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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: Keohane

#ROWING: A composite men’s senior eight of Shandon Rowing Club and Presentation Brothers College, Cork were the fastest crew at the Cork Head of the River today. They outpaced two other senior eights: a Shandon/Cahir composite and Cork Boat Club. The UCC intermediate eight were the second fastest overall, clocking 12 minutes 36.6 seconds - just under seven seconds off the winning time. John Keohane of Lee Valley was the fastest single sculler on the day, and Amy Bulman recorded the fastest time for a woman. 

Cork Head of the River (Selected Results)

Men

Head One:

Eight – Senior: 1 Shandon/Presentation 12 minutes 29.7 seconds, 2 Cork BC 12:44.8, 3 Shandon/Cahir 13:29.7. Intermediate: UCC 12:36.6. Junior 18: Cork 12:55.7.

Head Two:

Sculling, Single – Senior: Lee Valley (J Keohane) 15:10.7. Inter: Lee (D O’Sullivan) 15:44.7. Jun 18: 1 Fermoy (G Morrison) 15:53.8, 2 Athlunkard (E Gallagher) 16:09, 3 Lee (H Deasy) 16:09.5. Jun 16: Lee (L Guerin) 16:35.3.

Head Three:

Four – Senior: UCC 13:58.8. Inter, coxed: Cork 14:19.4. Jun 18, coxed: Muckross 17:21.9. Jun 16, coxed: Fermoy 16.44.2.

Head Four:

Sculling, Quadruple – Inter: Shandon 14:08.7. Club Two, coxed: Clonmel 15:46.5. Jun 18: Cork 14:16. Jun 16, coxed: Cork 14:47.5.

Head Five:

Pair – Jun 18A: Cork 16:36.0.

Head Six:

Sculling, Double – Inter: Presentation, Cork 15:41.6. Club Two: Shandon 16:52.7. Novice: St Brendan’s 19:15.3. Jun 18A: Shandon 15:41.4. Jun 16: Lee 16:43.0.

Rolling Head

Eight – Intermediate: Muckross 14:22.3. Masters: Fermoy 14:16.6.

Pair – Jun 18A: Pres, Cork 17:39.9.

Sculling, Quadruple – Inter: UCC 15:59.5. Club Two, coxed: Fermoy 18:27.8. Novice, coxed: St Brendan’s 16:19.0. Jun 18A: Pres, Cork 14:32.0. Jun 16, coxed: Pres, Cork 14:36.2. Masters: Shandon 15:31.3.

Double – Jun 18: Presentation, Cork 16:05.4. Jun 16: Skibbereen 16:21.6.

Single – Senior: Clonmel (A Chadfield) 16:57.2. Jun 18: Skibbereen (K Mannix) 17:18.5. Jun 16: Skibbereen (D O’Sullivan) 18:47.5. Masters: Cahir (D Heffernan) 16:49.3.

Women

Head One:

Eight – Intermediate: UCC 15:24.3.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club Two, coxed: Lee 15:08.5. Novice, coxed: Fermoy 16:55.6. Junior 16, coxed: Cork 15:34.9.

Head Two:

Pair – Senior: Cork 16:38.2. Junior 18A: Lee 16:54.8.

Head Three:

Sculling, Double – Senior: UCC 15:45.0. Jun 18A: Cork 16:45.6. Jun 16: Lee 16:33.0.

Head Five:

Sculling, Single – Senior: 1 UCC (A Bulman) 17:57.3, 2 Cork (M O’Neill) 18:10.8. Inter: UCC 19:11.1. Novice: Lee 21:03.1. Junior 18A: Muckross 19.04.0. Jun 16: Lee Valley 19:17.8.

Rolling Head

Eight – Jun 16: Shandon 16:29.9.

Four – Masters, coxed: Clonmel 18:59.4.

Pair – Senior: UCC 17:33.3.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club Two, coxed: Fermoy 18:27.8. Jun 16, coxed: Shandon 15:57.8.

Double – Jun 18A: Clonmel 17:57.4. Jun 16: Fermoy 17:27.1.

