BWAS 2017: End of Survey

Blue Whiting Acoustic Survey 2017 Week Three: Saturday 1st to Thursday 6th April

The final days of BWAS 2017 were largely uneventful, at least in terms of sightings, due to the arrival of a low pressure system which created some rough seas for our journey back home to Galway.

A couple more sightings of long-finned pilot whales on the last stretch of survey transect between the Rosemary Bank and the Hebridean shelf were the last cetacean sightings of the survey, after which we turned south and headed through The Minch. This is an area where we would have hoped for the likes of white-beaked dolphin, Risso's dolphin and even killer whale but unfortunately we found ourselves battling slowly into a head-on southerly wind and rough seas making carrying on with survey effort a somewhat futile exercise.

Our arrival into Galway was met with the final sighting of the trip overall, that of 'Nimmo' the apparently resident bottlenose dolphin which was seen foraging at the mouth of the River Corrib just off the tip of Nimmo's Pier. It is likely that it will remain here through the spring and perhaps as late as July so if you are in Galway, make sure to pop down for a look (and report any sightings of it to IWDG).

BWAS 2017 species lists

'Nimmo' the Galway Bay bottlenose dolphin (c) Andrew Power

So another successful survey overall with plenty of seabirds and cetaceans recorded over some fantastic offshore habitats during what is always a very enjoyable research cruise. Many thanks to our Chief Scientist, Graham Johnston (Marine Institute) for the opportunity to come along again and continue the survey collaboration and further thanks to Captain Denis Rowan and the rest of the RV Celtic Explorer crew for their help and hospitality over the past three weeks.

We'll sign of with a selection of pics of the scientists and crew of RV Celtic Explorer and some of the wildlife observed during BWAS 2017...

MMO on watch in the crow's nest (c) Carlota Vialcho Miranda

Crow's nest views (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Sperm whale (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Common dolphin (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Long-finned pilot whales (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Fin whale (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

A well wrapped up seabirder! (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Gannet (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Great black-backed gull (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

PAM operator (c) Carlota Vialcho Miranda

CTD being deployed to collect information on water temperature, salinity etc. (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Crew getting ready to bring in the net (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Catch of blue whiting on the deck (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Blue whiting (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Measuring fish (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Creatures from the murky depths! (c) Aude Benhemma-Le Gall

Squid (c) Niall T. Keogh

Sunset (c) Carlota Vialcho Miranda

Western European Shelf Pelagic Acoustic Survey 2016

Introduction (from the Scientists@Sea blog, follow link here for more information)

"The Western European Shelf Pelagic Acoustic Survey (WESPAS) is a new multidisciplinary research survey representing the largest single vessel acoustic survey program in Europe. WESPAS is the consolidation of two existing acoustic surveys (the Malin Shelf herring and the boarfish acoustic surveys) into one. This new survey will be undertaken onboard the RV Celtic Explorer over the coming six weeks covering shelf waters from Northern Scotland to northern Biscay. The primary aim of the survey is to determine the acoustic abundance of small pelagic fish, namely herring, boarfish and horse mackerel for use in stock assessment. The survey grid provides an opportunity for complimentary research to enhance the overall program providing important metrics on the drivers that influence pelagic fish distribution. As well as investigating fisheries, scientists onboard are also investigating marine water chemistry, sampling for plankton, undertaking visual surveys for marine mammals and seabirds and also surveying for whales and dolphins using passive acoustic monitoring (PAM). The survey will also be retrieving acoustic moorings deployed during the blue whiting acoustic survey in March as part of the ObSERVE-Acoustic program. All in all, an action packed survey ahead!"

During the first leg of WESPAS in late mid-late June, surveying for marine mammals and sharks was conducted by Hannah Keogh (Irish Whale and Dolphin Group) around the Hebridean shelf waters off West Scotland and Northwest Ireland. Below is a summary map of her observations during that period which included a sighting of the male killer whale known as 'John Coe' on 18th June near the island of Coll. This animal was seen near The Blaskets, Co. Kerry just nine days later (see here for more info).

WESPAS leg 1 sightings June 2016 (c) Hannah Keogh (IWDG)

(white-beaked dolphin, common dolphin, Risso's dolphin, killer whale, minke whale, humpback whale, grey seal and basking shark)

The second and third legs of the WESPAS survey will take in the waters off West Ireland including the Porcupine Bank and Celtic Sea as well as heading to the canyon systems west of Scilly/Brittany. During this survey period in July, a full team of marine mammal and seabird surveyors will be present from ObSERVE-Acoustic, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Marine and Freshwater Research Centre GMIT and MaREI/University College Cork.

Survey route for the second and third legs of WESPAS in July 2016 within the red box

This diverse group of seasoned surveyors includes several members of the Cetaceans on the Frontier team, hence why we will be hijacking the COTF blog here to bring you sightings updates from the WESPAS survey this July!

Day 1 sightings: Monday 4th July 2016

The RV Celtic Explorer left Galway docks at 03:30 this morning and began making its way north off the coast of Connemara and Mayo towards the start of the survey transect lines

Black Rock lighthouse and Achill Island (c) Niall T. Keogh

Strong northerly headwinds and a sea state of 5 made survey conditions challenging and no marine mammals were observed. Some dolphin whistles were picked up on the hydrophone however so the honour of 'first blubber' goes to the passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) operators!

The seabird team had a good day for 'getting the eye in' with 13 species recorded: gannet, fulmar, manx shearwater, sooty shearwater, European storm-petrel, pomarine skua, kittiwake, great black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, Arctic tern, puffin, razorbill and common guillemot.

 Manx shearwater, one of the most abundant species seen today as we passed by several of their west coast breeding sites (c) Niall T. Keogh

A juvenile and adult razorbill (c) Niall T. Keogh

Sighting of the day however was "RESCUE118" the Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky-S92 duty helicopter, operating out of Sligo, which came over to RV Celtic Explorer in order to carry out some training exercises while we were well to the northwest of The Mullet Peninsula.

"RESCUE118" in action (c) Niall T. Keogh