#POWER FROM THE SEA - A new marine research lab in Cork Harbour could help Ireland to be a global leader in renewable energy, the Irish Examiner reports. The Beaufort Laboratory, being built on a three-acre site next to the…

#WEST CORK – Sailing Clubs stand to benefit in an allocation of over €2.6 million to harbour boards across West Cork this year to fund essential remedial works. The State funding has been approved for harbour development works in Skibbereen,…

#POWER FROM THE SEA - An Irish firm has landed a contract to provide a wave device for a new offshore energy test site in Cornwall, Siliconrepublic reports. Ocean Energy, which is based in Cork, will deploy its first full-scale…

#MARINE WILDLIFE - Work on exterminating sea squirts at a marina in north Wales has begun. The £250,000 (€301,000) project by the Countryside Council for Wales involves attaching giant bags to the subsurface structures around the marina in Holyhead, which…

#MARINE WILDLIFE - TED have posted video of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group's Dr Simon Berrow giving a talk on the biggest fish in Ireland's waters, the mysterious basking shark. The second largest fish in the world, basking sharks…

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has confirmed the sighting of a humpback whale off Achill Island in Co Mayo last weekend. Surfers off Keel Beach were credited with the discovery, after spotting a large whale of…

#LARNE LOUGH - Larne Council has looked into the concerns of local residents over a proposed £250 million (€300 million) natural gas plant at Larne Lough, the Larne Times reports. Islandmagee Storage Limited (IMSL) has applied for planning permission for…

#COASTAL NOTES - BBC News reports that construction has begun on a new observation tower on the Lancashire coastline with views over the Irish Sea. The new tower at Rossall Point, which will reach 14 metres (46ft) upon completion, will…

#IMERC CONFERENCE - The recently established Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster (IMERC) which is to promote the country as a world-renowned research and development location, is to host next month its inaugural conference entitled 'Maritime Geostrategic Thinking for Ireland'.…

#DALKEY ISLAND PROSPECT - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has joined the chorus of opposition to the proposed oil and gas exploration off Dalkey Island in Co Dublin. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Providence Resources has applied for…

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The UK's Wildlife Trusts have launched a new website in an effort to redress the idea that the Irish Sea is "a dirty, lifeless" place. As BBC News reports, the trusts' Cheryl Nicholson put down the Irish…

#DALKEY ISLAND PROSPECT – An urgent meeting to discuss calls for a public enquiry in respect to the Dalkey Island Prospect is to be held in Dun Laoghaire next Tuesday (31st January). The meeting which is to address the serious…

#MARINE – Simon Coveney, T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine will be a keynote speaker at 'The Atlantic Area Conference, the Marine Economy' – a key component of the EU Integrated Strategy for the Atlantic Area", hosted by…

#DALKEY ISLAND PROSPECT -With only days left until the public consultation closes on an application for oil and gas exploration off Dalkey Island, Co. Dublin, locals are grappling with the potential risks and benefits of such a development following last…

#DALKEY ISLAND PROSPECT- At a public meeting held by Dalkey Community Council last night, it was almost unanimously agreed that a public enquiry should be held over the foreshore licence sought by Providence Resources to carry out exploratory drilling for…

#MARINE WILDLIFE - Ireland's first humpback whale of the year has been spotted off the Wexford coast. The sighting was made yesterday by whale-watchers among a pod of fin whales some three miles south of Hook Head, according to TheJournal.ie.…