Single – Senior: Fermoy (S Bouanane) 17:36.4. Inter: Fermoy (S Bouanane) 19:25.9. Jun 18A: Fermoy (S Cotter) 18:40.5. Jun 16: Shandon (C Minehane) 17:51.5.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Ireland’s Monika Dukarska and Eimear Moran had to settle for missing out on a semi-final place at the World Cup Regatta in Aiguebelette in France. The Ireland double scull was in with a chance of taking the top-three place they needed until the final third of the race. John Keohane was off the pace in his repechage of the men’s single scull.The Corkman finished fourth when a top-two place would have taken him through to the A/B semi-finals.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day One (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Single Sculls – Heat One (Time Trial; First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage); 1 Cuba (A Fournier Rodriguez) 6:48.06; 2 Canada 6:55.45, 3 Finland 6:59.39, 4 United States 7:06.59, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:12.69, 6 Hungary 7:17.37. Repechage One (Two to A/B Semi-Finals): 4 Keohane 7:39.38.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heats (Time Trials; First Two Directly Through to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 China (Tiexin Wang) 7:02.36, 2 France (D Piqueras) 7:07.64; 5 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:20.78

Heat Three: 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:11.34, 2 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:15.60.

Repechage One (First Two to A/B Semis; 3-5 to C Final): 4 Ireland Two (O’Donovan) 7:37.56.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:13.29, 2 United States Two (G Luczak, C Lind) 7:13.87, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:18.15; 4 Germany Two 7:32.77, 5 China Two 7:37.06.

Double Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Three Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Belarus (E Karsten, Y Bichyk) 6:51.94, 2 Britain (F Houghton, V Thornley) 6:54.71, 3 China (Yuwei Wang, Weiwei Zhu) 6:57.09; 4 France 7:07.40, 5 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:12.42. Repechage (Three to A/B Semi-Final): 5 Dukarska, Moran 7:40.13.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain One (I Walsh, K Copeland) 7:02.44, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:07.21; 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 5:21.89, 4 Mexico Two 7:20.55, 5 Belarus 7:20.95. Repechage (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; 3-5 to C Final): 1 Brazil (B Cardoso, F Beltrame) 7:24.44, 2 Ireland (Lambe, Walsh) 7:25.65; 3 Poland 7:27.13, 4 Belarus 7:33.59, 5 Czech Republic 7:37.94, 6 Mexico One 7:46.68.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Two directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 China (Jingli Duan) 7:30.54, 2 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:34.63; 3 Switzerland 7:35.99, 4 France 7:37.79, 5 Zimbabwe 7:41.57, 6 Croatia 7:42.46.

Pararowing – Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (T Kelly) 5:48.38. Repechage Two (First two to A Final): 4 Kelly 6:06.18.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Sanita Puspure marched into the A/B Semi-Finals at the World Cup Rowing regatta at Aiguebelette in France today. First or second in her heat, which was run as a time trial, was enough to secure qualification for the Ireland sculler. She matched the pace of Duan Jingli of China for much of the 2,000 metres, but at the end the Chinese won, with Puspure taking a clear second.

Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic and Emma Twigg of New Zealand won the other heats – with Twigg the fastest winner by over four seconds.

There was only ever going to be one man to win John Keohane’s heat of the men’s single scull: Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba dominated the time trial and took the only direct qualification place. Keohane finished fifth of the six starters.

The Ireland women’s double of Monika Dukarska and Claire Lambe finished fifth of five in their heat.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day One (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Single Sculls – Heat One (Time Trial; First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage); 1 Cuba (A Fournier Rodriguez) 6:48.06; 2 Canada 6:55.45, 3 Finland 6:59.39, 4 United States 7:06.59, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:12.69, 6 Hungary 7:17.37.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heats (Time Trials; First Two Directly Through to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 China (Tiexin Wang) 7:02.36, 2 France (D Piqueras) 7:07.64; 5 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:20.78

Heat Three: 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:11.34, 2 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:15.60.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:13.29, 2 United States Two (G Luczak, C Lind) 7:13.87, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:18.15; 4 Germany Two 7:32.77, 5 China Two 7:37.06.

