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A Harbour Seal photographed at Dun Laoghaire Marina on Dublin Bay, Ireland. Also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinnipeds, they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Baltic and North seas. Photo: AfloatA photograph of a Harbour Seal taken at Dun Laoghaire Marina on Dublin Bay, Ireland. Also known as the common seal, this species can be found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They are the most widely distributed species of pinnipeds and can be found in the coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as the Baltic and North Seas. Photo: Afloat

Displaying items by tag: Marine wildlfife

Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough in County Down welcomes visitors from far and wide, but this Mediterranean gull must be one of the most interesting, having travelled from Poland, Spain, and France before flying into Bangor.

Berth holder, wildlife expert and photographer Ronald Surgenor who works for the Ulster Wildlife Nature Reserves team, captured this wonderful photograph of the gull roosting on pontoon B. He was able to trace the bird’s movement via the red numbered ring on its leg. In 2015 the bird was ringed in Poland and over the next five years flew across Europe before flying into Bangor. A truly international visitor!

Ronald says “ Good chance it'll be around the roosting gulls for a while, always worth a quick check on the way past; the white wingtips help pick it out amongst the Black-headed gulls and their dark wingtips. I always carry the camera on the boat as you never know what you will see out on the water”.

As previously portrayed in Afloat.ie on 5th June, Bangor Harbour is a valuable haven for wildlife.

Published in Belfast Lough

Basking sharks which were sampled off the west Kerry coast in early Spring have proved to be genetically different to all other such sharks tested in the north-east Atlantic, according to a newly published study writes Lorna Siggins.

The study on the migration routes of basking sharks also shows that the animals prefer to swim “en famille” to known feeding locations.

Researchers from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) participated in one of the most comprehensive studies of the genetics of one of the world’s largest fish.

The project findings, led by the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, were published this week in the journal, Scientific Reports.

Hunted off the south Irish coast by Norwegians until the 1980s, and off the west coast for the Achill fishery in the 1950s and 1960s, the basking shark is known among coastal communities as the “sunfish” due to its preference for swimming just below the surface.

Two Basking Sharks Image Nigel MoyterTwo Basking Sharks Photo: Nigel Moyter

It is also known as “liop an dá” (unwieldy beast with two fins) or more generally “liabhán mór”, denoting a great leviathan.

It is protected in some waters and was recently classified on the International Union for Conservation of Nature “red list” for endangered species

The plankton-eating fish is distinctive for its open mouth. It has been estimated that a seven-metre shark, cruising wide-mouthed at a speed of two knots, will filter 1,484 cubic metres of sea-water per hour.

Basking sharks can grow to more than ten metres, can dive to depths of more than a thousand metres, and feed on plankton in areas of the northeast Atlantic including the west coast of Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

The researchers note that “up until recently very little was known” about their biology, as they only appear briefly at the sea surface each spring before “vanishing into the ocean depths”.

Through establishing a register of genetic profiles with regular swabbing, the researchers were able to identify individual basking sharks when they arrived to feed. The results revealed that the fish repeatedly returned to the same feeding sites in successive years.

Fieldwork off Donegal by GMIT’s Dr Simon Berrow and Emmet Johnston of the Irish Basking Shark Study Group led to a “breakthrough” in sampling, by collecting skin mucus samples in large groups of sharks - quickly, and with minimum disturbance.

The researchers say that one of the “most surprising” findings among the “cosmopolitan” filter feeders is that basking sharks sampled off Ireland in spring were genetically distinct from other north-east Atlantic fish, including those sampled later in the year off Co Donegal.

Published in Sharks

Humpback whales are one of the most iconic animals on the planet, ambassadors for the world’s oceans. The image of a humpback whale, with its fluke lifted clear of the water became the symbol of the environmental movement when a recording of the “Song of the Humpback” in the 1970s was credited with “opening the minds of the public to their world,” where their acrobatic breaching is one of the most sought-after wildlife images for photographers and film-makers worldwide.

Beneath the waves, male humpbacks produce a complex cetacean melodic sound to attract females, which is heard regularly amongst whales as they communicate with each other off the Irish coastline, even if not heard by humans!

Humpback whales are coming to Irish waters in increasing numbers to feed along the South and West coasts. The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has documented 87 individual humpback whales in Irish waters, recognised by unique markings on their tail flukes and over one-half of these whales have been recorded in more than one year showing that they are returning to Irish waters. Some have been re-sighted in 12 of the past 17 years!

"Humpback whales are coming to Irish waters in increasing numbers to feed along the South and West coasts"

It has tracked some of them to Iceland and just announced that its research vessel, Celtic Mist (the former yacht of Charles Haughey) is going to Iceland to further investigate those links. The vessel will also carry out another, rather courageous in Iceland assignment, as Dr.Simon Berrow, Chief Scientific Officer of Group has been telling me. That assignment is to challenge the Icelandic decision to resume hunting fin whales.

