Ocean temperatures are rising which have caused an enigmatic ocean giant (sunfish) to venture north into Irish waters and beyond, almost 50 years of observations off the Cork coast have helped confirm.
A study by a team of researchers from Ireland and the UK has found that ocean sunfish — the largest bony fish in the world — expanded their range in the 1990s and 2000s by more than 200km north.
The study, which was published yesterday in the international peer-reviewed journal Marine Biology, analysed sightings of sunfish made from the Cape Clear coastal bird observatory by thousands of experienced bird watchers over 4,600 days of sea watching.
The study’s lead author, Dr Olga Lyashevska, from Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, said the research team found there was a general absence of sunfish sightings before 1989, with three to four sightings annually after that, up until 1999.
But from 2002 to 2007, there was a five-fold increase in sunfish sightings, up to 21.3 per annum, she said.
More reports the Irish Examiner.