#Dolphins - It was a happy Easter for one young dolphin that was rescued from stranding on Achill Island by some quick-thinking coastguard volunteers.

As TheJournal.ie reports, the juvenile dolphin was one of two reported stranded on Keem Beach early on Sunday morning.

On arrival at the scene, the local Irish Coast Guard team found one of the two had died, but officer-in-charge Colin Honeyman leapt into action to save the remaining youngster.

Taking to the sea in his wetsuit, and with some help from a nearby fishing boat, he swam with the dolphin under his arm out to deeper water, where "he seemed to get a new lease of life and just swam off - he really went for it."

TheJournal.ie has more on the story HERE.

#MarineWildlife - "There is no light and I've forgotten my headtorch. The walls close in and within a few seconds we are in total darkness. Something sparkles when I paddle. I put my hand in the water and spin it around. Suddenly an entire galaxy of stars explodes from my fingertips, sending fading constellations of pale blue lights swirling out into the black."

If that got your attention, The Guardian has more on Kevin Rushby's 'glow in the dark' kayaking experience in West Cork with Atlantic Sea Kayaking's Jim Kennedy, made possible by the unique bioluminescent marine wildlife of Lough Hyne.

#MarineWildlife - BBC News reports that Northern Ireland's Exploris aquarium will remain open for another two months as Ards Borough Council prepares to submit its business plan to save the facility in April.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the popular but loss-making tourist attraction was earmarked for closure last year - threatening the future of its more than 3,000 marine animals - but saved at the 11th hour, provided the council receives a one-off capital grant of more than €1 million from Stormont.

It's hoped that this funding would be confirmed and the aquarium will get the green light to remain operational when the NI Executive makes its decision on the plan.

That would mean Exploris could stay open for the peak spring/summer period, and close in October for a necessary six-month refurbishment over winter and next spring.

BBC News has more on the story HERE.

#MarinerWildlife - The Irish Times reports on efforts to crowdsource data on Ireland's wildlife from land to sea from Irish 'citizen scientists' in the Atlas of Mammals in Ireland.

A project of the National Biodiversity Data Centre, it aims to complement more rigorous scientific works such as the Atlas of Ireland's Offshore Mammals published last summer with a view to producing more up-to-date distribution maps of Irish wildlife based on sightings and contributions from the public.

Though the results so far are understandably uneven, and show a strong bias towards urbanised Leinster counties where interest in the wild is considered a "hobby for townies", it's hoped that the project will encourage a newfound appreciation nationwide for our native - and not so native - species.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#MarineWildlife - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) will be co-hosting an evening of talks on cetacean research at the Belmullet Civic Centre this coming Thursday 27 March.

Held in conjunction with the Coastal & Marine Research Centre at University College Cork, the evening will see a talk by Barry McGovern on the CMRC's work in Broadhaven Bay as part of the Corrib Gas Project in Co Mayo over the past decade.

In addition, the IWDG's Dr Simon Berrow will look at whale and dolphin strandings around Ireland, with a focus on Belmullet.

The IWDG has more details on the evening HERE.

#Dusty - Renewed warnings have been made to the public to keep a wide berth from Doolin's dolphin Dusty as the Irish Examiner reports she's "more jumpy" than usual.

Last summer the female bottlenose earned a degree of infamy after attacking a number of bathers in the Co Clare town, one of whom suffered eight spinal fractures, two broken ribs and lung damage in their altercation.

As we get closer to this year's summer, it may be tempting to join Dusty in the water for typical dolphin frolics, but Vanessa Fagan-Vanhorn of Dolphin Day Ireland strongly advises against it.

“[Disty] is definitely more jumpy and easier to startle than she used to be," she says. "The incidents of last summer do seem to have had an effect and her behaviour has changed."

The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.

#MarineWildlife - RTÉ News has posted some of Nigel Beers-Smith's wonderful photographs documenting Ireland's first native white-tailed eagles for over 100 years, one of which was found dead recently in shocking circumstances.

