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Displaying items by tag: Whale Tales

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) have opened their annual gathering to all for its 2023 edition.

This year’s Whale Tales will be hosted by CECAS, the Centre of Excellence for Climate Action in the West Cork village of Leap on the weekend of 24-26 March.

The event is an opportunity to learn more about the IWDG’s conservation and research work and for members to have their say at the group’s AGM.

A packed schedule of events kicks off on the evening of Friday 24 March with a humpback whale film and presentation.

The Saturday promises to be a “whaley day” of news and stories from IWDG officers, as well as an opportunity to discuss important issues on topics including offshore renewables and Marine Protected Areas, with plenty of time for Q&As.

Among those in attendance will be Sarah Kandrot of Green Rebel Marine, who will contribute to a discussion on offshore renewable energy and its relationship with whales and dolphins.

The day will be an opportunity to share your own stories and mingle with like-minded folk, passionate about our marine wildlife and environment, the group says.

Initially opened for current IWDG members, as of last week it’s now opened to all — with a small surcharge for non-members — which the IWDG hopes will encourage as many people as possible to join in.

The AGM on Saturday afternoon at 5pm is as always open to current members, and new members are also welcome to attend with a special discounted rate now available.

For details of this as well as the conference programme and how to book your place, see the IWDG website HERE.

Published in Marine Wildlife
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About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).