Listen to Dr.Berrow detail what Celtic Mist and its crew will be doing.

Published in Tom MacSweeney
Tagged under

#LoughNeagh - Friends of the Earth (FoE) is appealing a ruling against its claims that Stormont is “turning a blind eye” to sand dredging in Lough Neagh, as the News Letter reports.

The environmental group brought the issue before the High Court last summer, when it described NI Environment Minister Mark Durkan’s 2015 decision to issue an enforcement notice against sand dredging, rather than an outright ban, as bringing “Northern Ireland into ridicule”.

As much as 1.5 million tonnes of sand is dredged from the lough each year, the charity has claimed, adding that dreading companies have continued the practice as their own challenge against the enforcement notice is pending with the Planning Appeals Commission.

Sand dredging has been carried out in Lough Neagh since the 1930s, and previously no planing permission was required, though the lough was designated as a Special Protection Area for wildlife in 1999.

In November, a judge rejected FoE’s High Court challenge, but the organisation has now appealed that decision.

“We believe the judge erred in law and didn’t take into account the significance of this major nature reserve,” said the charity’s NI director James Orr.

The News Letter has more on the story HERE.

Published in Dredging

#MarineWildlife - Great white sharks that could "bite a person in half" have seen the closure of a stretch of beaches north of Sydney for more than a week, as TheJournal.ie reports.

One shark in particular, thought to be some five metres in length, is the largest ever spotted in the waters off Newcastle, some 160km north of Australia's biggest city.

Similarly sized sharks have also been witnessed nearby feeding on dolphins, with one of the ocean predators described as being "as big as a car".

For safety reasons, all beaches in these areas have been closed to bathing and surfing – popular activities for Irish expats and locals alike – until 24 hours have passed with no sightings.

TheJournal.ie has more on the story HERE.

Published in Marine Wildlife

A major study published today in the journal Nature suggests that the marine food chain could be in danger of collapse due to declining levels of phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton are the bottom rung of the food chain on which all sea life depends. 

Phytoplankon levels have dropped of by  about 40 percent since 1950, and the Candadian scientists who authored the report link the decline to warming oceans.

"Phytoplankton is the fuel on which marine ecosystems run," said lead author Daniel Boyce, a professor at Dalhousie University in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

"A decline affects everything up the food chain, including humans."

The pace of the decline is heaviest in polar and tropical regions, and was in line with the speed at which surface ocean temperatures had changed there.

Phytoplankton get their energy from the sun, and need sunlight and nutrients to grow. They are the marine equivalent of grazing pasture.

With warmer oceans becoming more stratified, a "dead zone"  can develop at the surface. Less vertical movement of water in the oceans means that  fewer nutrients are delivered from deeper layers.

The findings are worrying, the researchers said.

"Phytoplankton are a critical part of our planetary support system - they produce half the oxygen we breathe, draw down surface carbon dioxide, and ultimately support all fisheries," said co-author Boris Worm.

 

Published in Marine Wildlife
Tagged under

For all you need on the Marine Environment - covering the latest news and updates on marine science and wildlife, weather and climate, power from the sea and Ireland's coastal regions and communities - the place to be is Afloat.ie.

Coastal Notes

The Coastal Notes category covers a broad range of stories, events and developments that have an impact on Ireland's coastal regions and communities, whose lives and livelihoods are directly linked with the sea and Ireland's coastal waters.

Topics covered in Coastal Notes can be as varied as the rare finding of sea-life creatures, an historic shipwreck with secrets to tell, or even a trawler's net caught hauling much more than just fish.

Other angles focusing the attention of Coastal Notes are Ireland's maritime museums, which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of our nautical heritage, and those who harvest the sea using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety pose an issue, plying their trade along the rugged wild western seaboard.

Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied as the environment they come from, and which shape people's interaction with the natural world and our relationship with the sea.

Marine Wildlife

One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with Marine Wildlife. It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. And as boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify, even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat. Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse, it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to our location in the North Atlantic, there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe. From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals, the Marine Wildlife category documents the most interesting accounts around our shores. And we're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and video clips, too!

Also valuable is the unique perspective of all those who go afloat, from coastal sailing to sea angling to inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing, as what they encounter can be of great importance to organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG). Thanks to their work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. But as impressive as the list is, the experts believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves, keep a sharp look out!

Weather

As an island in the North Atlantic, Ireland's fate is decided by Weather more so than many other European countries. When storm-force winds race across the Irish Sea, ferry and shipping services are cut off, disrupting our economy. When swollen waves crash on our shores, communities are flooded and fishermen brace for impact - both to their vessels and to their livelihoods.

Keeping abreast of the weather, therefore, is as important to leisure cruisers and fishing crews alike - for whom a small craft warning can mean the difference between life and death - as it is to the communities lining the coast, where timely weather alerts can help protect homes and lives.

