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Displaying items by tag: Trainee ships

14th April 2018

French Navy Léopard Class Schoolships On Visit

A trio of French Navy trainee schoolships are in Dublin Port for a weekend visit.

#NavalVisits - A trio of French Navy trainee ships docked in Dublin Port for a crew rest and recreation visit to the capital this weekend, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The Léopard class school-training vessels each with 18 students, had arrived yesterday and berthed along Sir John Rogersons Quay.

Each of the small ships measure 43m in length and have a beam of 8.30m. The trio are the Lynx, Panthère and Tigre.

Displacing 335 tonnes, the sisters are part of an eight-strong class that were commissioned in the early 1980's. Among them Jaguar which along with Tigre called to Dun Laoghaire Harbour just over a year ago.

Arnament comprises of pair of 12.7mm guns.

The range of the Léopard class is 5,000 nautical based on a speed of 12 knots.

Published in Naval Visits

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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!