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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: Ghent

#Rowing: Carlow’s Sadhbh Scully and Keara Egan won the junior 18 women’s double at Ghent regatta on Sunday – first of 18 competing crews. Castleconnell won the women’s junior 18 quadruple, another competitive event, with 10 crews completing the course. Both clubs did well over the two days, as did Three Castles, Methodist College, Belfast, Cork and Commercial, whose senior men’s eight took second on the Sunday.

Ghent Spring Regatta, Belgium (Selected Results; Irish interest):

Saturday

Men

Sculling, Quadruple: 3 Lagan Scullers. Junior: 5 Three Castles.

Double – Jun: 3 Three Castles (L Flynn, A Keogh)

Single – Jun: 5 Cork (P Beechinor) 7:41.32.

Women

Eight – Junior: 1 Commercial 7:25.17.

Four – Jun: 1 Castleconnell 7:32.0, 2 Commercial 7:37.27.

Pair - Senior: 2 Anna Liffey (C Dempsey, D Maguire). Under-23: Cork (J Duggan, C O’Sullivan) 8:11.24. Junior: 1 Cork (J Duggan, C O’Sullivan) 7:59.94, 2 Castleconnell (L O’Brien, N Kiely) 8:04.33.

Sculling

Double – Junior: 5 Carlow.

Lightweight Single: 2 Skibbereen (O Hayes). Under-23: 1 Carlow (K Egan) 8:49.25. Junior: 6 Carlow (S Scully).  

Sunday

Men

Eight – Senior: 2 Commercial. Four, coxed- Jun 18: 2 Methodist College, Belfast. Junior 16: 2 Castleconnell.  

Sculling, Quadruple: 2 Three Castles.

Double – Jun 18: 4 Cork (Beechinor, M Cronin) 7:08.14.

Single – Under-23 Lightweight: 2 Castleconnell (B Frohburg). Jun 18: 3 Three Castles (Flynn), 5 Three Castles (Tiarnan McKnight), 6 Three Castles (Keogh).   

Women

Four – Jun: 1 Commercial 7:41.73, 2 Castleconnell.

Pair – Sen: 3 Anna Liffey (Dempsey, Maguire). Under-23: Cork (Duggan, O’Sullivan) 8:47.59. Jun: Cork (Duggan, O’Sullivan) 8:12.36, 3 Commercial.

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun 18: 1 Castleconnell 7:21.72. Jun 16: 3 Castleconnell, 4 Carlow.  

Double – Jun 18: 1 Carlow (Scully, Egan) 7:58.26.

Single – Lightweight: 2 Skibbereen (Hayes). Lwt U-23: 1 Carlow (Egan) 8:56.71. Jun 18: 3 Carlow (Scully); 5 Cork (H Gahan).

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Castleconnell won the award as best junior club at Ghent International Regatta today. Their boys and girls reeled off a set of impressive results over the two days: on Sunday, the women’s junior pair won, while there were second places for the junior men’s four, pair and double and the junior women’s quadruple, which took on international-class Belgian opposition. The women’s under-23 double also won.  

 Saturday had been good for a number of Ireland clubs. Forty-one crews competed in the men’s junior single sculls – and Irish crews filled the first two places. Jack Butler of King’s Hospital won, with Rory O’Neill of Castleconnell just two seconds slower. The Castleconnell junior men’s four won and their women’s junior double of Niamh Kiely and Lauren O’Brien took second amongst 51 crews which competed.  

 Over the two days, other Irish crews to record wins included Skibbereen – which won both the women’s senior pair and the men’s junior 16 quadruple – and Commercial, which on Saturday won the junior women’s pair through Aoife Molony and Grace Healy and the junior women’s eight.

 At Lee Regatta on Saturday, Shandon won the junior men’s 18 eight and Cork the women’s junior 18 eights.

Ghent International May Regatta (Irish interest, selected results)

Saturday

­Men

Four – Junior: 1 Castleconnell.

Pair – Jun: 2 Castleconnell (J O’Donovan, C Mulready); 3 Castleconnell (B Frohburg, D Ryan)

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun 18: 3 Skibbereen (D Kavanagh, E O’Connor, F O’Reilly, F O’Regan). Jun 16: 1 Skibbereen (Kavanagh, O’Connor, O’Reilly, Regan).

Single – Jun: 1 King’s Hospital (J Butler), 2 Castleconnell (R O’Neill).

Women

Eight – Jun: 1 Commercial, 2 Carlow. Pair – Jun: 1 Commercial (A Molony, G Healy).

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun: 2 Castleconnell (N Kiely, L O’Brien, N Silke, S Byrnes).

Single – Under-23: 3 Castleconnell (P Silke).

Double – Jun: 3 Castleconnell (N Kiely, L O’Brien).

