Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

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: Queen's

#Rowing: NUIG had a very good first day at the Irish Championships at the National Rowing Centre, taking four titles.

They won the women's senior four, the women's intermediate eight and the women's club coxed four. Sadhbh O'Connor and Fiona Murtagh added the women's senior double sculls for the Galway club.

Enniskillen took two notable titles: their men's junior eight came through under pressure from Colaiste Iognaid, and the women's junior four won from Bann.

Fionnan Crowley retained his title in the men's senior single sculls. The Castleconnell man - a brother of Aileen, who was doing well in the Ireland pair at Rotterdam - won by under a length from Niall Beggan of Commercial, who came at him hard in the closing stages.

UCD's senior four also successfully defended their title.

Tom Kelly won the junior single - the first Championships for the Kenmare club. Kelly, who turns 17 next month, is coached by Noel Casey, who is 85. Casey as based in Britain for decades and coached British women's crews to the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Carlow's Sadhbh Scully and Ciara Egan won the women's junior double - a first title at this level for the club.

Trinity won the men's club eight in a good race, while Cork Boat Club won the men's intermediate coxed four, and Anna Liffey the women's intermediate pair.

NUIG pushed Queen's hard in the men's novice coxed quadruple, but the Belfast men came through. The women's novice coxed quad from Queen's also won, giving them two victories on a busy day.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Queen’s had a good day at the Lagan Scullers’ Head of the River in Belfast on Saturday. Sam McKeown was the fastest single sculler in the first head, and was most closely matched by three other men from his college club. Queen’s also had the fastest quadruple and double on the day.

Lagan Scullers’ Head, Saturday (Draft Results; selected)

Head One: 1 Queen’s (S McKeown; men’s senior single) 12 mins 15.8, 2 Queen’s (M Taylor, sen single) 12:49.7, 3 Queen’s (R Corrigan) 13:03.9; 5 Enniskillen RBC jun 16 double (T Murphy) 13:12.6, 7 Enniskillen jun 15 coxed quad (D Howe) 13:16.1; 15 Methody (C Purdy; jun 18A single) 14:13.8; 30 Bann (K Shirlow; women’s intermediate single) 15:06.3, 31 Belfast BC jun 18A women’s double (S Gordon) 15:07.8. 60 Coleraine GS (G Lenaghan; women’s jun 15 single) 16:36.6.

Head Two: Queen’s men’s sen quad (M Taylor) 11:01.3; 3 Methody men’s jun 16 quad (T Fleming) 13:08.1; 8 Enniskillen jun 18 double (J Timoney) 14:29.2; 9 Bann (A Christie; inter single) 14:31.1; 16 Belfast BC women’s jun 16 coxed quad 15:05.7; 19 Queen’s (R Smylie; women’s sen single) 15:28.3; 25 Belfast BC (L McCoy; women’s jun 18A single) 16:16.5; 27 Belfast RC (K Foster; men’s club two single) 16:24.8. 34  Carrick on Shannon women’s jun 15 quad 17:07.1. 36 Belfast BC women’s novice double 17:16.0; 42 Enniskillen (L Paton; men’s jun 15 single) 17:35.5. 51 Queen’s (C Hagan; men’s nov single) 18:30.4

Head Three: 1 Queen’s men’s sen double (H Moore) 12:30.4, 2 Enniskillen RBC jun 18A quad (J Timoney) 13:07.8; 7 Belfast BC women’s jun 18A quad (P Mullan) 14:13.3; 10 Methody men’s jun 18B coxed quad (A Waly) 14:31.0; 15 Carrick on Shannon (T Ó Donaile; men’s jun 16 single) 15:41.0, 16 Coleraine GS men’s jun 15 double (O Leitch) 15:41.9, 19 Belfast BC women’s jun 16 double (K Dick) 15:59.8; 40 Lagan Scullers’ women’s jun 15 double (E Darby) 17:04.4.   

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Philp Doyle of Queen’s and Ronan Byrne of UCC won the Championship Double and Sam McKeown of Queen’s the Championship Single on the second day of London Metropolitan Regatta at Dorney Lake today. Doyle and Byrne form part of the Ireland training group at the National Rowing Centre. Tristan Orlic of Neptune also took the junior 18 singles at Dorney. Commercial competed in the Challenge Eight and won a trophy.

London Metropolitan Regatta, Dorney Lake (Irish interest; selected results, winners unless stated)

Saturday

Men

Eight – Championship: 1 Leander 5:49.90, 2 Commercial 5:52.74.

Four – Championship: 3 Commercial 6:12.20. Tier Two: Shandon.

