'Phenomenal sighting': Beluga whale spotted off Donegal

Updated / Tuesday, 20 Oct 2026 21:08

A beluga whale, normally found in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, has been spotted in Donegal Bay.

The Irish Whales and Dolphin Group (IWDG) said while beluga whales have been reported in Irish coastal waters on at least four occasions, this is their second ever validated recording.

Sebastian Szumlański was visiting a location known locally as the Secret Waterfall with his family in south west Donegal, when he observed what he thought was a pale dolphin.

Mr Szumlański launched his drone to capture the event and yesterday he showed the video to a friend, who shared the footage with IWDG.

Mr Szumlański's video confirms it is another beluga in Irish waters and only the second such validated record by IWDG in the organisation’s 35-year history.

Declan Kilgannon of the Donegal Bay Conservation Trust said the sighting demonstrates the value of citizen science in documenting marine life.

"It's a phenomenal sighting. It's just amazing stuff... we're raising awareness of what's out there in the bay and it's given us a mission to preserve it," he said.

The beluga is a brilliant white colour, medium-size species, that reach up to five metres in length and typically inhabits the freezing waters of the Arctic and sub-Arctic.

IWDG sightings officer Pádraig Whooley said belugas belong to a distinctive family of whales, that includes the narwhal; an Arctic species first documented in Ireland in November 2025.

A juvenile female narwhal was found stranded on Sweet Nellies Beach, north of Greencastle on the Inishowen Peninsula in Co Donegal in November 2025.

Belugas have been reported on at least three previous occasions in Irish coastal waters. The IWDG said the first known record dates to 1948 off Clare Island, Clew Bay, Co Mayo.

There was then a 40-year gap before the next record, which was in Cork Harbour in June 1988.

The third sighting and the first to be validated by IWDG with photographic evidence, was a solitary adult beluga at Dunseverick, Co Antrim, in July 2015.

Mr Whooley said the increased regularity with which IWDG is writing about species like the bowhead whale, walrus, narwhal and beluga would suggest Ireland is being visited more often by these Arctic species.

"We can’t really say much about this individual other than its white colour and size would confirm this to be an adult, of unknown sex.

"The videos would not give us cause for concern for its welfare, as it seems to be swimming strongly and breathing normally.

"It is also evidently in brackish and very shallow water, which is quite common among populations of belugas such as those in the St. Lawrence River, Canada, who frequently aggregate in river mouths," he said.

Arctic whale expert Mads Peter Heide Jǿrgensen confirmed to the IWDG that a solitary beluga has also been seen over the summer in Norway and Denmark.

Marine biologist Rossa Meade said it is a very rare occurrence and not something normally seen in Donegal Bay.

The IWDG has asked the public to report any further sightings of the beluga or similar mammals to them as they hope to chart their journey through Irish waters.

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