#MarineWildlife - Concerns have been raised over the levels of plastic pollution at an important gannet colony on the smallest of the Skellig Islands.

As The Irish Times reports, discarded plastic waste – including parts of old fishing gear in the Atlantic for more than a decade – now comprises a large proportion of the material used by some 70,000 gannets to build their nests on Little Skellig.

And conservationists fear the problem is being ignored by authorities focused on marketing nearby Skellig Michael to tourists based on it appearance in recent Star Wars films.

“I film marine life underwater [and] it’s very difficult to get a frame without plastic in it, and that wasn’t an issue 15 years ago,” said local filmmaker Vincent Hyland, who added that plastic pollution levels had reached “frightening proportions” in the last year.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

You don’t have to look far to see a scary story involving plastic, whether that story involves a whale washing up to shore as a result of ingesting too much plastic or a video that shows a turtle having a straw pulled out of its nostril, the truth is that plastic pollution has become an epidemic that needs to be taken seriously.

Although plastic waste is everywhere, its detrimental effect on our waterways and marine life have made people take notice of the problem at hand. It is estimated that plastic makes up 60-90% of marine debris, and some of that debris, such as fishing lines can take up to 650 years to break down. 650 years is the equivalent of the whole of the series of Friends playing continuously 4693 times.

Boaters will be noticing first-hand the problem plastic pollution is causing, with it washing up on riverbanks, blocking weirs and floating next to their marina boat moorings. Luckily not all hope is lost in this cause, there are several steps that boaters can take to ensure the issue doesn’t get any worse and starts to head in the right direction.

For example, use reusable bags instead of opting for single use carrier bags. You could also replace plastic cutlery with bamboo or corn starch cutlery. These are just small changes that could make a big difference.

#Angling - At a sitting of Ardee District Court on Monday 12 March, Irish Water pleaded guilty to the discharge of deleterious matter to the River Dee on 15 May 2017.

The offence related to a poor quality discharge from a wastewater treatment plant at Ardee, Co Louth.

The River Dee rises near Bailieboro in Co Cavan and flows through Co Meath and Co Louth, where it enters the Irish Sea at the village of Annagassan.

Michaela Kirrane, senior fisheries environmental officer with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), told Judge Coughlan that during a routine inspection of the river on the 25 May last year, it was noted that the river appeared to be in a poor condition downstream of the discharge point from Ardee Wastewater Treatment Plant.

A series of water samples were taken and analysis confirmed that the discharge from the treatment plant was having a deleterious impact on the quality of the River Dee, an important brown trout fishery.

Irish Water co-operated fully with IFI’s investigation and remediation works were carried out. Upgrade works are currently underway to increase capacity at the wastewater treatment plant. 

Irish Water was fined €4,500 with costs and expenses awarded to IFI amounting to €4,381.61.

#CoastalNotes - Plastic continues to litter Ireland’s coastline, with over 8,800 drinks bottles recorded around the island’s shores in the 2017 Coastwatch survey.

Preliminary results from the volunteer survey conducted in September and October show that more than four-fifths of shoreline sites had plastic bottles, according to RTÉ News.

While the rate of 3.6 per 100m of shore indicates a downward trend, it is still far higher than those in Scandinavia.

And it comes with a rising rate of bottle tops, especially “complex caps” that come with sports drinks, as The Irish Times reports.

In other summary results ahead of the final report due in the sprint, plastic bags were found at 40% of sites, though their numbers have fallen from a peak of 18 per site before the bag tax to an average of two this year.

While nearly half of locations surveyed were rated as “reliably free” of pollution by sewage, there are concerns over “worrying” nitrate levels in freshwater streams entering the sea.

That’s particularly so on the South and East Coasts, and in Northern Ireland where 13% of sites had levels exceeding EU directives.

The Irish Times has much more on the story HERE.

#Pollution - RTÉ News reports that a swimming ban was lifted yesterday on bathing spots at Seapoint and Killiney on Dublin Bay’s southern shore after high levels of E.coli were detected last Friday (30 June).

The bathing ban remains at Blackrock Baths pending the results of samples expected later today (Wednesday 5 July). Blackrock and Seapoint were subject to a similar ban for high E.coli levels back in January, according to TheJournal.ie.

More recently, the beaches at Dollymount and Sandymount were closed to swimming after heavy rains caused by a sewage spill in the River Liffey.

#Pollution - The beaches at Dollymount and Sandymount on Dublin Bay have been closed to swimmers after a sewage spill in the Liffey caused by heavy rain on Thursday (8 June).