Four, coxed – Tier Three: Tribesmen 6:32.26. Academic, Tier Two: NUIG.

Pair – Tier Two: UCC 7:14.93.

Double Sculls – Championship: 2 UCC (R Byrne, H Sutton) 6:32.50. Tier Two: Castleconnell 6:42.50.

Single Sculls – Championship: 2 UCC (R Byrne) 7:03.99. Tier Two: Univ of Limerick (K Mannix) 7:18.36. Tier Three: St Michael’s (D O’Connor).

Women

Eight – Club, Tier Two: NUIG/Tribesmen 6:50.64. Academic, Tier Two: Trinity 6:57.77.

Four – Academic, Tier Two: Trinity 7:08.62.

Four, coxed – Championship: NUIG/Tribesmen 7:20.88. Tier Four: Univ of Limerick.

Pair – Championship: 2 Commercial (H O’Neill, R Morris) 7:46.57. Tier Two: NUIG 7:39.84.

Double Sculls – Championship: 3 London/Skibbereen (M Jackson, N Long) 7:28.48.

Sunday

Men

Four – Tier Four: UCC 6:47.80. Four, coxed – Tier Two: UCC 6:55.08.

Double – Championship: UCC/Queen’s (R Byrne, P Doyle) 6:28.43. Tier Two: UCC/Queen’s (Byrne, Doyle) 6:37.50.

Single – Championship: Queen’s (S McKeown) 7:11.67. Tier Three: Castleconnell (S Haugh) 7:29.95. Jun 18: Neptune (T Orlic) 7:53.76.

Women

Four, coxed – Tier Two: NUIG/Tribesmen 7:45.07. Tier Three: Univ of Limerick 7:49.44.

Pair – Tier Two: Cork 7:22.18.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Queen’s University won the Championships Quadruple at the BUCS Regatta in Nottingham today. The crew of Nathan Hull, Sam McKeown, Philip Doyle and Tiernan Oliver beat Reading into second and Oxford Brookes into third. The Queen’s women’s Beginners’ eight took silver in their race.

BUCS Regatta, Nottingham (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Sculling, Quadruple – Championship: 1 Queen’s (N Hull, S McKeown, P Doyle, T Oliver) 6:05.57, 2 Reading 6:08.22, 3 Oxford Brookes 6:10.22.

Women

Eight – Beginners’: 1 Edinburgh 7:15.28, 2 Queen’s 7:24.25.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: UCD’s Eimear Lambe and Aileen Crowley had an impressive win in the women’s senior pair in the deferred finals at the start of the third day of the Irish Championships at the National Rowing Centre. Skibbereen and Cork were in the touch with the UCD women until 1500 metres, but Lambe and Crowley left the rest behind from there and won by 10 seconds from Skibbereen.

Queen’s were also impressive in their win in the men’s novice eight, and Sanita Puspure won the senior single sculls with plenty to spare.

The junior 16 men’s eight went to Enniskillen, who thus completed the set of wins: the junior 18 and 16 eights for men and women.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Day Three (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Novice: Queen’s 6:21.56.

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior: 1 Three Castles 6:21.53, 2 Shandon 6:22.75, 3 Clonmel 6:23.05.

Women

Pair – Senior: UCD (A Crowley, E Lambe) 7:37.41.

Sculling, Single – Senior: Old Collegians (S Pupsure) 8:02.64.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Queen’s University, Belfast, had some excellent results at the British University (BUCS) Regatta at Nottingham. Their men’s crews won 11 medals including three golds. The Beginners’ eight and coxed four won, as did Miles Taylor in the men’s intermediate lightweight single sculls. Philip Doyle took silver in the men’s Championship single sculls and Sam McKeown matched this in the men’s intermediate single sculls. Taylor and Chris Beck teamed up to take silver in the Championship lightweight double, and the Championship and Beginners’ quadruples also took silver.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Lee’s junior women won the Division One double sculls at the Skibbereen Regatta at the National Rowing Centre. Margaret Cremen and Claire Synott had already taken the Division One quadruple, in combination with Eimear Cummins and Maedbh Heaney. Queen’s won the men’s double and the men’s four, where they were involved in a two-boat race with UCC. The women’s four gave UCD the opportunity for an emphatic victory.

Skibbereen Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Saturday (selected results)

 Men

Eight – Division Two – A Final: 1 Trinity A (novice) 6:18.4; 2 UCC (club two) 6:22.0; 4 Cork (jun 18B) 6:30.7. B Final: Shandon (jun 16) 6:33.9.

