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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: O'Malley

#Rowing: UCD’s senior eight beat Trinity by two and a quarter lengths at Trinity Regatta today. The very strong crew, stroked by David O’Malley, fashioned a lead after the second bend and held off the hosts. This may be the last time this crew rows together competitively as O’Malley, Shane Mulvaney and Shane O’Connell (who did now row at Trinity) will be called up for international duty.

In a cracking junior 18 eight final, Commercial just pipped neighbours and rivals Neptune. Garda’s Damien Kelly and Piers Ryan won the senior doubles race. Commercial, who won the women’s senior eight, also took the women’s junior 18 eight.

Trinity Regatta, Islandbridge (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Senior: UCD bt Trinity, 2 ¼ l. Club: Trinity bt UCD did not finish. Inter: UCD bt Cork BC row over. Novice: Queen’s bt Trinity easily. Junior: Commercial bt Neptune half canvas. Masters: Neptune bt Commercial ½ l.

Four – Inter, coxed: UCD bt Cork row over. Club, coxed: Neptune bt UCD A disq. Masters, coxed: Neptune bt Graiguenamanagh easily. Junior, coxed: Commercial bt Neptune row over.

Pair – Senior: UCD bt KSRV Nord easily

Sculling,

Quadruple – Nov, coxed: Commercial bt Sligo easily. Jun 18B, coxed: Commercial bt Blackrock easily. Jun 16: Commercial bt Three Castles 2l.

Double – Senior: Garda bt Tralee/Shandon 3/4l

Single – Inter: Sligo (Patterson) bt Commercial (Casey) easily. Club One: Portadown (N Hull) bt Shannon (C Carmody) 2 ½ l. Jun 18: Neptune (J Butler) bt Commercial (K Brown) 4l. Jun 16: Three Castles (Keogh) bt Three Castles (Flynn) easily. Masters: Athlone bt Commercial 3l.

Women

Eight – Senior: Commercial bt Trinity 3 ½ l Club, coxed: Commercial bt Trinity 2l. Nov: Trinity A bt KSRV Njord 2l. Jun 18: Commercial bt Graiguenamanagh easily. Jun 16: Graiguenamanagh bt Athlone easily.

Four – Inter, coxed: Trinity B bt Trinity A 1l. Club, coxed: Commercial B t Commercial A 3l.

Sculling – Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Commercial bt UCD easily.

Double - Senior: Neptune bt KSRV Njord easily.

Single – Inter: Neptune (Feerick) bt Athlone (Curley) easily. Club: Neptune (A Clark) bt Garda (J Ryan) 3l. Nov: Commercial (Ballot) bt Graiguenamanagh (B Hennessy) 3l. Jun 16: Neptune (Clarke) bt Neptune (Daymon) 2l.

Published in Rowing

Rowing: Thirty nine senior and under-23 competitors and 59 juniors have been invited to attend the Ireland trials on March 25th and 26th

Most competed at the recent Ireland trials, though David O’Malley, who could not attend, and the Spain-based Oisin and Dervla Forde have been asked to attend in March.  

Invitees to Ireland Trial, March 25th and 26th:

Men – Single, Heavyweight: S McKeown T Oliver. Under-23: D Lynch, K Mannix, D Begley, R Byrne, D Buckley, E Whittle. Lightweight: P O’ Donovan, G O’ Donovan, C Beck, D O’Connor, N O’Reilly, A Burns, L Keane. Under-23: A Goff, C Hennessy, S O’Connor, N Beggan, M Taylor, J McCarthy, F McCarthy, S O’Connell.

Pair – Lightweight: S O’Driscoll, M O’Donovan. Under-23: D O’Malley, S Mulvaney.  

Women – Single, Heavyweight: S Puspure, M Dukarska. Under-23: E Hegarty. Lightweight: D Walsh.

Pair – Heavyweight : A Keogh, A Feeley. Under-23: E Lambe, R Gilligan, T Hanlon, A Mason, D Forde, O Forde.

Juniors

Men – Sweep:

R Corrigan, A Johnston

T McKeon, D O’Byrne

C Garvey, B McKeon

C MacRae, A Wilson

J McKenna, S O’Donnell

R Balcombe, C McLaughlin

O O’ Toole, E Meehan

N Twomey, O Donaghy

M Lynch, E Jarvis

Sculling:

B O’Flynn

J Keating

O Clune

J Quinlan

T McKnight

R Quinn

E Curtin

A O’Toole

M Dundon - subject to fitness;

A Christie

E Gaffney

A Byrne

C O’Sullivan

Women – Sweep

Z McCutcheon, MJ Elliott

E O’Reilly, G McGirr

C Fee, M Kelly

M Carmody, M Tully

S Maxwell, A Keogh

M Kovacs, C Minehane

G MacNamara, K Dolan

Sculling

H Scott

M Cremen

A Casey

C Nolan

G O'Brien  

A O’Sullivan

C Browne

C Nic Donncha

R Carson

C Synnott - subject to fitness;

C Moynihan

S Burns

A Keating

E Crowley

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: David O'Malley and Shane Mulvaney finished fourth in their A Final of the under-23 lightweight pair at the World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam. Greece looked like they might dominate the race completely, but Switzerland took over and relegated them to the silver medal. Turkey took bronze - with Ireland finishing well, despite having placed well back in the early stages.

 The Ireland under-23 quadruple finished fifth in their A Final. Britain won well, taking on and beating Germany and Italy, who took the silver and bronze. As the field tightened up at the finish, Canada were fourth and Ireland won a battle with Sweden to take fifth.

