Rare Beluga Filmed in Ireland's Donegal Bay May Be the Same Lone Whale Seen in Scandinavia This Summer

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) said on Monday that it had validated a beluga sighting in Donegal Bay, northwest Ireland. In the group's 35-year history, it is only the second beluga record backed by photos. A drone filmed the whale on Saturday in shallow, brackish water close to shore at Fintra, County Donegal, at a spot called the Secret Waterfall by locals.

The footage gave no cause for concern, IWDG said: the whale swam strongly and breathed normally. Sightings officer Pádraig Whooley said the white colour and a length between 4 and 4.5 metres point to an adult, which IWDG's update of 23 October says is most likely female. A visitor at the spot took the animal for a pale dolphin and sent up a drone. A friend passed the video to Declan Kilgannon at the Donegal Bay Conservation Trust, and he forwarded it to IWDG.

Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen, an Arctic whale expert, told IWDG that during the summer a solitary beluga was spotted in Norway, Denmark and Finland. IWDG said this could be the same animal and will give updates once a match is confirmed. None has been made. A match would need photos of scars or markings to be compared, and IWDG said it knows little about this whale beyond colour and size.

Whooley told The Irish Times that Svalbard, about 2,700 kilometres north, probably has the closest Arctic population. Belugas usually travel in groups. IWDG said it is unclear whether Arctic visitors are more frequent because sea ice is breaking up or because more people are watching.

IWDG says belugas have been reported in Irish waters on five previous occasions. It names four: Clare Island, County Mayo, in September 1948; Cork Harbour in June 1988; Dunseverick, County Antrim, in July 2015, where an adult was confirmed by photo; and three belugas seen from the air about 200 nautical miles off the southwest coast in December 2015. Lone belugas were also reported off the Netherlands in January, the first there since 1966, and off Belgium in March. No agency has linked them to this whale.

Storm Austen is crossing Ireland, and Whooley said it will limit observation of the whale from the shoreline. Next steps depend on further reports from the public and on a photo comparison with the Scandinavian sightings.

Correction, 28 October 2026: an earlier version said there were at least four earlier Irish reports and named three. IWDG's update of 23 October gives five previous occasions and names four.

Coverage: Nature World News, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group