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Displaying items by tag: Leona

#MarineWildlife - Leona the Loggerhead's last known whereabouts put her swimming south of the Canary Islands after her successful release last week, according to The Irish Times.

The female sea turtle jetted off with Aer Lingus to the warmer waters off northwest Africa after almost a year in rehabilitation at the Galway Atlantaquaria, following her lucky discovery on a beach at Quilty, Co Clare.

As the video of her release shows, Leona took to the water with ease - after a little human help - and is now likely looking for suitable feeding grounds of the coast of Morocco.

“She hasn’t swum north yet – but if she does head northeast, we would hope she would head for the Mediterranean, where there is a turtle colony,” said Joanna Casserley, who flew with Leona in economy class to Las Palmas a week ago.

The Irish Times has much more on the story HERE.

Published in Marine Wildlife

#MarineWildlife - There's some great news for Leon - or Leona - the loggerhead turtle, who will finally be jetting off to her new home next week.

According to RTÉ News, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has arranged special transport with Aer Lingus for the turtle, who spent much of this year being nursed back to health by Galway Atlantaquaria staff after she was found beached at Quilty in Co Clare last November.

Plans were made to relocate her to the much more hospitable climes of the Canary Islands last month, but safe transport was a stumbling block, prompting the IWDG to put out a call earlier this month for berthage on a private jet.

But thanks to the intervention of Dublin Zoo, Galway Atlantaquaria and Rod Penrose of the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, suitable travel arrangements have been made with Are Lingus to fly the turtle - with two carers - direct to Las Palmas, from where her future exploits in the wild can be followed online.

Published in Marine Wildlife

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!