Four – Division One – A Final: 1 Queen’s (sen) 6:37.6, 2 UCC (sen) 6:44.1. Division One (coxed) – A Final: 1 NUIG (sen) 6:52.4, 2 Queen’s (club one) 6:56.1, 3 Trinity (club one) 6:56.9; 5 St Joseph’s A (jun 18A) 7:02.2. B Final: 1 UCC (inter) 6:58.4. Div Two (coxed) – A Final: 1 Cork BC (jun 18B) 7:12.8; 2 Commercial B (club two) 7:14.1. B Final: Presentation, Cork (jun 16) 7:37.1.

 Pair – Division One – A Final: 1 Trinity (sen) 6:56.8, 2 Commercial A (sen) 7:00.0, 3 Commercial C (sen) 7:01.2; 5 UCC (inter) 7:11.3. B Final: 1 Trinity A (sen) 7:12.4; 4 Queen’s (club one) 7:27.1.

Sculling, Quadruple – Division One – A Final: 1 Shandon/Athlone (sen) 6:15.0, 2 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:16.1, 3 Commercial (jun 18A) 6:22.7. B Final: 1 Skibbereen (inter) 6:39.5; 2 Queen’s (club one) 6:46.1.

 Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Queen’s (sen) 6:44.1, 2 Shandon/Clonmel (sen) 6:50.3, 3 Castleconnell (inter) 6:53.4. B Final: 1 Belfast BC (inter) 7:05.7. Div Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (jun 18B) 7:04.6; 2 Skibbereen (club two) 7:11.9. B Final: 2 Waterford (jun 16) 7:26.1.

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Queen’s (P Doyle, sen) 7:18.2, 2 Clonmel (D Lynch; jun 18A) 7:18.5, 3 Queen’s (C Beck; lwt) 7:24.3; 4 Skibbereen (F McCarthy; inter) 7:26.4. B Final: 1 Garda (D Kelly; sen) 7:32.8; 5 UCC (D Synott; club one) 7:46.2. Div Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (O’Brien; club two) 7:41.8; 2 Lee Valley (C Cummins; jun 18B) 7:43.8; 5 Carlow (J Keating; jun 16) 7:58.0.

 Women

Eight – Div Two – A Final: 1 UCD (club two) 7:02.8; 3 Shandon (jun 18B); 5 Col Iognaid (jun 16). B Final: 4 Trinity A (nov) 7:44.2. Four – Division One – A Final: 1 UCD (sen) 7:20.9, 2 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:34.9, 3 Trinity B (sen) 7:35.3.

Division One (coxed) – A Final: Commercial (inter) 7:36.9, 2 UCD (sen) 7:37.5, 3 St Michael’s (inter) 7:46.8; 4 Queen’s (club one) 7:55.8. B Final: 1 NUIG (club one) 7:44.3.

Pair – Div One – A Final: 1 Cork (jun 18A) 7:55.47, 2 UCC (inter) 8:08.1, 3 Queen’s (inter) 8:14.8; 4 Trinity (club one) 8:21.6.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Division One – A Final: 1 Lee (jun 18A) 7:20.4, 2 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:25.1, 3 Fermoy (club one) 7:27.3; 4 UCC (inter) 7:30.2, 5 Belfast BC, Queen’s, Fermoy (sen) 7:30.9. B Final: Commercial (jun 18A) 7:47.6. Div Two – A Final: 1 Cork A (jun 18B) 7:46.4; 2 Workman’s (jun 16) 7:49.0; 6 St Michael’s (club two) 8:15.6. C Final: 5 Univ of Limerick (nov) 8:56.2.

Double – Division One – A Final: 1 Lee (jun 18A): 7:42.4, 2 Neptune (jun1 18A) 7:50.3, 3 Trinity (inter) 7:54.4; 4 Skibbereen (sen) 8:10.5. B Final: 1 NUIG A (club one) 8:11.5.

 Div Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (club two) 8:02.4; 2 Carlow (jun 18B) 8:08.6; 3 Workman’s (jun 16) 8:11.0.

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska; sen) 7:55.4, 2 Skibbereen (D Walsh; sen) 7:58.9, 3 Skibbereen (S Dolan; sen) 8:05.8; 4 Skibbereen (E Hegarty; jun 18A) 8:12.6, 5 UCD (A Crowley; inter) 8:20.4. B Final: 1 Skibbereen (O Hayes; lightweight) 8:27.7; 4 Belfast BC (O Blundell; club one) 8:32.8. C Final: 1 Garda (B Larsen; inter) 8:36.81. 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Philip Doyle of Queen’s University beat Daire Lynch of Clonmel by three tenths of a second in the Division One A Final of the men’s single sculls at Skibbereen Regatta today. Monika Dukarska won the women’s equivalent, with lightweight oarswoman Denise Walsh second. Trinity took the men’s senior pair through Patrick Moreau and Michael Corcoran and their men’s novice eight won the Division Two A Final. Cork Boat Club won the women’s Division One pair with their junior crew.  