Weather affects us all, and Afloat.ie will keep you informed on the hows and the whys.

Marine Science

Perhaps it's the work of the Irish research vessels RV Celtic Explorer and RV Celtic Voyager out in the Atlantic Ocean that best highlights the essential nature of Marine Science for the future growth of Ireland's emerging 'blue economy'.

From marine research to development and sustainable management, Ireland is developing a strong and well-deserved reputation as an emerging centre of excellence. Whether it's Wavebob ocean energy technology to aquaculture to weather buoys and oil exploration, the Marine Science category documents the work of Irish marine scientists and researchers and how they have secured prominent roles in many European and international marine science bodies.

Power From The Sea

The message from the experts is clear: offshore wind and wave energy is the future. And as Ireland looks towards the potential of the renewable energy sector, generating Power From The Sea will become a greater priority in the State's 'blue growth' strategy.

Developments and activities in existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector, and those of the energy exploration industry, point to the future of energy requirements for the whole world, not just in Ireland. And that's not to mention the supplementary industries that sea power projects can support in coastal communities.

Irish ports are already in a good position to capitalise on investments in offshore renewable energy services. And Power From The Sea can even be good for marine wildlife if done properly.

Aside from the green sector, our coastal waters also hold a wealth of oil and gas resources that numerous prospectors are hoping to exploit, even if people in coastal and island areas are as yet unsure of the potential benefits or pitfalls for their communities.

Changing Ocean Climate

Our ocean and climate are inextricably linked - the ocean plays a crucial role in the global climate system in a number of ways. These include absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere and absorbing 30 per cent of the carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by human activity. But our marine ecosystems are coming under increasing pressure due to climate change.

The Marine Institute, with its national and international partners, works to observe and understand how our ocean is changing and analyses, models and projects the impacts of our changing oceans. Advice and forecasting projections of our changing oceans and climate are essential to create effective policies and management decisions to safeguard our ocean.

Dr Paul Connolly, CEO of the Marine Institute, said, “Our ocean is fundamental to life on earth and affects so many facets of our everyday activities. One of the greatest challenges we face as a society is that of our changing climate. The strong international collaborations that the Marine Institute has built up over decades facilitates a shared focusing on our changing ocean climate and developing new and enhanced ways of monitoring it and tracking changes over time.

“Our knowledge and services help us to observe these patterns of change and identify the steps to safeguard our marine ecosystems for future generations.”

The Marine Institute’s annual ocean climate research survey, which has been running since 2004, facilitates long term monitoring of the deep water environment to the west of Ireland. This repeat survey, which takes place on board RV Celtic Explorer, enables scientists to establish baseline oceanic conditions in Irish waters that can be used as a benchmark for future changes.

Scientists collect data on temperature, salinity, water currents, oxygen and carbon dioxide in the Atlantic Ocean. This high quality oceanographic data contributes to the Atlantic Ocean Observing System. Physical oceanographic data from the survey is submitted to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) and, in addition, the survey contributes to national research such as the VOCAB ocean acidification and biogeochemistry project, the ‘Clean Atlantic’ project on marine litter and the A4 marine climate change project.

Dr Caroline Cusack, who co-ordinates scientific activities on board the RV Celtic Explorer for the annual survey, said, “The generation of long-term series to monitor ocean climate is vital to allow us understand the likely impact of future changes in ocean climate on ecosystems and other marine resources.”

Other activities during the survey in 2019 included the deployment of oceanographic gliders, two Argo floats (Ireland’s contribution to EuroArgo) and four surface drifters (Interreg Atlantic Area Clean Atlantic project). The new Argo floats have the capacity to measure dissolved ocean and biogeochemical parameters from the ocean surface down to a depth of 2,000 metres continuously for up to four years, providing important information as to the health of our oceans.

During the 2019 survey, the RV Celtic Explorer retrieved a string of oceanographic sensors from the deep ocean at an adjacent subsurface moored station and deployed a replacement M6 weather buoy, as part of the Irish Marine Data Buoy Observation Network (IMDBON).

Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the IMDBON is managed by the Marine Institute in collaboration with Met Éireann and is designed to improve weather forecasts and safety at sea around Ireland. The data buoys have instruments which collect weather and ocean data including wind speed and direction, pressure, air and sea surface temperature and wave statistics. This data provides vital information for weather forecasts, shipping bulletins, gale and swell warnings as well as data for general public information and research.

“It is only in the last 20 years, meteorologists and climatologists have really began to understood the pivotal role the ocean plays in determining our climate and weather,” said Evelyn Cusack, Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann. “The real-time information provided by the Irish data buoy network is particularly important for our mariners and rescue services. The M6 data buoy in the Atlantic provides vital information on swell waves generated by Atlantic storms. Even though the weather and winds may be calm around our shores, there could be some very high swells coming in from Atlantic storms.”