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Displaying items by tag: Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary

#MarineWildlife - Wildlife enthusiast Karl Grabe has posted on YouTube video of newborn seal pups rescued by the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary last week.

Named by staff at the sanctuary as Salt, Pepper, Sugar and Cocoa, the four are as cute as buttons - and anyone who visits over the summer can see them or others like them, such as two-week-old Molly who's also featured in the above clip.

Published in Marine Wildlife

#MarineWildlife - The Irish Seal Sanctuary has told Radio Kerry that it is no longer looking for the culprits behind the shocking sea beheadings in Dingle last summer.

As reported on Afloat.ie one year ago, staff at the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary were sickened by the gruesome sight of two baby seal heads nailed to signs outside the facility.

Johnny Woodlock of the Dingle Seal Sanctuary later claimed that the horrific discovery was part of a "swing in activity in recent months" where dead seals were found on beaches around the country with "apparent gunshot wounds".

However, the founder of the Irish Seal Sanctuary has said that the group is no longer actively seeking the perpetrators of the barbaric Dingle incident.

"It's not a high priority for me any longer," said Brendan Price of the Irish Seal Sanctuary, who added that rewards for information are "posted from time to time when incidents like this have occurred".

Price continued: "I wouldn't be looking for some kind of public atonement. I don't think it's helpful to keep rewards up any longer, and I'm sure that it will not happen again."

Published in Marine Wildlife
#MARINE WILDLIFE - Seal pups Rebecca and Emma had a curious audience of tourists at Malahide Castle earlier this month as they prepared for their relocation to Dingle, where they will be cared for by Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS) volunteers.
The pups were rescued from different parts of north Dublin. Both were found very ill at the time, but according to the ISS, volunteers rallied to their support, providing much needed fluids for rehydration before their long journey south.
Rebecca is named after the daughter of her rescuer, ISS volunteer and Howth businessman Jon Cooke. Meanwhile, Emma was rescued by one of the founder members of the ISS, Johnny Woodlock, from the beach in Skerries.
The ISS added that it is grateful for the sponsorship of the rehab season the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary is providing for the seal pups' care.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - Seal pups Rebecca and Emma had a curious audience of tourists at Malahide Castle earlier this month as they prepared for their relocation to Dingle, where they will be cared for by Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS) volunteers.

The pups were rescued from different parts of north Dublin. Both were found very ill at the time, but according to the ISS, volunteers rallied to their support, providing much needed fluids for rehydration before their long journey south.

Rebecca is named after the daughter of her rescuer, ISS volunteer and Howth businessman Jon Cooke. Meanwhile, Emma was rescued by one of the founder members of the ISS, Johnny Woodlock, from the beach in Skerries.

The ISS added that it is grateful for the sponsorship of the rehab season the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary is providing for the seal pups' care.

Published in Marine Wildlife
The Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS) is gearing up for three seal releases this coming weekend.
On Saturday 5 February ISS volunteers in tandem with the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary will release Rupert and Rosie back into the wild at Beal Ban Beach in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry.
The two grey seal pups were rescued from the Dun Chaoin area last November within days of each other, the male pup with several injuries. Both now rehabilitated, it's expected they will rejoin the grey seal colony just off the Dingle Peninsula.
Then on Sunday 6 February the ISS will release another grey seal pup, Mary, from Kilpatrick Beach in Castletown, Co Wexford.
For more details on these releases visit www.irishsealsanctuary.ie

The Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS) is gearing up for three seal releases this coming weekend.

On Saturday 5 February ISS volunteers in tandem with the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary will release Rupert and Rosie back into the wild at Beal Ban Beach in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry.

The two grey seal pups were rescued from the Dun Chaoin area last November within days of each other, the male pup with several injuries. Both now rehabilitated, it's expected they will rejoin the grey seal colony just off the Dingle Peninsula.

Then on Sunday 6 February the ISS will release another grey seal pup, Mary, from Kilpatrick Beach in Castletown, Co Wexford.

