A SPECIES OF Whale that is near extinction has been spotted off the coast of Donegal.

It’s the first time the North Atlantic Right whale has been spotted in Ireland since the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group was established in 1990.

After a probable sighting by a local last month, an American tourist from Massachusetts made similar claims, saying he watched a whale - ”which he was certain wasn’t a humpback and believed it to be a Northern right whale” – from the shore in the bay between Lower Cruit Island and Arranmore, Co Donegal, at a range of around 500m.

The man had 40 years experience of whale watching as he sees this species quite often from his Cape Cod home.

He did not get a photo of the whale, but the IWDG says his account was compelling.

“This is an exceptionally rare record for the Eastern Atlantic, where this species has been largely absent for decades, if not longer. We can make a convincing argument that the last positive identification of this species in Ireland dates back to 1910.”

This image from July of a whale breaching in the Muckross area is believed to be either a North Atlantic Right or a bowhead whale Franca Van Der Veer Franca Van Der Veer

There remains only a remnant population of these whales – between 350 and 400 – and almost all of these exist along the east coast of the United States.

“The outlook for their survival isn’t a good one, as both ship strike and entanglement in fishing gear remove individuals from a dwindling population annually,” Pádraig Whooley, IWDG Sightings Officer says.

“We know that historically this species once existed in Irish waters, how many we don’t know.

“IWDG has no monopoly on whale records in Ireland, but as the largest cetacean data holder in the country, one would reasonably expect that if they were out there, even in low numbers, that at least one would have appeared among our records.”

The IWDG is asking observers in northwest waters and Donegal in particular to be extra vigilant and to report any unusual whale sightings either on www.iwdg.ie or through the group’s reporting app.

It has promised a complimentary IWDG hoodie along with a year’s free membership to the next person to confirm with photographic evidence of the presence and whereabouts of this pioneering right whale.