Marine Environment, Science, wildlife, weather & Ocean energy
On Clare Island is Padraig O’Malley's crocery and post office and what is also a wonderfully balmy, sunny day – with clear blue sky above and 7km of turquoise sea separating the island from the Mayo mainland. “It’s not getting…
A surfing quartet got up close with a school of basking sharks off Co Clare at the weekend, as the Irish Examiner reports. The surfers had brought a GoPro camera to video their wave-riding exploits, which came in handy to…
A Dutch company is to establish an offshore wind supply base at the Port of Rosslare. In early 2020, XELLZ secured approximately 200,000 sqm of land at the port of Rosslare in the Republic of Ireland. XELLZ has now divided…
Maritime salvage experts internationally say it could cost upwards of €10m to salvage the (cargoship) MV Alta. The 'ghost ship' washed ashore off the Cork coast earlier this year. The Receiver of Wreck said it was still trying to establish…
Inisheer off Co. Galway, at this time of year is normally a hive of activity with bands of tourists alighting from the ferries ready to soak up the peace and quiet. Or they may be arriving for Irish language or…
Nearly half of all humpback whales identified in Irish waters have been spotted off the coast of Co Kerry. That’s according to new figures from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), which also reveal that nearly 100 of the…
Turtles spotted basking in Cork City’s Lough have raised concerns over the balance of its fragile ecosystem, as the Irish Examiner reports. The seven amphibians, which could be freshwater terrapins, are believed to have been unwanted pets released into the…
New marine research from Queen’s University Belfast and Liverpool John Moores University reveals how the microplastic pollution crisis is threatening biodiversity. Currently up to 10 per cent of global plastic production ends up in the sea although the understanding of…
A team of scientists who have been self-isolating like astronauts for the past fortnight set sail from Galway at the weekend on an unusual mission. Six researchers from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) and 15 crew on Marine…
A new Master’s course specialising in remote sensing and the principles of seabed mapping has been successfully delivered by a joint partnership between the Department of Geography at the Maynooth University and Ireland’s marine mapping programme INFOMAR. The level 9…
The wind is free. No-one disputes that. But harnessing its power can be a very expensive business, particularly if you’re trying to do it at the top level of international competition writes WM Nixon. Yet at a more mundane level of…
The public consultation on the draft Shannon Tourism Masterplan and Environmental Report will close at 4pm this coming Wednesday 22 April. Members of the public can review all the documents online and make their submission through the online survey. The…
More than 90% of samples taken from Irish rivers show the presence of E. coli, according to a new study from NUI Galway. And researchers found that the toxic bacteria was also present in bathing waters which pass muster with…
Illuminated exits are as useful to fish as to humans in a tight spot. Newly published research has found that artificial light on square mesh panels in nets can help to reduce unwanted bycatch of fish. The study, published in…
People may not be able to go to sea at present due to the Government restrictions but dolphins and porpoises clearly can’t read and so we are seeing reports of their activity in Belfast Lough. Recent sightings include about eight…
Two gardaí teamed up with local coastguard volunteers to help refloat a beached dolphin in Co Donegal yesterday (Monday 13 April). The Garda Review Twitter account shared video of the remarkable rescue at Killahoey Beach as the small group of…