A man who found his love of nature in the Scouts has told of his 'incredible' experience snapping the 67th humpback whale recorded in Irish waters.
Stephen Dunbar, 34, travels the length and breadth of Ireland, North and South, to photograph our amazing wildlife.
In recent years, multiple visits to the west coast and islands off the coast have seen him come face-to-face with basking sharks, whales, dolphins, puffins and wildlife including Irish hares, foxes and badgers.
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But earlier this month the Belfast man was able to get up close and personal with a humpback whale off the Co Mayo coast, resulting in some spectacular pictures.
Stephen told us: "I had no idea how much wildlife and amazing places we had on this island.
"My recent humpback encounter was incredible - the three of us on the boat where just super exited.
"To see a Humpback whale so close is humbling. Just to see these soo close to Irish shores is such a privilege."
While Stephen says his path towards wildlife photography "is probably a bit different than most", he says it stemmed from roots laid down in the Scouts.
"I’ve always had a interest in the outdoors from being in the Scouts," he explained.
"I’ve spent the last few years now exploring Ireland and in particular the west coast - I just love the rugged coastlines and the many small islands we have.
"I’ve only in the last few years got into photography," he added.
"I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors but it wasn’t until my late 20s that I got more free time to get out and about more. The next big influence, if not the most, was a two-part documentary I watched called Wild Ireland: Edge of the World by Colin Stafford-Johnson.
"This was the reason I wanted to explore the west coast of Ireland.
"Since watching it I’ve been inspired to visit Irish islands. I’ve visited the Blaskets, Rathlin, Tory, Saltees, Cape Clear, Sherkin, Copelands, Inishtrahull, Achill, Dursey, Clare, Arranmore Islands and went on boat trips to the Skelligs and Fastnet. I love these wild and remote places.
"One of my favourite wildlife to photograph is dolphins and whales and every year for the last few me and my girlfriend have gone to west Cork to do a number of whale-watching trips. Just a few weeks ago we saw a humpback bubble feeding just off the coast.
"After west Cork I had a few days still off work so I visited Clare island and then to the Belmullet in Co Mayo. I had heard another humpback was feeding in Broadhaven Bay. I got to Erris head with my scope and within 15 minutes had spotted it.
"I got very lucky and the next day I got the opportunity to get out on a boat with two members of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, Brendan Quinn and Marcus Hogan.
"We had amazing encounters with two basking sharks with one coming right up to our boat. Not long after that we spotted the humpback feeding. Incredible to get such good views of it. This is number 67 - as in the 67th humpback to be recorded in Irish waters."
He added: "With a lot of patience and effort I have been lucky to photograph some incredible wildlife in Ireland including fin whales, Risso’s dolphins, badgers, foxes, otters, etc and all sorts of birds including different birds of prey [like] peregrines to an Egyptian vulture, to sea birds like Manx and Cory’s shearwaters and a lot more."
But he has also snapped some great pictures of wildlife on land as well.
"It’s an amazing feeling when sometimes you can spend hours and hours waiting for your subject to appear," he said.
"When trying to photograph the fox cubs I must have been down 15 times for multiple hours each visit before one morning one walked up and sat in the perfect spot. It’s an incredible feeling. You nearly forget about everything else and you are just in the moment.
"I hope my images show what amazing wildlife we have in Ireland as an island and why it is so important to protect these important places," he added.
"A lot of people just don’t realise some of the wildlife we get in our waters."
If you spot whales stranded off the Irish coast, IWDG would love you to report the sighting to them via their app which can be downloaded through Google Play or Apple’s App Store. They also want to hear about any dolphins and porpoises that you see. Click here for more information.
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