#MarineWildlife - The 21st year of dolphin research in the Shannon Estuary is off to an amazing start after the first ever dolphin recorded in the estuary was spotted on the Kerry coast.

As the Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation (SDWF) reports, the dolphin known as 'No 1' was sighted in Brandon Bay on Saturday 25 May swimming in a group of three.

No 1 is happily a familiar sight in the region, having been recorded most years since the project began in 1993.

"It has long been known that Shannon dolphins regularly use Tralee and Brandon Bays but how important the area is in not clear," says the SDWF on its blog. "If we are to protect the Shannon dolphins we need to ensure we identify all their important habitats and extend protection to these areas if necessary."

Meanwhile, its been confirmed that the trio of bottlenose dolphins who took up residence near Bunratty Castle in the spring have been observed in the mainstream of the Shannon Estuary.

The three were spotted on the first monitoring trip of the summer from Kilrush last week by SDWF researchers of Moneypoint.

"This demonstrates again the value of long term monitoring and the power of a photo ID catalogue to monitor the Shannon dolphins," says the SDWF blog.

In other cetacean news, an in-depth discussion of the Shannon's dolphins and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group's (IWDG) research of bottlenose dolphins around the Irish coastline was broadcast on Derek Mooney's afternoon show on RTÉ Radio 1 recently.

A podcast of the 30-minute segment of Mooney Goes Wild from Friday 31 May is available to download HERE.

Olympic Team manager James O'Callaghan on a week of top results from Delta Lloyd ten days ago and the prospect of more off the Dorset coast today: 

 

The Afloat Rowers of the Month for May, Sanita Puspure and Lisa Dilleen, showed how a new crew can knit together successfully: their first three results as a double scull were third, second and fifth – in the heats, semi-finals and finals at the World Cup regatta in Munich! Listen to Sanita Puspure talk about this on the Afloat Podcast (two minutes duration) here.

Siobhan McCrohan is the Afloat Rower of the Month for April. The Galway woman was a convincing winner of the women’s single sculls final at the National Trials, following a similar win at the National Assessment in Newry. Last season she placed sixth at the World Cup regatta in Lucerne in a lightweight single scull, and partnered Claire Lambe in a lightweight double scull to sixth place at the World Cup in Bled and fourth at the European Championships in Portugal. Afloat wishes Siobhan and all the Ireland team well in the season ahead.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, President of Rowing Ireland Anthony Dooley 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 2011. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2011 champions list grow.

April's Mitsubishi Youth National championships is not only going to be a big test for up to 350 competitors seeking a place on the Irish team at the 2011 ISAF Youth Worlds in Croatia, it's also being treated as a 'dry run' by  Dublin Bay organisers preparing to stage the 2012 Youth worlds in little over 12 months time.

Olympic team manager James O'Callaghan has played a big role in bringing on Irish team talent. Results have been achieved in recent times in the Topper, Laser 4.7 and Radial and 420 but a top result in the youth worlds would make all the effort worthwhile.

Ireland's best ever Youth Worlds result came in 1996 when Laura Dillon and Ciara Peelo took bronze in the Laser II dinghy. The stated aim for 2012 is to at least equal this result and win a medal on the home waters of Dublin Bay.

Listen to the podcast below to hear O'Callaghan's take on the front runners for April's important Youth selection event.

Watch a preview for July's ISAF Croatian Youth Worlds Event below

 

Top Irish offshore sailor Damian Foxall, now sailing with team Groupama in the next Volvo Ocean Race is on this weeks podcast from the VOR team. He's talking about the Route de Rhum. Find him HERE

Mark O'Donovan of the Skibbereen quadruple tells the story of how the crew won the title at the National Championships. The crew of Richard Coakley, Gearoid Murphy, O'Donovan and Justin Ryan are the Afloat Rowers of the Month for September.  

Ireland has lodged an appeal this morning against a jury decision last night that reduced Ireland's overall lead in the Commodores' Cup by ten points. The decision concerns the result of a Hong Kong boat, Christopher Opielok's Corby 36 Rockall III that was granted redress after a protest over the location of a mark. The redress affects the points of Ireland's small boat Roxy 6 who won yesterday's race. It's just one small example how the Commodores' Cup can turn says Ireland's Barry Rose in the podcast below.

 

 

The jury decision is downloadable below.

Forum debate on the Commodores' Cup HERE

Ireland has performed strongly in the decisive offshore race in the Commodores' Cup. The first boats are expected back by 11am. ICRA Commodore Barry Rose gives a 9am dockside podcast update below but it's 'no comment' from Team Ireland on the penalty imposed on GBR Red's Quokka 8.

 

 

 

This morning (Tuesday) sees the start of the Commodores' Cup Offshore Race that counts for 2.5 times the points of a normal inshore race. The course is intended to last between 24 and 36 hours in duration and by the conclusion, just over half the points for series will have been won. It's a tricky one for Ireland because its where we have lost the regatta in the past. More importantly event stats show that our nearest rivals this year, the French and British teams, have proved strongest offshore in the past. We asked Team manager Barry Rose for the latest this morning. Click below to listen to the podcast: