Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Storm Brendan

Courtown’s sanctuary for rescued seals has something of a ‘local celebrity’ among its number, as the Irish Mirror reports.

Bottlebrush — one of 10 young seals recovered during Storm Brendan that are currently in the care of Seal Rescue Ireland — won the hearts of Hook Lighthouse staff who discovered the pup next to the iconic light a week ago.

It’s thought that Bottlebrush became separated from his mother during last week’s stormy conditions, and was found in poorly condition — suffering from congestion and a “deep painful cough”, according to Seal Rescue Ireland’s Sam Brittain.

Bottlebrush at Hook Lighthouse (via Facebook)

Along with three other new patients at the marine wildlife sanctuary, grey seal Bottlebrush has been named after Australian flora to raise awareness of efforts to help Australians affected by the recent bushfires.

While not very story at Seal Rescue Ireland is a happy one, as the centre recently lost little Heath who was suffering from a severe abscess on his shoulder, one with a more positive turn as of late is Cloudberry — the Arctic ringed seal found earlier this month in Co Kerry.

It’s still not known how the pup wound up hundreds of miles south of her home region, but it’s suspected that record high temperatures in northern Russia this winter have been forcing female Arctic seals to seek shelter in unusual spots.

Published in Marine Wildlife

The newest Stena Line ferry is expected to begin sailing the Dublin to Holyhead route on the Irish Sea today.

The 215m (705ft) Stena Estrid, writes Independent.ie, is described as "one of the most advanced vessels in operation", with space to carry 120 cars and 1,000 passengers.

The ship's official maiden voyage, a 8.55am sailing from Holyhead to Dublin, has been delayed due to adverse weather coinciding with Storm Brendan, but a 2.50pm departure from Dublin remains on schedule as we publish.

For more click the newspaper here in addition to Welsh coverage from the NorthWalesLive. 

In an update, Afloat adds that the corresponding sailing from the Irish capital has been delayed this afternoon. According to the Stena Line website, the 'new generation' ropax ferry has been delayed approximately by an hour due adverse weather conditions.  

Published in Ferry

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.