As The Irish Times reports, the male white-tailed or sea eagle was last seen on the eastern shore of Lough Derg in January before it was found dead from gunshot wounds in a remote part of Co Tipperary following a tip-off from the public.

The eagle was one of two reared by the nesting pair spotted on Bushy Island in Lough Derg nearly two years ago - marking the first time in over a century that white-tailed eagles had fledged in Ireland.

Minister for Arts, Hertiage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan said he was "shocked" by the crime, which is a "significant blow" to the sea eagle reintroduction programme started in 2007.

“It is absolutely incomprehensible that someone would shoot one of these magnificent birds but even more shocking is that one of the first two Irish-bred eagles has been shot only seven months after leaving the nest," added reintroduction project manager Dr Allan Mee.

The project has already suffered from poisoning incidents, such as last year's discovery of two dead white-tailed eagles in Kerry and West Cork - both the result of consuming suspected tainted carrion.

The Irish Times has much more on the store HERE.

#MarineWildlife - If the prospect of Lydia the great white shark visiting Ireland's shores gave you goose-pimples, best stay away from the water for a good while yet - as one marine expert says this is just the beginning of a whole wave of seaborne killers headed our way!

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, a great white named Lydia is being tracked by researchers as she swims full speed ahead across the Atlantic, destination as yet unknown - though it could be anywhere from Cork to North Africa.

And as Dingle Oceanworld director Kevin Flannery tells the Sunday Independent today (9 March), she's likely following an established feeding track for the voracious ocean predators, which means there could be a host of other hungry giants following the same path.

But while the average beach-goer will have the horrors of Jaws in mind, the presence of great white sharks in Irish waters may be a godsend to coastal fishermen concerned by alleged predation of fish stocks by seals, which just happen to be the shark's favourite dinner.

The Sunday Independent has more on the story HERE.

#Shark - Scientists tracking a great white shark across the Atlantic have plotted her position at just days away from the south coast of Ireland.

As the Mirror reports, the massive 'killer' fish - measuring 4.4 metres in length weighing in at almost one tonne - has covered at least 380 miles since last Tuesday alone.

And it's thought that Lydia - as marine giant been named by the research team tracking her via a transmitter on her dorsal fin - could soon reach the coast anywhere between Cornwall, mainland Europe or North Africa.

The Mirror has more on the story HERE.

#MarineWildlife - The Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS) has lambasted "uninformed calls" for a seal cull along the west coast after a TV report on the loss of fishermen's catch in the Blasket Islands.

The sanctuary's founder and director spoke out after the report on the story by RTÉ News, which follows renewed calls by Kerry South TD Michael Healy-Rae to control protected seal populations in the interest of fishermen's livelihoods.

In a statement, Brendan Price said the ISS was "appalled at the report" on last night's Six One News in which RTÉ was "taken to a hotspot to fish by dated, passive gear [gill nets, which are] unsustainable and extremely damaging, just like drift nets of old."

Price also dismissed claims that seals are taking as much as 60 per cent of the available catch, saying the actual figure is "more like one per cent" of the national catch.

"[Some fishermen] may lose 60 per cent of their catch", Price agreed. But he claimed the real reason for this loss was "fishing by unsustainable method, up under the noses of the seals."

In calling for "balance in this debate" and expressing his group's availability for participation, Price also urged for fairness to the plight of west coast fishing communities, to which he says the ISS has "repeatedly offered help and solutions and is active in their support".

"[Let's] argue for fairer share of national catch, investment, grants, etc for them," he said. "But let's be honest also in stating figures and what they represent and not go shooting the messenger, the relatively harmless seal."

However, while criticising RTÉ's handling of the story, Price went out of his way to acknowledge "the professionalism of the reporter Seán Mac an tSíthigh, with whom I did speak" after the report aired.