Single – Under-23: 2 Castleconnell (C O’Brien). Lightweight Single – Sen: 3 Skibbereen (O Hayes).  

Sunday

Men

Four – Jun: 2 Castleconnell (B Frohburg, J O’Donovan, C Mulready, D Ryan)

Pair – Jun 18: 2 Castleconnell (O’Donovan, Mulready), 3 Castleconnell (Frohburg, Mulready), 3

Sculling

Double – Jun: 2 Castleconnell (J Desmond, R O’Neill). Jun 16: 3 Skibbereen (E O’Connor, F O’Reilly)

Women

Eight: 2 Commercial, 3 Carlow.

Pair – Sen: 1 Skibbereen (A McCarthy, N Casey), 2 Commercial (H O’Neill, R Morris). Jun: 1 Castleconnell (N Silke, S Byrnes); 3 Commercial (A Moloney, G Healy).

Sculling, Quadruple: 2 Castleconnell.

Double – U-23: 2 Castleconnell (C O’Brien, S Gilmore). Jun 16: 2 Carlow (S Scully, K Egan).

Single – Lightweight: 3 Skibbereen (O Hayes).

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Neptune won the men’s junior 18 eight and Commercial were second at the Ghent International May Regatta in Belgium. Commercial’s Gillian Crowe and Hazel O’Neill won the women’s senior pair.

Commercial crews finished 1-2-3 of the eight crews which competed in the junior women’s pair.

Aaron Keogh of Three Castles won the junior 16 single sculls – first of 39 competitors and Jack Butler of Neptune was third of 28 in the junior 18 singles.

Cork took second in the women’s junior eight, while New Ross were third in the women’s junior quadruple.

Ghent International May Regatta, Belgium (Irish interest; selected results, finals)

Men

Eight: 1 Neptune 6:04.89, 2 Commercial 6:07.61.

Four, coxed – Jun 18: 1 Commercial 7:00.29 (two crews).

Pair – Sen: 2 Commercial (D Joyce, M Maher) 6:57.08. Under-23: 1 St Michael’s (T McKeon, D O’Byrne) 7:14.20, 3 St Michael’s (B McKeon, C Garvey) 7:15.78. Jun 18: 3 St Michael’s (T McKeon, D O’Byrne) 7:11.18.

Sculling

Quadruple – Jun 18: 2 Three Castles 6:21.19.

Double – Jun: 3 Three Castles (R Quinn, O Clune) 6:48.19.

Single: 3 S McKeown 7:25.96. Lightweight: 2 St Michael’s (D O’Connor) 7:21.71. Jun 18: 3 Neptune (J Butler) 7:42.19. Jun 16: 1 Three Castles (A Keogh) 7:38.98.

Women

Eight – Junior: 2 Cork 7:05.83, 3 Commercial 7:20.22.

Four – Jun: 2 Commercial 7:42.63.

Pair – Sen: 2 Commercial (G Crowe, H O’Neill) 7:50.48. Jun: 1 Commercial (A Keogh, S Maxwell) 8:14.43, 2 Commercial (G McNamara, K Dolan) 8:23.96, 3 Commercial (C Ryan, A O’Rourke) 8:39.88.

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun: 3 New Ross 7:22.57.

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Irish clubs had some excellent placings on Saturday at the Ghent International May Regatta in Belgium. Commercial and Neptune finished first and second in the junior men’s eight and Commercial also finished second in the women’s junior eight and four, and second and third in the junior women’s pair. The Three Castles junior double of Rory Quinn and Oisin Clune took silver – second of 47 crews which competed. New Ross were the second-placed crew in the junior quadruple.

In the adult events, which generally had smaller entries, St Michael’s had wins through Declan O’Connor, Ben McKeon and Colm Garvey, while Skibbereen’s Orla Hayes won the lightweight women’s single. Sam McKeown of Queen’s University finished second to Dave Bell of Molesey in the senior single sculls.

Ghent International May Regatta, Belgium (Irish interest; selected results; Saturday)

Men

Eight – Junior: 1 Commercial 6:42.02, 2 Neptune 6:47.0.

Four – Junior: 2 Commercial 7:01.64. Four, coxed – Junior: 2 Neptune 7:13.78.

Pair – Senior: 1 Commercial (D Joyce, M Maher) 7:45.01 Under-23 (Two Crews): 1 St Michael’s (B McKeon, C Garvey) 8:22.06, 2 St Michael’s (T McKeon, D O’Byrne) 8:23.88. Lightweight Pair: 1 St Michael’s (B McKeon, C Garvey) 8:09.34. Junior: 2 St Michael’s (T McKeon, D O’Byrne) 7:36.89.

Quadruple – Junior: 2 Three Castles 6:48.14.

Double – Junior: 2 Three Castles (R Quinn, O Clune) 7:18.24.

