Overview
- NPWS confirmed the carcass as a female narwhal in poor condition, marking the species’ first recorded presence in Irish waters.
- A family discovered the animal on Sweet Nellies Beach on the Inishowen Peninsula and alerted the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.
- IWDG volunteers and NPWS staff recovered the carcass, collected samples, and transported it to the Regional Laboratory in Cork for examination.
- Experts described the stranding as a rare western European record and stressed that a single case does not establish a wider trend.
- Officials noted broader pressures on narwhals from warming seas, reduced ice, pollution and hunting, with global numbers estimated at about 170,000.