The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) says it received and validated 175 sighting records in June 2011, 88% of which were confirmed to 10 species, which include basking sharks.
This compares with 270 sightings in June 2010 of 7 species. The 35% drop in sightings reflecting the vagaries of Irish summers.
In order of ranking, the most commonly recorded species in June 2011 were: Bottlenose dolphin (28% of all sightings), Harbour porpoise (25%), minke whale (13.6%), common dolphin (9%) basking shark (5%), Risso
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