Single – Senior: 2 Queen’s (S McKeown) 8:03.56. Lightweight: 1 St Michael’s (D O’Connor) 7:05.24. Under-23 Lightweight: 3 Queen’s (M Taylor) 8:13.94.

Women

Eight – Junior: 2 Commercial 7:52.67, 3 Cork BC 8:04.40.

Four – Junior: 2 Commercial 8:18.63, 3 New Ross 8:27.38.

Pair – Senior: 3 Commercial (H O’Neill, G Crowe) 9:06.60. Junior: 2 Commercial (A Keogh, S Maxwell) 8:57.17, 3 Commercial (G McNamara, K Dolan) 9:03.31.

Sculling – Quadruple – Junior: 2 New Ross 7:52.00.

Lightweight Single: 1 Skibbereen (O Hayes) 8:52.88.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Skibbereen had an excellent couple of days on Continental waters at the weekend. Gary and Paul O’Donovan (a UCD man) won gold in Germany, while at the International Regatta at Ghent, Emily Hegarty and Aoife Casey won the junior double on Saturday and finished second in the under-23 double on Sunday. Aoife Casey is the daughter of Dominic Casey, coach of the Ireland lightweight double.   

 The Cork Boat Club junior 18 coxed four won on Sunday, and Commercial quadruple matched the feat. Jack Keating of Carlow won the junior 16 single sculls – ahead of 29 other competitors.

International Regatta, Ghent (Irish interest; selected results)

Saturday

Men

Four – Junior, coxed: 2 Cork BC 7:14.28.

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior: 3 Carlow 6:41.75.

Women

Eight – Junior: 2 Commercial 7:58.48. Pair: 2 UCD/Queen’s (R Maguire, S Bennett) 8:49.09. Junior Pair: 2 Cork (A Mason, T Hanlon) 8:26.06.

Sculling, Double – Under-23: Belfast BC/UCD (A Crowley, E Lambe) 8:07.09. Junior: Skibbereen (A Casey, E Hegarty) 8:09.44. Single – Junior: 2 Skibbereen (E Hegarty) 8:36.86.

Sunday

Men

Four – Junior 18, coxed: 1 Cork BC 7:30.35.

Pair – Senior: 3 Commercial 8:00.52

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior: 1 Commercial 6:51.30, 2 Carlow 6:51.67. Junior 16: 3 New Ross 8:37.29. Single – Junior 16: Carlow (J Keating

Women

Eight – Junior: 3 Commercial 8:34.60.

Four – Junior: 3 Cork 8:20.55.  

Pair – Senior: 3 UCD (E Lambe, O Finnegan) 9:11.89.

Sculling, Double – Under-23: 2 Skibbereen (A Casey, E Hegarty) 8:26.01, 3 Belfast BC/UCD (Crowley, O Blundell) 8:34.18.

Published in Rowing
Tagged under

#ROWING: Colaiste Iognaid carried their good form into a second day at the Ghent International Regatta in Belgium today. The Galway school club won the junior men’s coxed four and their coxless four finished second in their final. Carrie Nolan of New Ross won a two-boat under-23 single sculls final, while Waterford’s Raymond O’Mahony and Andrew Goff were third in the men’s under-23 double sculls.Waterford finished third in the junior women's quadruple sculls.

Ghent International Regatta (Irish interest; selected results)

Saturday

Men

Four – Junior: 2 Colaiste Iognaid (A Coyne, D McCarthy, L Rigney,

D Coen)

Pair – Senior: 3 Lady Elizabeth (B Smyth, S King).

Women

Sculling, Single, Junior 18: 2 Commercial (A Rodger)

Sunday

Men

Four, coxed: 1 Coláiste Iognáid (K McGlacken, E Walls-Tuite, L Rigney, D Coen; cox: D Young). Four: 2 Col Iognaid (Rigney, McCarthy, Coyne, Coen).

Pair – Senior: 3 Lady Elizabeth (Smyth, King).

Sculling, Double – Senior B: 3 Waterford (R O’Mahony, A Goff).

Women

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior 18: 3 Fermoy (A Walsh, S Murphy, K Bartley, S Cotter).

Single – Senior B: 1 New Ross (C Nolan).

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Aisling Rodger of Commercial finished second in the junior women’s single sculls and the Coláiste Iognáid junior four matched her achievement at the Ghent International Regatta in Belgium today. In the men’s senior pair Brendan Smyth and Stuart King of Lady Elizabeth finished third. Joel Cassells, a former Bann junior oarsman, was part of the Oxford Brookes senior eight which won.

Ghent International Regatta (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Four – Junior: 2 Colaiste Iognaid (A Coyne, D McCarthy, L Rigney,

D Coen)

Pair – Senior: 3 Lady Elizabeth (B Smyth, S King).

Women

Sculling, Single, Junior 18: 2 Commercial (A Rodger)

Published in Rowing

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.”