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Displaying items by tag: Cork Lough

Turtles spotted basking in Cork City’s Lough have raised concerns over the balance of its fragile ecosystem, as the Irish Examiner reports.

The seven amphibians, which could be freshwater terrapins, are believed to have been unwanted pets released into the Lough which lies south-west of the city centre.

But their presence poses a biosecurity hazard in a body of water that only two years ago saw its carp population fall victim to carp edema virus.

Local Independent Cllr Mick Finn said: “The Lough is such an amazing resource, both as a wildfowl sanctuary and as a recreational amenity — this highlights again the need for constant vigilance and for investment in it.”

The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.

Published in Marine Wildlife
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About Commander Bill King, Solo Circumnavigator

William Donald Aelian King was the last surviving submarine commander in the Second World War - in charge of the British Navy's T-class Telemachus that sank a Japanese sub in the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Sumatra, in 1944.

Decorated many times for his service by the end of the war, King became a trailblazing solo sailor.

At the age of 58, he was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race sailing Galway Blazer II, a junk-rigged schooner he designed himself.

After a number of abortive attempts, including an incident with "a large sea creature", he finally completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1973.

Beyond his aquatic escapades, King settled with his wife Anita (who died in 1984, aged 70) at Oranmore Castle outside Galway after the war, where he later developed a pioneering organic farm and garden to help tackle his wife's asthma.

The round-the-world sailor and Galway native Bill King died on Friday, 21 September, 2012, aged 102.