September Wildlife in Dingle Bay: One of Those Days on the Water
By Gilly May | Dingle Dolphin Boat Tours
Some days on the water are good.
September wildlife in Dingle Bay has already given us some fantastic days on the water this year. Yesterday was something else.
Our first trip left Dingle Harbour at 9 am, and before we’d even properly settled into the morning, common dolphins were jumping alongside the boat.
I had my coffee in hand.
My morning coffee with dolphins.
Not a bad way to start the day.
It was a beautiful September morning too. There was a small swell, but it was warm and bright, and as we headed further out, dolphins kept appearing around us.
Then we found the minke whales.
A morning of feeding wildlife
The minke whales were feeding, lunging into the water, while dolphins were feeding around them and gannets were diving at incredible speed.
I love watching this.
There is so much happening when wildlife is feeding that you could sit there for hours just watching it all unfold.
We cut the engines and just watch.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is give the wildlife space and let them carry on around you.
We watched the feeding for a while before moving on. A four-hour Wildlife Tour gives us time to explore further, so we wanted to see what else might be out there.
Then, further out, we spotted a blow.
We watched for a moment and realised there were two fin whales.
Adam Flannery, our skipper, confirmed they were fin whales.
Adam has a brilliant knowledge of the wildlife around Dingle and is very good at knowing what to look for when we’re out on the water. Having that experience on board makes such a difference.
Fin whales are the second-largest whales in the world, seeing two of them travelling through the Atlantic waters off Dingle was something else.
I was completely in awe.
Sometimes you just want to stand there and watch.
Two enormous fin whales travelling through the water in front of us was certainly one of those moments.
Eventually, it was time to turn for home as our four hours came to an end. There were more dolphins and minke whales along the way, so the wildlife didn’t stop just because we were heading back towards Dingle.
By the time we reached the harbour, we’d already had an incredible morning.
But we weren’t finished yet.
Back out on Dingle Bay
My next trip was the 2-hour Mini Eco Tour, with Gary Brosnan driving the boat.
Bottlenose dolphins were just outside the harbour, followed by more common dolphins, and we were already enjoying another lovely trip around Dingle Bay.
Gary is brilliant at spotting wildlife. He can pick things out in the distance that the rest of us haven’t even noticed yet.
Then he spotted the humpback.
Could the day get any better?
We watched it in the distance and then suddenly saw the whole whale come out of the water.
It breached.
Wow.
I was in awe.
Even after all these years, I still have moments like that when I think, how is this my day?
This is my 19th year with Dingle Dolphin Boat Tours. I’ve spent plenty of that time in the office as well as out on the boats, but I’ve always been lucky enough to spend a lot of time on the water.
From the Fungie years to now, I’ve seen some incredible things around Dingle.
And I still get excited. I still want to reach for the camera, and sometimes I still find myself simply standing there watching.
I feel very lucky to see what we see out there.
September on Dingle Bay
Yesterday gave us two very different trips and an incredible amount to see. Common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, minke whales, two fin whales, a humpback and diving seabirds.
But wildlife is wild, and not every September day will look like this.
Our longer trips depend on the weather and sea conditions because we are out on the Atlantic. When conditions allow, we can spend those extra hours exploring further out and seeing what the day brings.
And when the conditions aren’t right for the longer trips, our 1-hour tours are still a lovely way to get out on Dingle Bay, take in the coastline and hear some of the history and stories of the area.
Yesterday, though, was one of those days I’ll be talking about for a while.
I always say, “That was the best day ever.”
Then another day comes along, and I say it all over again.
After 19 years with Dingle Dolphin Boat Tours, maybe that’s what I’ve learned.
There are just so many best days.
If you’d like to read more about whale watching in Dingle and the whales we can encounter around the peninsula, take a look at our guide to whale watching in Dingle.