Double Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Three Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Belarus (E Karsten, Y Bichyk) 6:51.94, 2 Britain (F Houghton, V Thornley) 6:54.71, 3 China (Yuwei Wang, Weiwei Zhu) 6:57.09; 4 France 7:07.40, 5 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:12.42.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain One (I Walsh, K Copeland) 7:02.44, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:07.21; 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 5:21.89, 4 Mexico Two 7:20.55, 5 Belarus 7:20.95.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Two directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 China (Jingli Duan) 7:30.54, 2 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:34.63; 3 Switzerland 7:35.99, 4 France 7:37.79, 5 Zimbabwe 7:41.57, 6 Croatia 7:42.46.

Pararowing – Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (T Kelly)

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: John Keohane won the men’s senior single sculls at Metropolitan Regatta on Dorney Lake on Saturday. The Lee Valley man was among a number of Irish winners on the day: Carlow and NUIG won the Intermediate One fours and coxed fours respectively and UCD’s women eight won their intermediate one final. The Gráinne Mhaol/NUIG crew were second in the senior eight.

Metropolitan Regatta, Dorney Lake (Irish interest, selected results)

Saturday

Men

Eight – Senior: 2 Gráinne Mhaol/NUIG.

Four – Intermediate One: 1 Carlow. Four Coxed – Intermediate One: 1 NUIG

Pair – Intermediate One: 3 Presentation Brothers, Cork.

Sculling, Quadruple – Intermediate One: 2 UCC. Junior: 3 Cork BC

Single – Senior: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) Intermediate One: 3 Carlow (Aaron Bolger)

Women

Eights – Intermediate One: 1 UCD; 3 Trinity (three-boat final) Fours, coxed – Intermediate One: 1 UCD 7:19.2. Intermediate Two: 2 Commercial.

Pair – Senior: 2 Cork BC

Sculling, Quadruple – Intermediate One: 3 UCC.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The repechage route did not prove a fruitful one for Ireland crews at the European Junior Rowing Championships in Hazewinkel in Belgium. The men’s double of Conor Carmody and David O’Malley were competitve until halfway, but they needed to finish in the top two and missed out by finishing fourth. They will go on to a C/D semi-final tomorrow. The men’s pair of David and Brian Keohane and single sculler Erin Barry both finished fifth. They go directly to their C Finals.

European Junior Rowing Championships, Hazewinkel, Belgium (Irish interest):

Men

Pair – Heat Two (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals: 5 Ireland (D Keohane, B Keohane) 7:30.39. Repechage: 5 Ireland 7:34.21

Double Sculls – Heat Three (First directly to A/B semi-finals): 4 Ireland (C Carmody, D O’Malley) 6:56.91. Repechage: 4 Ireland.

Women

Double Sculls – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals): 2 Ireland (J English, E Lambe) 7:54.10.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (First Two directly to A/B Semi-finals): 5 Ireland (E Barry) 8:38.33. Repechage: 5 Barry 9:05.20.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: A team of seven athletes have been selected to represent Ireland at the European Junior Rowing Championships in Hazelwinkel, Belgium on May 24th and 25th. This is the first time Rowing Ireland has sent a team to compete at this event.

 The team is:

Junior Women’s Single Scull: Erin Barry, Bann RC.

Junior Women’s Double Scull: Eimear Lambe, Commercial RC and Jasmine English, Belfast BC

Junior Men’s Double Scull: David O’Malley, St Michaels RC and Conor Carmody, Shannon RC

Junior Men’s Pair: David Keohane and Brian Keohane, Presentation College RC

All seven athletes represented Ireland in 2013. Erin Barry, Jasmine English, David O’Malley and Conor Carmody competed at the Junior World Rowing Championships, while Eimear Lambe, David Keohane and Brian Keohane were chosen for the Coupe de la Jeunesse, a European tournament. This year’s World Junior Rowing Championships and Coupe de la Jeunesse both take place in August.

Published in Rowing

#IrishRowingChampionships: Claire Lambe and John Keohane won the men’s and women’s senior single sculls titles at the Irish Rowing Championships at Farran Woods in Cork today. Both had hard battles before crossing the line as winners.

Lambe had a disappointing start and saw Sinéad Jennings take and hold the lead until halfway. Lambe came back and led by 1500 metres, but Jennings mounted challenge after challenge.

Keohane took the lead early on but had to battle to retain it. Eimantas Grigalius, a World Junior Champion in 2003, drove hard a the Corkman through the closing 500 metres, but Keohane, rating below his opponent, retained his lead – and the title he won last year.

