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Whale encounters off Ireland
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Divers have spotted orcas, or killer whales, unusually early off the coast of southern Ireland.
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A group enjoyed an exciting, close-up encounter with the creatures while on a trip with Waterworld out of Castlegregory, in County Kerry. The two orcas were spotted as the divers returned to their boat after a dive at the Pinnacle, off the northern Dingle Peninsula's Gurrig Island, westernmost of the Maharees group.
The divers were delighted when the whales inquisitively approached and circled their boat for a good half-hour.
'This is the first time we have seen the killer whales so early in the year and so close to the local islands,' Waterworld's Ronnie Fitzgibbon told Divernet. 'Normally we see them in late August and September around the Blasket Islands, the most westerly islands in Europe.'
The larger of the whales was identified as a male of about 9m in length, with a distinguishing large, erect dorsal fin standing some 2m out of the sea. The other whale was judged probably to be a female, with a shorter, more curved dorsal fin.
Fitzgibbon added that there had been a healthy number of sightings of other species in the area this year. 'We've noticed a very large increase in basking sharks, whitesided dolphins, long-finned pilot whales, bottlenose dolphins and minke whales,' he said. There had also been 'two sightings of the very large fin whale'.
Photos: Simon Carlon
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