According to BreakingNews.ie, swimming is banned at both of the popular city bathing spots pending the results from water samples expected tomorrow (Monday 12 June).

It comes just weeks after two Dublin region coastal beaches lost their Blue Flag status in the latest list of EU beach quality awards.

That announcement followed days from the news that three other Dublin beaches — including Merrion Strand, adjacent to Sandymount — had failed to meet the minimum standards for bathing water quality.

A training exercise testing the response capabilities of Shannon Foynes Port Company, local authorities and other organisations who operate in the vicinity of the Shannon Estuary will take place at Spanish Point, County Clare, on Wednesday and Thursday of next week (26-27 April).

The simulated event, which is being hosted by Clare County Council on behalf of the Shannon Estuary Anti-Pollution Team (SEA-PT), will centre on a major spillage of crude oil having occurred from an oil exploration platform located approximately 220km off the south west coast of Ireland and oil coming ashore at Spanish Point.

Other parameters for the exercise will include notification that the source of the pollution has been brought under control and that there have been no casualties on the oil exploration platform.

There will be a practical element on site at Spanish Point involving operation and demonstration of equipment while a technical briefing will be carried out on equipment on site for officials. The second day of the event will consist of the management of a simulated large scale event for senior management of Local Authorities, SEA-PT members and the Coastguard in Clare County Council’s headquarters at Áras Contae an Chláir, Ennis, which will act as the Incident Command Centre.

“Spill simulations are an excellent way to exercise and train personnel in their emergency roles and to test contingency plans and procedures,” explained John Leahy, Senior Engineer, Clare County Council.

“Valuable lessons can be learned from such exercises, which include a variety of participants, such as oil spill management teams, field responders and regulators and community members. Participants will work together in conducting a simulated response to this hypothetical incident in order to demonstrate proficiency and validity of the oil pollution response plan which is in place for Clare,” he said.

Clare County Council has advised that the training event will not be open to the public while the northern end of the public carpark will be closed off to the public on 25th and 26th April. Public access to Spanish Point beach will be maintained throughout the exercise.

#CoastalNotes - Achill Island has been blemished by ‘tar balls’ that washed up on its Blue-Flagged Keel Beach during the week, as The Irish Times reports.

Appearing as black stones from a distance, the blobs of crude oil are soft and extremely sticky to the touch.

But despite being the result of oil leaks at sea, such tar balls are considered relatively harmless, according to the Irish Coast Guard.

The news comes less than a month after Fingal County Council warned of palm oil ‘fatbergs’ washed up on a Skerries beach.

Similar fatty deposits were found on beaches in Mayo last November.

#Pollution - An old landfill site in Bray continues to leak hazardous waste into the Irish Sea, according to TheJournal.ie.

Broken asbestos tiles and potassium deposits are among the pollutants leaching into the water due to coastal erosion at the former landfill — an issue highlighted recently by Ireland South MEP Liadh Ní Riada, who also noted similar sites in Waterford, Cork and elsewhere.

Afloat.ie previously reported on the disused rubbish tip north of the Co Wicklow seaside town two years ago, citing Coastwatch’s claim that the problem has existed for more than two decades as 200m of the site has been exposed to weathering and wave action.

Commenting on the issue in the Dáil, Environment Minister Denis Naughten said it was a matter for the local authorities concerned, and that an Environmental Risk Assessment was advised over a year ago.

TheJournal.ie has more on the story HERE.

#CoastalNotes - Fingal County Council has issued a warning for people to be vigilant for palm oil ‘fatbergs’ along the North Dublin coast as they can be particularly dangerous to dogs.

A number of fatty balls were found on Sunday (12 February) at Hoare’s Rock in Skerries, Co Dublin, and results from laboratory tests have showed that the substance was palm oil.

It’s thought that the oil was part of a consignment which came off a ship in the English Channel about 18 months ago and was washed ashore by the weekend storm.

The congealed substance has been turning up sporadically on beaches and coasts in England but this is the first time it has been recorded in Fingal.

Similar fatty deposits washed up on Mayo beaches last November, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

“We believe the discovery of this material in Skerries on Sunday is an isolated incident as we have not had any other sightings along the Fingal coastline,” said a council spokesperson.

“The material is a solid white substance which is known as a ‘palm oil fatberg’ and they can range in size from being as  small as a golf ball to as big as a boulder.

“We are asking the public to be vigilant as this substance can be harmful to dogs.”