CETACEAN REPORTS 2002
27 December 2002
A Minke
Whale,
Balaenoptera acutorostrata, is spotted just before midday stranded on some rocks in
Portland
Harbour, Dorset. The coastguards were
called and they managed to push the whale back into the water and it spent the
rest of the day swimming around the large natural harbour, but it has yet to be
coaxed back out to the open sea. This species of whale is rarely seen in
the shallower parts of the English Channel.
12 December 2002
Early in
the morning a young 8 metre long Humpback Whale, Megaptera
novaengliae, entered the naval harbour of
Frederikshavn on the northern Kattegat coast of Denmark. It remained in the
harbour for the whole of the day and is believed to be feeding on the shoals of
small fish seen. This large whale is regularly seen around the Shetland
Isles but rarely ventures further south.
Report by Carl Kinze (Zoologisk Museum, København)
via Graeme Cresswell via UK Cetnet
10 September 2002
About six
miles out of Whitby, Yorkshire, we had two sightings
of Minke
Whale, Balaenoptera
acutorostrata, which I believe were two separate individuals. However on
the way back, again NNE from port and six miles out between about 17.00 and
17.30, we saw at least five Minke Whales with four in view at one time. We also
saw at least twenty small pods of Harbour Porpoises, Phocoena phocoena,
with two to five individuals a pod.
Report by John Rochester via UK Cetnet
28 August 2002
La Société Guernesiaise Cetacean Section
Report
As many
as 20 Long-finned
Pilot Whales, Globicephala melas, are reported by Channel Television's
Nicky Bougourd and team off Fermain, on Guernsey's south-east
coast. The animals which included juveniles were observed between 9:30 am and 10:30 am following a tip-off
from Deputy
Harbour Master Tony Pattimore who had spotted them on the Search and Rescue CCTV.
The result was some stunning film of these magnificent creatures, which are
believed to be possibly on migration as they are normally seen in July, August
or September. However sightings are confined to 2-3 per annum and this
one was exceptional due to the number of animals observed. Nicky Bougourd saw 12 animals, around
6 metres in length. Some of them were smaller juveniles. The pilot whales
rested motionless at times, and then dived down for periods. They were not
feeding according to the crew. Their usual diet is cephalopods, including squids.
Reporters:
Nicky Bougourd CTV, Ellen Wood, Tony Rive and Tony Pattimore.
Original
report and excellent footage shown on "Channel Television" BBC
Southwest.
Report by Nicolas
Jouault on the
Marine Mammals of the English Channel Smart Group
Extended Report
La Société Guernesiaise Sightings Web Pages
BMLSS Cetacea
22 August 2002
Up to
five Minke Whales, Balaenoptera acutorostrata, are seen
between Mallaig and the Isle of Eigg (west Scotland) and one adult whale
was breaching one mile off the Isle or Rum. This Minke was reported twisting during at least
one of the twenty breaches, leaving the water completely at times. A breaching Minke Whale was seen in
subsequent days north west of the Garvellachs near Oban.
Report by John Poyner via UK Cetnet
BMLSS Cetaceans
20 June 2002
A Cuvier's Beaked Whale, Ziphius
cavirostris, was stranded alive on the south end of the beach at
Ostend, Happisburgh,
Norfolk, UK. A rescue attempt was
made yesterday evening by the Norfolk coastguard and RSPCA,
but sadly the whale beached and died overnight.
Report by Graeme Cresswell
BMLSS Cetacea
15 June 2002
An
extremely unusual record of a live stranding of a female Atlantic White-sided
Dolphin,
Lagenorhynchus acutus, on the sandy beach outside of Newhaven harbour, East Sussex occurred in the early
evening. The tail muscle was in such poor condition that the
Natural
History
Museum experts on site
decided on euthanasia. They were also able to confirm the identity of this deep
water northern species that is a rare discovery in the English Channel.
Report by Greg
Brinkley via UK Cetnet
Bionomics of the Atlantic White-sided Dolphin
in the NE Atlantic (Link)
Link for
CD-ROM only
3 June
2002
The Dutch
water-police spotted a Sperm Whale, Physeter catodon of about 15 metres in
the Westerschelde. The animal was swimming the wrong way and surfaced in the
"Buitenhaven" and later the "Sloehaven" of Vlissingen.
Thanks to
a combined rescue operation of the EHBZ-team Zeeland and the EHBZ-team Belgium the animal was guided
trough the fairway to deeper waters. About midnight the Sperm Whale was
spotted close to Zeebrugge (Belgium).
Source and Map (Zeehondencreche [Netherlands
Seal Rehabilitation and Research Centre] Pieterburen)
Report by Dr.
