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Displaying items by tag: Three Mile Water

Co Antrim’s Three Mile Water has been afflicted by a second fish kill this summer — and a local angling group says it could take years to recover.

The Belfast Telegraph reports on the incident which was discovered on the river at Monkstown on Friday afternoon (27 August).

Trout, eels and even flounder that swim upstream from Belfast Lough are among the species affected in what the Three Mile Water Conservation and Angling Association has branded a “major fish kill”.

It comes less than three months after hundreds of trout were believed to have been killed on the same river in an incident the cause of which has not been identified.

The Belfast Telegraph has more on the story HERE.

Published in Angling

Authorities in Northern Ireland are investigating a fish kill that’s claimed hundreds of trout in a stretch of the Three Mile Water in Co Antrim.

According to BBC News, many of the dead trout “were sizeable fish of spawning age”.

Officials at the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) have not identified the origin of the alleged pollution incident.

It is also understood that water levels in the river have been low following the recent warm and dry weather spell. BBC News has more on the story HERE.

In other NI angling news, a Portadown man has been fined £1,000 after admitting a series of offences at the north lake in Craigavon, as ArmaghI reports.

At a recent sitting of Craigavon Magistrates’ Court, Gareth McLoughlin was convicted of fishing without a licence and permit, fishing on a closed fishery, obstruction and failing to provide his name and address to fisheries officers in an incident on 12 January 2020.

The court heard McLoughlin was observed angling with four rods at a lake which was at the time closed to angling, and fled the scene when challenged.

Published in Angling

Forty Foot Swimming Spot on Dublin Bay

The 'Forty Foot' is a rocky outcrop located at the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove, County Dublin from which people have been swimming in the Irish Sea all year round for 300 years or more. It is popular because it is one of few spots between Dublin city and Greystones in County Wicklow that allows for swimming at all stages of the tide, subject to the sea state.

Forty Foot History

Traditionally, the bathing spot was exclusively a men's bathing spot and the gentlemen's swimming club was established to help conserve the area.

Owing to its relative isolation and gender-specific nature it became a popular spot for nudists, but in the 1970s, during the women's liberation movement, a group of female equal-rights activists plunged into the waters and now it is also open to everyone and it is in the control of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Many people believe that swimming in extremely cold water is healthy and good for the immune system.

Is it safe to swim at the Forty Foot?

The Forty-Foot is a great place to swim because there is always enough water to get a dip but like all sea swimming, there are always hazards you need to be aware of.   For example, a lot of people like to dive into to the pool at the Forty-foot but there are submerged rocks that can be hazardous especially at low water.  The Council have erected signs to warn people of the underwater dangers. Other hazards include slippy granite cut stone steps that can often be covered with seaweed and of course marine wildlife including jellyfish that make their presence felt in the summer months as do an inquisitive nearby Sandycove seal colony.

The Forty-foot Christmas Day swim

A Dublin institution that brings people from across Dublin and beyond for a dip in the chilly winter sea. Bathers arrive in the dark from 6 am and by noon the entire forty foot is a sea of red Santa hats!