine mammal sanctuary, which is headquartered in the port city of Genoa.

    The sanctuary, which stretches for over 10 square kilometres in international waters, was set up by Italy, France and Monaco in order to protect and encourage the growth of dolphins, whales and other marine life.

    The area has long had a natural cetaceous population far greater than that elsewhere in the Mediterranean, prompting Italy to formally propose the idea of a sanctuary in 1998.

    As well as fishing and shipping restrictions, the governments concerned are also seeking to monitor and limit pollution levels through a series of public and private initiatives.

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