Skibbereen Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Saturday (selected results)

 Men

Eight – Division Two – A Final: 1 Trinity A (novice) 6:18.4; 2 UCC (club two) 6:22.0; 4 Cork (jun 18B) 6:30.7. B Final: Shandon (jun 16) 6:33.9.

 Pair – Division One – A Final: 1 Trinity (sen) 6:56.8, 2 Commercial A (sen) 7:00.0, 3 Commercial C (sen) 7:01.2; 5 UCC (inter) 7:11.3. B Final: 1 Trinity A (sen) 7:12.4; 4 Queen’s (club one) 7:27.1.

Sculling,

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Queen’s (P Doyle, sen) 7:18.2, 2 Clonmel (D Lynch; jun 18A) 7:18.5, 3 Queen’s (C Beck; lwt) 7:24.3; 4 Skibbereen (F McCarthy; inter) 7:26.4. B Final: 1 Garda (D Kelly; sen) 7:32.8; 5 UCC (D Synott; club one) 7:46.2. C Final: Portadown (S McKeown; sen) 7:25.0

 Women

Pair – Div One – A Final: 1 Cork (jun 18A) 7:55.47, 2 UCC (inter) 8:08.1, 3 Queen’s (inter) 8:14.8; 4 Trinity (club one) 8:21.6.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Div Two – A Final: 1 Cork A (jun 18B) 7:46.4; 2 Workman’s (jun 16) 7:49.0; 6 St Michael’s (club two) 8:15.6. C Final: 5 Univ of Limerick (nov) 8:56.2.

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska; sen) 7:55.4, 2 Skibbereen (D Walsh; sen) 7:58.9, 3 Skibbereen (S Dolan; sen) 8:05.8; 4 Skibbereen (E Hegarty; jun 18A) 8:12.6, 5 UCD (A Crowley; inter) 8:20.4. B Final: 1 Skibbereen (O Hayes; lightweight) 8:27.7; 4 Belfast BC (O Blundell; club one) 8:32.8. C Final: 1 Garda (B Larsen; inter) 8:36.81. 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Trinity emerged as the top college at the University Championships of Ireland at the National Rowing Centre today. The combined points total of women’s and men’s crews was 66, ten more than Queen’s University and 14 ahead of UCD. The Wylie Cup was won by NUIG by virtue of their wins in the men’s intermediate and club eights, while Trinity won the Bank of Ireland Cup for women. The men’s senior eights final again saw Trinity beaten by UCD, by half a length. The verdict in the women’s senior eight was the same – but the result was reversed.

University Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Friday (Selected Results)

 Overall: 1 Trinity (DUBC and DULBC combined) 66 points, 2 Queen’s University 56pts, 3 UCD 52pts. Wylie Cup (men): NUIG. Bank of Ireland Cup (women): Trinity.  

Men

Eight – Senior: 1 UCD, 2 Trinity, 3 NUIG; ½ l, 3l. Inter: NUIG. Club: NUIG. Novice: Trinity A 2½ l.

Four, Sen: 1 UCC, 2 Trinity; canvas. Inter: NUIG. Club, coxed: UCC.

Pair – Sen: 1 UCD, 2 NUIG, 3 Trinity A; 6l, 6l.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Queen’s. Double – Inter: Queen’s. Single – Senior: 1 Queen’s (P Doyle), 2 Belfast Met (S McKeown), 3 Queen’s (C Beck); 2 ½ l, ½ l. Inter: Cork IT (Hennessy).

Women

Eight –Senior: 1 Trinity A, 2 UCD, 3 Trinity B; ½ l, dist.  Inter: Trinity. Club: Queen’s. Novice: UCD.

Four – Sen: 1 Trinity A, 2 UCD, 3 Trinity; ¾ l, dist. Inter, coxed: Queen’s. Club, coxed: Trinity A.

Pair – Sen: Trinity.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Dublin IT A.

Double – Inter: Trinity A.

Single – Senior: IT Tralee (M Dukarska).  Inter: UCC (Bouanane).

Published in Rowing

#Rower of the Month: Philip Doyle of Queen’s University is the Afloat Rower of the Month for February. The big medical student was the fastest single sculler at the Lagan Scullers’ Head of the River. He covered the course in under 12 minutes and had just over 17 seconds to spare over Portadown’s Sam McKeown.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, and David O'Brien, editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2016. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2016 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month
Page 1 of 3

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.”