More on 'Fin's'

The report on large numbers of Fin whales occurring off the Irish coast is quite fascinating. I guided on a trip across the Bay of Biscay into last weekend and we saw just one Fin whale which interestingly was just as we hit the continental shelf edge a couple of hours out of Bilbao in Spain. The previous 4 trips hadn't seen any! However the trip following ours had four animals. Up to a couple of years ago good numbers of Fin whales were regularly seen in the Biscay during the summer months. Their absence in the last 2 years has been the subject of much debate on deck, in the bar! And elsewhere and the consensus of opinion is indeed that they have 'migrated' in great numbers to the Irish sea/Celtic deep area. My information from informed sources is that Fin whales were much more evident in the Biscay earlier in the year. There is also a theory that many of these animals might be 'foraging' in the Southern end of the Biscay. We have been telling our clients and anyone else with an interest in the Fin whale situation to look at the Irish Whale & Dolphin Group sightings page and the 'Whales in Wales' blog to get updated news on their movements.
The latest report on this blog is timely as I'm back out in the Biscay again this weekend! So if I get any further information off my Spanish sources or the Biscay Dolphin Research Project (Marinelife) team on board the 'Pride of Bilbao' I will relay them to you all on here.
Its all exciting stuff!