This weekend the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society (IOMNHAS) will begin its winter programme by hosting a lecture on the larger marine mammals to be seen in the island’s waters.

Bryony Manley, a researcher with Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch (MWDW), will give a presentation titled ’Manx Marine Megafauna’ at the Manx Museum Lecture Theatre at 2.30pm on Saturday.

Bryony’s talk will cover all locally seen species of cetacean (The aquatic group including whales, dolphins, porpoises) as well as basking sharks and seals.

She will explain how to recognise and identify each species by looking at their physical and behavioural differences and will look at their abundance and distribution patterns and what these top predators are feeding on in Manx waters.

By the end of the talk, attendees ’should be able to recognise the indicators of marine mammal presence in an area and identify anything they see’.

Species seen in Manx waters include the harbour porpoise, Risso’s dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, minke whale and, less commonly, short beaked common dolphin. Also seen in rare sightings at various times have been the humpback whale, the orca or killer whale, and the fin whale.

Bryony has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in marine biology and worldwide experience in studying cetaceans in the wild.

In 2014 she produced a MWDW poster presentation for the European Cetacean Society conference highlighting the importance of the isle of Man’s waters for the photo-identification of Risso’s dolphins in the Irish Sea.

The talk will be followed by tea and biscuits.

MWDW was founded in 2006 and works voluntarily year round to safeguard all types of cetaceans in Manx territorial waters through non-invasive research and public awareness efforts.

It also undertakes boat survey research of species using its Aquabell 33 vessel ’Galps’, purchased in 2016.

In January 2019 the organisation opened a visitor centre in the centre of Peel, where visitors can learn about local species and recent sightings.

The Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch website www.mwdw.net has pages helping the public to identify and learn about cetacean species and their behaviour and also ways to report sightings.

The IOMNHAS advises those attending to arrive early to be sure of a seat, and non-members attending the lecture will be invited to make a small donation.

The society’s winter programme will continue on Saturday, December 5, when Dr Fenella Bazin and Ian Radcliffe will give a presentation on ’A Century of Change: trades and occupations in the parish of Ballaugh in the 19th century’.

For further details about IOMNHAS and information on how to join, those interested can email [email protected] or visit their website at www.manxantiquarians.com.