The Lough Fee Critter 2

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.