So having spoken to PM we knew he had seen
something. But what? Although he didn’t live near the lough, he passed there
regularly and was certainly familiar with the indigenous wildlife. There didn’t
appear to be any older legends from Lough Fee, although PMs mother apparently used
to talk about water horse legends.
Whilst mulling it over and driving to investigate
this area in more detail, on a sudden whim, the authors drove down a dirt track
which led to the coast.
As we passed Lough Fee we could see the channel
which linked it to the smaller and shallower Lough Muck, and as we passed lough
Muck we noted the winding tributary to the coast. Although this had steep banks
it was rather narrow and unless in flood it would be hard to envision how any
marine predator could have got in,(although we were unaware that there was
another, which was not in our line of sight). At the end of the road was a small
motorhome which was being used by a couple of surfers. The evening was
descending and the exposed rocky outcrop overlooking the coastal bay was being
swept by a cold wind.
It was quite a surprise therefore to see a middle
aged local man sitting on a rock, looking out to sea clad in only a vest while
his two young daughters played on the rocks below.
We stopped the car and got out. GC went over to the
man and introduced himself and during the course of casual conversation
mentioned our research. After surveying the sea for a few minutes, I wandered
over to join the conversation which was now free flowing. We asked the man if
he knew of any pinnipeds that may have swum up the Culfin River to which he
replied he did not. He did however mention that a seal had traversed the area where we were standing and had made
its way about 100 yards (90m) up a path and into someone’s garden, through
their gate. Looking at the rocky terrain and distance from the sea I was a
little surprised; it wouldn’t have been easy. He also mentioned the story of
how a lake higher up in the hills had been intentionally stocked with some form
of local fish at some time in the past and which, it had been rumoured, over
the years, had turned into one eyed mutants.
Gary then asked if any unusual sightings had
happened during recent years and the man proceeded to surprise us both as he
related that a few years before, a beluga
whale had been found dead on the local beach.
Sitting in the car later, PMs account took
on more significance. The picture Gary had drawn under his supervision, more
specifically the curved mouth, was very reminiscent of just such an animal, one
of its defining features. The man had also told us that the carcass of the
beluga had remained on the beach for some time before the council eventually
disposed of it. It all seemed rather coincidental. Could a beluga or perhaps a
similar cetacean swim inland and make its way into Lough Fee?
Intrigued, we considered that if the river had been
in flood, such a journey might have been possible. To our surprise however, as
we followed the road along the Culfin River to the sea inlet, we found part of
the river had a raised concrete platform dividing its passage surmounted by a
metal railing (below). What was more, there was hardly any depth to the water
around this area and the inlet was situated beside a holiday village consisting
of numerous caravans. So for the theory to work a fair sized cetacean would
need to swim up the river, presumably when it was in flood, avoiding being
sighted by tourists, negotiate the obstruction, follow the course of the narrow
Culfin River to Lough Muck before subsequently entering Lough Fee; quite a
challenge.
A subsequent search of the internet revealed that
beluga Delphinapterus leucas, which
can reach 18ft (5.4m), were considered rare in Ireland with only two verified
sightings in the twentieth century one of which was off Clare Island in Co Mayo
in 1987, (coincidentally almost directly opposite the Culfin area). Therefore
it would be unusual for any such recent stranding not to be recorded.
After some research there were two alternative
identities that we felt might also fit. The first was a Cuvier’s Beaked Whale, Ziphius cavirostris, which can reach 23
ft (7m) and the second a Rissos dolphin (Grampus griseus).
Cuviers beaked whale
Between 1901 and 1995, 21
Cuvier’s Beaked Whales were washed up along the Irish coast. In March 2000 one was washed up dead in Co Sligo
and two in Co Clare. A further dead animal washed up in Co Kerry that May while
between 1990 and 2009 there were 47 stranding’s of Rissos dolphin, which can
attain 14 ft (4.2m) which can also look white in colour.
After further research we also discovered that a
Cuviers Beaked Whale had in fact been found dead on the shore at Letter Beg in
January 2012, and that two more were found dead that same year.
The possibility that one of these large mammals
swam up such a limited river system, travelling from one lough to another, is
quite daunting, but does seem to offer an explanation. If this was the case
then it surely throws open a whole new range of possibilities with regard to marine
mammals foraging into inland lakes from the sea. More importantly it shows how
additional morphological features, not present in the species itself, may be
superimposed based on local folklore and legend.