There was great excitement in the closing stages of the men’s novice coxed four. UCD’s lead was eaten away and then completely lost to Queen’s University, who won by .92 of a second. UCD also lost out in the women’s intermediate coxed four to a strong St Michael’s crew of Hannah McCarthy, Emily Tormey, Kate O’Brien, Hanah O’Sullivan and cox Conor McGowan.

The men’s intermediate pair and the women’s junior pair and men’s junior double sculls were convincingly won by UCC, Portora and Shandon respectively.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Farran Woods, Cork – Day Three (Selected Results, Finals)

Men

Four – Novice, coxed: 1 Queen’s 7:49.87, 2 UCD 7:50.79, 3 UCC 7:55.25.

Pair – Intermediate: 1 UCC 8:13.04, 2 Portora 8:36.82, 3 Bann 8:42.84.

Sculling, Double – Junior: 1 Shandon (J Casey, A Harrington) 7:55.13, 2 Skibbereen 8:13.06, 3 Lee 8:19.07.

Single – Senior: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) 8:00.96, 2 Three Castles (E Grigalius) 8:03.83, 3 Portadown (S McKeown) 8:21.55.

Women

Four, Intermediate, coxed: 1 St Michael’s 8:10.43, 2 UCD C 8:18.36, 3 UCD A 8:28.10.

Pair – Junior: 1 Portora (D Maguire, P Mulligan) 9:04.90, 2 Muckross 9:16.42, 3 Shannon 9:19.32.

Sculling, Single – Senior: 1 UCD (C Lambe) 9:09.20, 2 St Michael’s (S Jennings) 9:10.31, 3 Three Castles (H Walshe) 9:28.57.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Ireland had a good start at the European Rowing Championships in Seville today. Claire Lambe nailed the second place she needed to qualify directly for the A Final of the lightweight single sculls and Sanita Puspure qualified for her semi-final of the single sculls by taking the third of three qualification places.

Ireland’s two other crews face into repechages later today. Niall Kenny and Justin Ryan took third in a heat of the lightweight double sculls won by Italy, who took the one semi-final place on offer, repelling a challenge by Austria. Ireland won a mini-battle with Bulgaria for third.

John Keohane finished fifth in his heat of the single sculls. Germany’s Marcel Hacker had his expected win, with Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania taking the second qualification place. Keohane, who is new to this level, held off Russian Denis Kleshnev, who finished sixth.

European Rowing Championships, Seville – Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Four (One Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Italy (A Micheletti, P Ruta) 6:39.92; 2 Austria 6:44.49, 3 Ireland (N Kenny, J Ryan) 6:47.43, 4 Bulgaria 6:48.89, 5 Czech Republic 6:51.76.

Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Germany (M Hacker) 7:03.91, 2 Lithuania (M Griskonis) 7:08.15; 3 Italy 7:19.44, 4 Greece 7:22.19, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:25.67, 6 Russia 7:27.89.

Women

Single Sculls – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ukraine (N Dovgodko) 8:04.02, 2 Norway (T Gjoertz) 8:04.65, 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 8:09.24; 4 Bulgaria 8:18.54, 5 Armenia 9:41.08.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Austria (M Tauper-Traer) 7:25.35, 2 Ireland (C Lambe) 7:58.09; 3 Czech Republic 8:06.09, 4 France 8:09.57, 6 Cyprus 8:10.61.

 

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: John Keohane was the fastest man at the Ireland Trials at National Rowing Centre in Cork today. However, the Lee Valley heavyweight was just nine hundredths of a second ahead of lightweight sculler Paul O’Donovan in the Time Trial. The 19-year-old from Skibbereen was assessed to have a percentage of world’s best time in his grade of 94.8 per cent – albeit with a strong tail wind. The conditions were forecast to deteriorate as the day went on and on-the-water work was done early in the morning.

Time Trial (Selected Results)

Men - Senior/Under-23/Lightweight single sculls and pairs (1900 metres; ranked on per centage of projected world best time for each class). Selected Results.