Reindert Nijland (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)
Further Notes
23 - 24 March 2002
A pod of
between 30 and 40 Pilot Whales, Globicephala
melas, became stranded, or nearly stranded, at near Camp in North in
Tralee
Bay,
County Kerry, Ireland, and were prevented
from beaching and helped back out to sea. 18 of these whales (actually dolphins
with a bottle-shaped head) perished, but many were coaxed back into the sea on
the first day. On the following day, 10 to 12 whales were spotted the shallow
water of Fenit
Harbour, but they did not
become beached and the Fenit lifeboatmen were able to escort them back into
deeper water.
Information from Paul Peachey (Independent
Newspaper)
One of the female
whales gave birth as the lifeboatmen preventing it from beaching.
Additional information from Derek
Day
In the authentic
report, the calf was bodily lifted by a farmer and put back into the sea.
Information completed by Dave Wall (Irish Whale
& Dolphin Group) via UK Cetnet
Full Reports
BMLSS Cetaceans
c. 18 March 2002
A badly
composed whale is washed up on Saligo
Bay (NR 209 672) on the west coast of Islay, Argyll, the
outermost island of the Inner Hebrides. The whale has been
identified (needs to be confirmed) as Cuvier's
Beaked Whale, Ziphius cavirostris, which is a deep water whale
rarely seen alive and rarely washed up on the most westernmost shores of Britain and Ireland.
Report by Malcolm Ogilvie via UK Wildlife
BMLSS Cetaceans
News:
Cuvier's Beaked Whale (Co. Sligo, Ireland 2000)
18
February 2002
A massive
stranding of between 120 and 150
Common Dolphins, Delphinus delphis, occurred on the beach at
Pleubian on the Côtes d'Armor, Bretagne (Britanny), on the English Channel (le Manche) coast of
northern France. This stranding
occurred at 3:00 pm just before the low
spring tide.
According to people
who witnessed the event this sandy shore, the first dolphin beached itself
followed by its congeners. This prompted an attempted rescue by the Fire
Brigade, the Police and the public who were able to come to the aid of about 20
of the unfortunate dolphins and actually lift them up and put them back into
the water. Unfortunately despite strenuous efforts 48 dolphins perished,
but about 90 survived.
The
reason for the stranding is not known but the topography of the bay and the
large tidal range were probably contributory.
Map
Report by Gérard
Mauger (Groupe d'Etude des Cétacés du Cotentin)
Original
notification by Liz Sandeman (Marine
Connection)
Stranded
Dolphin Identification Notes
Report Numbers for
Stranded Cetaceans
Mass
Stranding Exercises in Scotland
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Zoonosis (Marine Mammals)
5 February 2002
Cetacean
Deaths
Large
numbers of dolphins are washed up dead on the French coast with reports of
about 300 deaths. The French newspapers showed the dolphin carcasses piled up
high on the beach.
Report by Andrew
Syvret (Pinnacle Marine Limited)
The
total reports of stranded cetaceans for Cornwall reached 45 this year.
(In
previous years the numbers have been recorded at 26.)
Reports from Stella Turk on the Cornish Mailing List
January 2002
At
least 50 small cetaceans, mostly
dolphins, have been washed dead up on English Channel coasts during this
month. Dolphins are washed up dead every year, but there seems to be at least
double the normal numbers this year. Although, the cause of death is not known
for sure, most people seem to think that fishing activities are to blame. The
cause of the increase is less clear; it could be because of the bad weather has
washed more ashore, it could be because more are being caught because of
increased dolphin numbers, or increased fishing effort, or it could be because
more people are reporting their grisly discoveries.
More
information can be found on the following efora:
Marine Mammals of the English Channel Smart Group
UK Cetnet
Cornish Wildlife Mailing List
Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Group
BBC News Report
Report Numbers for
Stranded Cetaceans
BMLSS Cetacean Page
Sea Watch Foundation
Cornish Marine
Wildlife Reports 2001 (by Ray Dennis)
European Cetacean Bycatch
3 January 2002
A 2.88
metres long female Pygmy Sperm Whale, Kogia
breviceps, was washed up dead on Thurleston
Beach in Devon. This is an extremely
unusual stranding of a deep sea whale. Scientists from the Natural History
Museum in London have taken DNA
samples in an attempt to discover from which population this whale came from.
The cause of death was unknown. This species is much commoner in the southern
hemisphere. The presence of a population west of the Bay of Biscay is possible. This
whale is classified as a Vagrant in the British
Cetacean List.
Report by Martin
Gavet (La Société Guernesiaise)