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Displaying items by tag: Invergordon

Invergordon RNLI’s volunteer lifeboat crew launched at 8.36pm last night (Saturday 23 November) to reports of a vessel with no power drifting towards oil rigs in the Cromarty Firth.

The all-weather Trent class lifeboat Douglas Aikman Smith made best speed to the location of two anchored oil rigs — iconic fixtures in the firth — with the two male occupants of the stricken RIB signalling their location by head torch.

After suffering engine trouble shortly after setting off from Nigg, the RIB had drifted a considerable distance with the incoming tide, coming close to the unmanned structures before the lifeboat arrived on scene five minutes after launching.

With no medical issues and the casualties assessed, the lifeboat took the 10ft RIB under tow to Nigg slipway to be recovered and escorted its two crew safely ashore in the lifeboat’s XP boat.

Published in Scottish Waters

Marine Wildlife Around Ireland 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. 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 the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!