1 P O’Donovan (lightweight) 6 mins 40.85 (94.8 per cent), 2 G O’Donovan (lwt) 6:50.10 (92.7), 3 J Keohane (heavyweight) 6:40.76 (92.4), S O’Driscoll (lwt) 6:52.87 (92.0), 5 F McQuillan-Tolan/S O’Connor (heavyweight pair) 6:25.33 (91.2), 6 D Neale (hwt) 6:46.49 (91.1), 7 L Prendergast (lwt) 7:04.10 (89.6), 8 J Mitchell/M Wray (hwt pair) 6:35.16 (89.0), 9 A Burns (lwt) 7:07.79 (88.8), 10 A Boreham (hwt) 7:04.84 (87.2).

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: John Keohane was the fastest men’s single sculler and Marie O’Neill the fastest woman at the big Skibbereen Head of the River at the National Rowing Centre in Cork on Saturday. Skibbereen’s men’s quadruple scull were the fastest crew of the day, with a winning time of 10 minutes 30 seconds for the 3,800 metres.

Skibbereen Head of the River, National Rowing Centre, Farran Wood, Cork, Saturday (Selected Results)

Head One

Women, Eight – Junior 16: Shannon 13:27.

Quadruple Scull – Senior: Skibbereen 11:36. Intermediate: University of Limerick 13:43. Novice, coxed: Cork 13:30. Junior 18A: Skibbereen 12:01, 2 Shandon 12:12, 3 Castleconnell 12:22.

Head Two

Men

Single Sculls: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) 12:01, 2 University of Limerick (Penny) 12:03, 3 Cork IT (O’Donovan) 12:19. Intermediate: 1 Skibbereen (Burns) 12:33, 2 UCC (McGuckin) 12:42, 3 Skibbereen (Leonard) 12:44. Novice: 1 Lee (Keogh) 12:45, 2 Clonmel (Murphy) 13:06, 3 UCC (Stanton) 13:34. Junior 18A: 1 Lee (Mitchell) 12:25, 2 Skibbereen (Ryan) 12:26, 3 Presentation (Keohane) 12:34. H

Head Three

Women, Pair – Senior: Cork 14:23.

Single Scull – Senior: 1 Cork (O’Neill) 13:12, 2 Skibbereen (Walsh) 13:13, 3 Skibbereen (Fitzgerald) 13:44. Intermediate: 1 Lee Valley (K Corcoran-O’Hare) 13:45, 2 Cork (Judge) 14:25, 3 Fermoy (Dowling) 14:35. Novice: 1 University of Limerick (Griffin) 15:13, 2 Lee (McGrath) 15:19, 3 University of Limerick (Mooney) 15:39. Junior 18A: 1 Skibbereen (Walsh) 13:46, 2 Fermoy (Shinnick) 13:47, 3 Cork (Hamel) 14:23. Junior 16: Cork (Beechinor) 14:37.

Head Four

Men, Four, coxed – Junior 18A: Presentation 12:08.

Double Sculls – Senior: 1 Lee Valley 11:18 and Skibbereen/Cork IT 11:18. Intermediate: Skibbereen 11:30. Novice Lee 12:06. Junior 18A: 1 Skibbereen 11:13, 2 Lee 11:16, 3 Shandon 11:30. Junior 16: Skibbereen 11:44.

Head Five

Women, Four – Senior: Cork 11:49. Intermediate, coxed: Shandon 13:06. Novice, coxed: 13:42.

Double Scull – Senior: 1 Skibbereen B 12:35, 2 Skibbereen A 12:36. Intermediate: Killorglin 13:10. Junior 18A: 1 Fermoy 12:40, 2 Graiguenamanagh 13:40, 3 Cork 14:01. Junior 16: Muckross 13:16.

Head Six

Men, Eight – Intermediate: University of Limerick 10:52. Junior 18A: Presentation 10:42. Junior 16: Presentation 11:54.

Quadruple Sculls – Senior: Skibbereen 10:30. Intermediate One: University of Limerick 11:32. Junior 18A: 1 Skibbereen 10:29, 2 Lee 10:34, 3 Shandon 10:49. Junior 16, coxed: Clonmel 11:13.

Rolling Head (Two Kilometres)

Quadruple Sculls - Junior 15, coxed: Killorglin 7:45.

Published in Rowing
Page 1 of 2

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.

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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.

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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.”