#MarineWildlife - The Irish Mirror says it's played a helping hand in granting a young boy's biggest Christmas wish after a marine conservation group reached out to his heartbreaking plea to swim with dolphins.

Conservation group Sea Shepherd read the 12-year-old's letter to Santa that was published in the Mirror earlier this week, in which he told of his abusive childhood and his "lifelong dream" to see Winter the dolphin in Florida.

While Sea Shepherd is not able to fly the boy to Florida, they have offered to take him to see dolphins in their natural habitat off West Cork and show him "that inspiration can come from the wild dolphins around our coast," according to the campaign group's Irish director Sue Anthony.

The Irish Mirror has more on the story HERE.

#MarineWildlife - The Irish Times has posted exclusive video of a dolphin pod enjoying the feeding bounty off Baltimore this week - just a sample of the intense marine wildlife activity around Ireland's coasts in recent days.

Pádraig Whooley of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) told the IT that the current band of high pressure over Ireland "is making it much easier for us to spot them" as they stream to our shores along with various whale species to feed on migrating herring shoals.

But it hasn't been all good news, as the IWDG writes of a mass stranding of up to 13 common dolphins - mostly mother-and-calf pairs - on the Mullet Peninsula in Co Mayo last Sunday 24 November.

Those that were not able to refloat themselves were helped back into deeper water by locals. But a dead adult female was still found at Elly Bay the following day, with its calf in the water nearby - followed later by another stranded adult female and calf who had to be euthanised.

And the day after two more adult female and a male calf were found dead on the beach, while two more adults and calf were refloated and subsequently beached again.

IWDG records show 34 reports of live strandings on the Mayo coast, 17 alone on the Mullet Peninsula.

#MarineWildlife - The carcass of a female common minke whale found on a beach in Norfolk on Monday marks the third such discovery on Britain's coasts in a week, as The Guardian reports.

The grim discovery at Sea Palling follows a similar beaching of a larger 7.6m long female minke in nearby Cromer East just four days before.

And as reported on Afloat.ie, a nine-metre minke was found dead on the beach at Magilligan Point in Co Derry last week - itself the third whale standing in Northern Ireland since September.

The Sea Palling whale, believed to have washed up on the beach dead, was found by North Norfolk council staff with a hole in its jaw and abrasions on its body, but according to Sea Watch Foundation was "well-fed and otherwise healthy".

A post-mortem was set to be carried out yesterday (26 November) to determine if the stranding provides any cause for concern for minke whales who come to British and Irish shores in big numbers over the winter months.

#MarineWildlife - Ireland's most famous resident dolphin appears to have made some friends, as the video above shows.

TheJournal.ie reports that Fungie, who made Dingle his home 30 years ago after possibly escaping from a British dolphinarium, often shuns the friendship of dolphins from passing pods.

But this time he's made a connection with two dolphins who arrived at the Kerry village this past weekend.

Dutch couple Jeannine Masset and Rudi Schamhart, who have befriended Fungie over the past two decades, say "he gets along brilliantly" with the newcomers, who have been spotted in the area previously.

And the trio have been performing some spectacular acrobatic feats to the delight of onlookers - a good indication that despite his age, and a year on from fears of his demise, Fungie's still a calf at heart.

#MarineWildlife - BBC News reports on the sad story of a nine-metre long minke whale found dead on the beach at Magilligan Point in Derry.

According to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group's (IWDG) Pádraig Whooley, minke whales have been "reported with increased frequency off the Antrim and Down coast" and there have been sightings in he past week off Donegal.

The incident marks the third whale stranding on the Northern Irish coast since September, when two died after beaching in North Antrim.

In more positive marine wildlife news, a loggerhead turtles is being cared for at the Galway Atlantaquarium after stranding in a bad condition in Co Clare during the week.

The Irish Independent reports that the turtle, named Leon after the famous Quilty shipwreck, was recovered after a local woman alerted marine wildlife experts.

“You might see a loggerhead turtle wash up every couple or three years but not very often at all," said Dr Simon Berrow of the IWDG, who said the turtle may need several months' rehab before its fit to return to the wild.

