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Displaying items by tag: knowledge

#MARINE WILDLIFE - "Until a mere couple of decades ago, virtually all we knew of the variety and distribution of the whales and dolphins around Ireland was judged from the catches of a short-lived Norwegian whaling station in north Co Mayo in the early 20th century and years of random recording."
So writes Michael Viney in last Saturday's Irish Times, as he welcomes the 21th anniversary of the founding of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG).
"It can celebrate magnificent achievements," he writes, "both in turning so many Irish eyes seaward and in launching a new chapter in the island’s natural history."
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the IWDG will be hosting its 21st anniversary banquet at the Grand Hotel in Malahide this Saturday.
Over the past two decades, it has grown from its core work of creating a proper record of stranded cetaceans, to cataloguing the diverse array of living whales and dolphins that populate Ireland's waters today, adding "new knowledge" of "international interest" every year.
The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - "Until a mere couple of decades ago, virtually all we knew of the variety and distribution of the whales and dolphins around Ireland was judged from the catches of a short-lived Norwegian whaling station in north Co Mayo in the early 20th century and years of random recording..."

So writes Michael Viney in last Saturday's Irish Times, as he welcomes the 21th anniversary of the founding of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG).

"It can celebrate magnificent achievements," he writes, "both in turning so many Irish eyes seaward and in launching a new chapter in the island’s natural history."

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the IWDG will be hosting its 21st anniversary banquet at the Grand Hotel in Malahide this Saturday.

Over the past two decades, it has grown from its core work of creating a proper record of stranded cetaceans, to cataloguing the diverse array of living whales and dolphins that populate Ireland's waters today, adding "new knowledge" of "international interest" every year.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Marine Wildlife

About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation 

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour

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