An unusual marine animal discovery was made on the River Maigue on Wednesday, 18th June, by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) officers: a yellow-bellied slider turtle. The male turtle was found in the tidal waters of the River Maigue at Adare…

'Ireland's Ocean' is a major new four part ocean wildlife series for RTÉ One exploring the wonderful and diverse creatures that live in the seas around Ireland, from dolphins and sharks to plankton and the myriad of tiny colourful creatures…

#cokrharbour – The National Maritime College of Ireland at Ringaskiddy, in Cork Harbour, the first higher education facility in the State to be built using the PPP process, marked its 10th year as it hosted the Cork Institute of Technology…

#MarineWildlife - A juvenile dolphin was saved after stranding in the shallows at Maree on Galway Bay thanks to the swift actions of a local farmer. As the Galway Advertiser reports, Martin Costello waded out into the inlet at Ballinacourty…

#MarineWildlife - Bathers enjoying yesterday's fine weather in Cork Harbour got up close and personal with a massive basking shark, as some amazing photos on TheJournal.ie and video on Facebook attest. Yet as regular readers of Afloat.ie know very well,…

#MarineWildlife - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has allayed concerns over the fate of Doolin's resident dolphin Dusty as work begins on the Co Clare town's new pier. Despite the distress caused by her attacks on swimmers last…

#offshorepetroleum – The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Pat Rabbitte T.D. has today announced that the taxation provisions relating to petroleum exploration and production are to be revised upwards to provide for an increased financial return to…

#NewDesign - The Verge has some beautiful artists' renderings of a proposal for an amazing ocean laboratory that's been dubbed 'the Starship Enterprise of sea exploration'. The brainchild of architect and oceanographer Jacques Rougerie, the SeaOrbiter is the culmination of…

#deepsea – An international research team, led by scientists from NUI Galway, is currently exploring the Whittard Canyon deep-sea submarine canyon system in the North East Atlantic onboard the Marine Institute's RV Celtic Explorer. Researchers from Ireland, the UK, the…

#marinescience – The annual Marine Institute bursary programme gets underway this month (June, 2014) with 22 third-level students. Over eight weeks the students will work in a variety of areas including fish and shellfish assessments and surveys, sampling salmon and…

#fish – Deep sea fish remove and store more than one million tonnes of CO2 from UK and Irish surface waters every year, according to a new study completed by researchers from the Marine Institute and the University of Southampton,…

#MarineWildlife - Today is World Oceans Day, as Krank.ie reports, the day to recognise the wealth and diversity of the planet's seas. And what better way to celebrate it than to highlight some of the extraordinary marine wildlife that make…

#DalkeyIslandSlipOpens – Dalkey Island's newly constructed slipway harbour was officially opened today by An Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Cllr Carrie Smyth, writes Jehan Ashmore. Speaking at the launch at Coliemore Harbour, An Cathaoirleach said: "I am delighted to…

#BlueFlag - 80 swimming spots around Ireland's coast - comprising 76 beaches and four marinas - have been awarded the prestigious Blue Flag for 2014, an increase of six on last year. And a further 54 beaches were recognised in…

#NewBlueWaySites -The Blueway, a new national initiative to complement the Wild Atlantic Way and to encourage visitors to discover our coastline, was launched by Minister of State for Tourism & Sport, Michael Ring. The Blueway is a pilot programme to…

#Weather - The BBC's Shipping Forecast failed to air as scheduled yesterday morning for the first time in 90 years. The Guardian reports that the mishap was the result of a technical glitch whereby BBC Radio 4's overnight switchover to…