Harbour Porpoise

Photo: jafs-090 · CC BY-NC

Europe's smallest cetacean is abundant in the North Channel and routinely passes through Fair Head's dive sites, often spotted mid-water as a brief grey torpedo shape in the blue. They are typically shy around divers but become bolder in slack water conditions when they linger to hunt the abundant sand eels in the channel. Resident groups are monitored by Irish Cetacean researchers and Fair Head is considered a key habitat corridor.