#Beaches - And the title of Ireland's best beach goes to... Inchydoney in West Cork, as TheJournal.ie reports. This marks the second year in a row that the Clonakilty strand took the top spot in TripAdvisor's annual ranking of Ireland's…

#MarineWildlife - The mysteries of Ireland's humpback whales have got the 'TouchCast' treatment as part of RTÉ's new interactive storytelling format. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, scientists have recently tracked first the firm time ever whales travelling between popular spots…

#MarineScience - The Atlantic Ocean: Our Unknown Treasure was on the agenda at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Jose, California on Saturday 14 February. Marine Institute chief executive Dr Peter…

#MarineWildlife - Locals have been astounded by a mass stranding of up to 200 pilot whales in New Zealand. According to the Irish Independent, volunteers were yesterday (13 February) fighting to save the whales that were still alive after beaching…

#MarineScience - Ciaran O’Donnell, a specialist in fisheries acoustic research with Fisheries Ecosystem Advisory services at the Marine Institute, has just begun a PhD research project that will link fisheries and seabed mapping acoustic technologies. By using both technologies, he…

#baltimore – First pictures from Baltimore Sea Safari marine company show the West Cork village's smart new central pontoon and gangway being put in place in the inner harbour. The new Baltimore harbour facility will be beneficial as a landing…

#WhiddyOilTerminal – Bantry Bay Oil Terminal has been acquired by Houston, Texas based Zenith Energy, an international liquids and bulk terminal company from Phillips 66. The terminal has a storage capacity of more than 8 million million barrels holding a…

#MarineWildlife - Could the recent mass strandings of Cuvier's beaked whales in British and Irish waters be connected with the recent real-life 'Hunt for Red October'? Last month scientists in Scotland were baffled by an "unusually large number" of strandings…

#MarineWildlife - Preliminary results from the post-mortem on the female killer whale that stranded in Waterford last week show no obvious cause of death. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the five-metre-long female orca was discovered near Tramore last Friday (30…

#portsmouthwhales – It's not often children get the chance to put their head in the mouth of a shark, but that's just one exciting adventure they can have at Portsmouth International Port's Marine Wildlife Festival in February. It won't be…

#MarineWildlife - A conspicuous chunk missing from the tail fluke of a killer whale resident in Scottish waters is evidence of an altercation with a shark, as BBC News reports. The orca, known as John Doe, is one of the…

#MarineWildlife - News emerged this week that Dippy, the famous diplodocus cast at the entrance of London's Natural History Museum, is to be replaced with the skeleton of a blue whale. But amid all the hubbub that this move has…

#MarineWildlife - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) reports on a killer whale stranding near Tramore in Co Waterford yesterday (Friday 30 January). The five-metre-long female orca was described as being in "a very fresh condition" and was found…

#UKNavalTanker - RFA Wave Knight (A389) a 31,500dwt tanker which supplies the Royal Navy was some 20 nautical miles offshore of Greystones Harbour during a mid-week northbound passage in the Irish Sea, writes Jehan Ashmore. The 10,000nm range Royal Fleet…

#MarineScience - The marine research vessel Celtic Explorer is back in the water with a new suite of hydrographic and geophysical sonar systems. According to the Marine Institute, the new instruments were installed during an extensive refit in the A&P…

#MarineWildlife - Columba, the young loggerhead turtle rescued from near freezing waters on the Donegal coast last week, has died. As the Belfast Telegraph reports, staff at the Exploris aquarium in Portaferry fought hard to save the junior turtle's life…