The fascinating new documentary "Fathaigh na Farraige" dives into Ireland's little-known whaling history. There are 26 different species of whale and dolphin in Irish waters, ranging from the porpoise (the smallest dolphin), to the blue whale, which is the largest animal on earth. Airing on TG4 on Wednesday, September 18, "Fathaigh na Farraige" ("Giants of the Sea") unearths Ireland's little-known whaling past, from the establishment of Ireland's first whaling-station in 1780 by Donegal man Thomas Nesbitt (the inventor of the swivel gun-harpoon), to a Norwegian-owned industrial whaling-station set up on the Iniskea Islands off the coast of Mayo .
Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! Founded in 1908, as whaling had been prohibited in Norway, the whalers’ policy of over-exploitation has had a lasting effect on whale populations here, with right, sei and blue whales driven close to extinction. Filmed in some of the country’s most spectacular locations, the programme explores our complex relationship with the sharks and cetaceans that swim in Irish waters, from our history of hunting them for food and profit, to today's efforts at conserving their populations. These cetaceans were not the only gentle giants to be hunted to near-extinction in Ireland.
For centuries, the basking shark – a slow and gentle filter-feeder, was hunted up and down the coast; and just after World War 2, the breathtakingly-beautiful Keem Bay and the nearby ha.