Whales off Anglesey North Coast

by P Williams
(North Wales)

About five large whales believed to be Minkes or Humpbacks were spotted off Anglesey's north coast by fishermen looking after their welk pots.

The local fishermen were over 15 miles from Point Lynas on the north east tip of the North Wales island when they saw the whales as close as 1/4 mile away.

According to one of the fishermen, who claims to have seen such whales in the area on previous occassions, the amazing creatures were after the mackerel and whiting and the sea conditions were very calm.

The sighting and recorded behaviour was very interesting for this area, Dr Peter Evans of Sea Watch, a UK-wide marine mammal research and conservation charity, which has one of the largest databases of whales, dolphins and porpoises in Europe.

Dr Evans said while large whales do move into the Irish Sea from time to time, they tended to "remain offshore in the deep channel down the middle of the Irish Sea."

Please note that the annual National Whale and Dolphin Watch gets underway on the 27 July, running to 29 July and is run by Sea Watch and sponsored by BG.

With a bit of luck there may be further sightings of the whales as well as harbour porpoises and several species of dolphins.

Get involved and send in your sightings. Join public watches which are being held around the coast , including at Point Lynas on Anglesey and the Great Orme near Llandudno, North Wales.

Full details of how to take part are available at www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk

Any information gathered during National Whale and Dolphin Watch is potentially very valuable as it would contribute to ongoing scientific debate on trends and mammal distributions and so help come up with effective and sustainable conservation policies.

See here for more informtion on the sighting of large whales off Anglesey coast.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/anglesey-whales.html#cr


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Photo by B Schwehn, Germany