World Rowing Championships, Rotterdam (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair A/B Semi-Final Two (Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 France 6:30.56, 2 Ireland (M O'Donovan, S O'Driscoll) 6:32.18, 3 United States 6:33.19; 4 Brazil 6:35.07, 5 Italy 6:37.34, 6 Spain 6:40.82.

Lightweight Single Sculls - A/B Semi-Final One (Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (P O'Donovan) 6:51.71, 2 Slovenia 6:52.31, 3 Germany 6:52.32; 4 Spain 6:53.21, 6 Italy 7:17.33. 

Under-23 Lightweight Pair - A Final: 1 Switzerland 6:26.47, 2 Greece 6:29.25, 3 Turkey 6:30.92; 4 Ireland (S Mulvaney, D O'Malley) 6:34.37, 5 China 6:44.59, 6 United States 6:52.32.

Under-23 Lightweight Quadruple - A Final: 1 Britain 5:53.15, 2 Germany 5:54.68, 3 Italy 5:54.74; 3 Canada 5:55.96, 5 Ireland (F McCarthy, S O'Connell, S O'Connor, C Hennessy) 5:57.67, 6 Sweden 5:58.19.

Under-23 Quadruple Sculls - B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Russia 5:54.0; 6 Ireland (D Buckley, J Casey, P Boomer, S McKeown) 6:01.78.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland’s David O’Malley and Shane Mulvaney became the country’s first A Finalists at the World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam today. The under-23 lightweight pair won their semi-final with almost three seconds to spare. The two UCD men took over from early leaders Turkey by half way and then left the rest behind. Turkey finished second and the United States ousted Canada to take the third A Final spot.

World Rowing Championships, Rotterdam (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Under-23 Lightweight Pair - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) - Semi-Final One: 1 Greece 6:39.18, 2 Switzerland 6:40.01, 3 China 6:44.52. Semi-Final Two: 1 Ireland (S Mulvaney, D O’Malley) 6:46.20, 2 Turkey 6:49.11, 3 United States 6:50.75.

Published in Rowing

# Rowing: Ireland’s campaign at the World Championships in Rotterdam, which feature senior, under-23 and junior events, started well this morning. The Ireland Under-23 lightweight pair of David O’Malley and Shane Mulvaney secured a semi-final place. Greece and Turkey swapped places ahead of them, but the Ireland crew nailed down third and direct qualification. Germany struggled and could only take fourth and a repechage place. Turkey passed Greece before the line.

World Rowing Championships, Rotterdam (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Under-23 Lightweight Pair - Heat Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Turkey 6:39.80, 2 Greece 6:40.70, 3 Ireland (S Mulvaney, D O’Malley) 6:45.09.  

Published in Rowing

ROWING: David O’Malley won the junior single sculls title at the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre today. The St Michael’s man carved out an early lead over last year’s champion Conor Carmoday of Shannon and stretched it to two and a half lengths by half way. Carmody, under pressure himself from Waterford’s Andrew Goff, cut the lead in the closing stages, but O’Malley held on.

The men’s senior doubles was won impressively by Gary O’Donovan and Shane O’Donovan of Skibbereen from Eimantas Grigalius and Dave Neale of Three Castles, while NUIG/Cork won the women’s senior four. The women’s junior doubles was won by Oisin and Dervla Forde, who live in Torrevieja in Spain, but were campaigning for Cork Boat Club.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork (Selected Results, Finals)

Men

Four, coxed – Intermediate: 1 NUIG 6:26.37, 2 Carlow 6:29.33, 3 Neptune 6:36.71.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: 1 Queen’s 6:49.52, 2 Clonmel 7:01.83, 3 Kenmare 7:17.56.

Double – Senior: 1 Skibbereen 6:30.22, 2 Three Castles 6:34.96, 3 UCC 6:45.32.

Single – Junior: 1 St Michael’s (D O’Malley), 2 Shannon (C Carmody), 3 Waterford (A Goff).

Women

Four – Senior: 1 NUIG/Cork 6:57.92, 2 Trinity 7:09.18, 3 Skibbereen 7:16.93.

Four, coxed – Club: 1 NUIG A 7:25.50, 2 UCC 7:33.87, 3 Skibbereen 7:38.30.

Pair – Intermediate: 1 St Michael’s 7:49.72, 2 Trinity 7:53.27, 3 Shannon 7:53.29.

Sculling

Double – Junior: 1 Cork 7:26.87, 2 Belfast 7:32.25, 3 Commercial 7:36.33.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Ireland’s Eimear Lambe and Jasmine English came within .07 of a second of an A Final placing at the European Junior Rowing Championships in Hazewinkel in Belgium today. The Russia double scull edged out the Irish. Lambe and English later placed sixth in the B Final.

Conor Carmody and David O’Malley won the C Final of the men’s double sculls, placing them 13th overall. They had earlier won their semi-final.

The Ireland junior pair and women’s single competed in C Finals, but were not contenders.Both finished fourth of four crews.

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

Saturday

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.

Sunday

Men

Pair – C Final (13 to 16): 4 Ireland.

Double – C/D Semi-Final Two: 1 Ireland. C Final:

Women

Double – A/B Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final): 1 Netherlands 7:19.32, 2 Lithuania 7:24.83, 3 Russia 7:25.57, 4 Ireland 7:24.64. B Final (Places 7 to 12): 6 Ireland.

Single – C Final (13 to 16): 4 Ireland.  

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

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.”