For more details on these releases visit www.irishsealsanctuary.ie

Published in Marine Wildlife
The Irish Seal Sanctuary celebrated the release of six grey seal pups from two different locations last weekend.
Dustin, Phoenix and Sean were released from Courtown Harbour, while Buddy Holly, Louise and Cookie were put into the water in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry with help from the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary.
Sarah Forde, a volunteer at the Dingle sanctuary, told the Irish Independent that Buddy Holly was just 11kg in weight when he was brought in last October.
"Now, three months later, he's a healthy 44kg, the proper weight for a pup his age and in the next two years as he reaches maturity he'll grow to around 300kg," she said.
Louise and Cookie (pictured HERE) were found in a similar condition in beaches in Co Kerry after being abandoned by their mothers.
The Irish Seal Sanctuary's next release will be this Saturday 15 January when Cecil and Snowy, two seal pups rescued in Belmullet and rehabilitated at the sanctuary in Courtown, will be returned to the wild at Falmor Beach, Black Sod, Co Mayo.

The Irish Seal Sanctuary celebrated the release of six grey seal pups from two different locations last weekend.

Dustin, Phoenix and Sean were released from Courtown Harbour, while Buddy Holly, Louise and Cookie were put into the water in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry with help from the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary.

Sarah Forde, a volunteer at the Dingle sanctuary, told the Irish Independent that Buddy Holly was just 11kg in weight when he was brought in last October.

"Now, three months later, he's a healthy 44kg, the proper weight for a pup his age and in the next two years as he reaches maturity he'll grow to around 300kg," she said.

Louise and Cookie (pictured HERE) were found in a similar condition in beaches in Co Kerry after being abandoned by their mothers.

The Irish Seal Sanctuary's next release will be this Saturday 15 January when Cecil and Snowy, two seal pups rescued in Belmullet and rehabilitated at the sanctuary in Courtown, will be returned to the wild at Falmor Beach, Black Sod, Co Mayo.

Published in Marine Wildlife

Galway Port & Harbour

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city and port is located on the northeast side of the bay. The bay is about 50 kilometres (31 miles) long and from 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) to 30 kilometres (19 miles) in breadth.

The Aran Islands are to the west across the entrance and there are numerous small islands within the bay.

Galway Port FAQs

Galway was founded in the 13th century by the de Burgo family, and became an important seaport with sailing ships bearing wine imports and exports of fish, hides and wool.

Not as old as previously thought. Galway bay was once a series of lagoons, known as Loch Lurgan, plied by people in log canoes. Ancient tree stumps exposed by storms in 2010 have been dated back about 7,500 years.

It is about 660,000 tonnes as it is a tidal port.

Capt Brian Sheridan, who succeeded his late father, Capt Frank Sheridan

The dock gates open approximately two hours before high water and close at high water subject to ship movements on each tide.

The typical ship sizes are in the region of 4,000 to 6,000 tonnes

Turbines for about 14 wind projects have been imported in recent years, but the tonnage of these cargoes is light. A European industry report calculates that each turbine generates €10 million in locally generated revenue during construction and logistics/transport.

Yes, Iceland has selected Galway as European landing location for international telecommunications cables. Farice, a company wholly owned by the Icelandic Government, currently owns and operates two submarine cables linking Iceland to Northern Europe.

It is "very much a live project", Harbourmaster Capt Sheridan says, and the Port of Galway board is "awaiting the outcome of a Bord Pleanála determination", he says.

90% of the scrap steel is exported to Spain with the balance being shipped to Portugal. Since the pandemic, scrap steel is shipped to the Liverpool where it is either transhipped to larger ships bound for China.

It might look like silage, but in fact, its bales domestic and municipal waste, exported to Denmark where the waste is incinerated, and the heat is used in district heating of homes and schools. It is called RDF or Refuse Derived Fuel and has been exported out of Galway since 2013.

The new ferry is arriving at Galway Bay onboard the cargo ship SVENJA. The vessel is currently on passage to Belem, Brazil before making her way across the Atlantic to Galway.

Two Volvo round world races have selected Galway for the prestigious yacht race route. Some 10,000 people welcomed the boats in during its first stopover in 2009, when a festival was marked by stunning weather. It was also selected for the race finish in 2012. The Volvo has changed its name and is now known as the "Ocean Race". Capt Sheridan says that once port expansion and the re-urbanisation of the docklands is complete, the port will welcome the "ocean race, Clipper race, Tall Ships race, Small Ships Regatta and maybe the America's Cup right into the city centre...".

The pandemic was the reason why Seafest did not go ahead in Cork in 2020. Galway will welcome Seafest back after it calls to Waterford and Limerick, thus having been to all the Port cities.

© Afloat 2020