That's an issue that presents its own challenges due to its smaller size and distance from its usual tropical waters.

#MarineWildlife - TheJournal.ie has published the first image of an amazing undersea world discovered recently off the Irish coast.

Afloat.ie reported over the summer on the discovery of exotic new marine wildlife in the Whittard Canyon on the Irish Atlantic margin by researchers aboard the RV Celtic Explorer, who used a remote operated vehicle (ROV) to explore the depths.

The find included a canyon system half a mile below the surface with densely packed wall of coral and "remarkably large" bivalve molluscs that could be as much as 200 years old, a discovery described as "really unusual" by Mark Johnson, professor of marine environment at NUI Galway.

TheJournal.ie has more on the story HERE.

#MarineWildlife - Northern Ireland's Environment Minister has guaranteed the future of Northern Ireland's only seal sanctuary as the fate of its home at the Exploris aquarium hangs in the balance.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the aquarium in Portaferry, Co Antrim - run since its opening in 1987 by Ards Borough Council - will shut on Monday week (25 November) if it does not secure necessary funding from Stormont.

And its closure could see more than 3,000 marine animals presently housed in the facility destroyed.

Hopes that the centre could be privatised were dashed earlier this year when a deal with investor Livingstone Leisure fell through.

Ards Borough Council say they can no longer afford the operating costs of some £500,000 (€600,000) a year for what they argue is a regional facility, and one of NI's top 10 tourist attractions, that puts it in line for national funding.

As yet no ministers in the NI Executive have made any commitment to saving the aquarium.

However, according to the Belfast Telegraph, Environment Minister Mark H Durkan has said that whatever the fate of Exploris, the seal sanctuary will continue to operate - whether in Portaferry or another location in Northern Ireland.

And he has suggested that a proposal for a one-off grant support to help boost the aquarium's business and reduce the financial strain on the council is set to be discussed this week.

Minister Durkan's comments come just days after the Exploris sanctuary came to the rescue of five baby seals stranded across the NI coast.

As the Belfast Telegraph reports, they included grey seal pups in Portaferry and Portrush since named Titan and Pluto, and later a common seal in Millisle and two more grey seals from Sandy Bay in Larne and Orlock, Co Down.

#MarineWildlife - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) is one of the many charities in the running for an award of up to €10,000 in Today FM's 1% Difference Campaign.

The campaign is encouraging Irish people to give either 1% of their income of !% of their time towards a cause they believe in.

And the IWDG is looking for its supporters to give it the backing it needs - both financial pledges, and moral support via online votes - to reach first place and a prize that includes a €10,000 radio ad campaign on Today FM.

The IWDG is dedicated to the conservation and better understanding of whales, dolphins and porpoise in Irish waters, which comprise a dedicated sanctuary for cetaceans.

The group now offers whale-watching trips to members onboard its new vessel Celtic Mist to help support its invaluable work in protecting Ireland's marine wildlife.

#MarineWildlife - Lack of food has seen a severe decline in migrating birds visiting Lough Neagh for the winter, according to UTV News.

Researchers from Queen's University Belfast have noted a shocking 75% drop in numbers of visiting water fowl on Ireland's largest lough - from some 100,000 to fewer than 21,000 in the span of 10 years.

And the finger of blame is being pointed at a change in the lough's ecosystem that has seen a significant fall-off in the Special Protection Area's main food source of insects and snails.

Ironically, the reason for this may be a stemming of agricultural run-off into the lough, the extra nutrients from which "artificially boosted its productivity", according to Dr Irena Tománková from Quercus, Northern Ireland's Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science.

In addition, climate change has seen lakes in Northern Europe that were once frozen over in winter become available for feeding for more of the year, meaning that once migratory birds are staying put.

UTV News has more on the story HERE.

#RNLI - Arklow RNLI’s volunteers were involved in an unusual rescue yesterday (5 November) at Arklow Harbour's boat slipway when they came to the aid of a seal pup.

Lifeboat crew were alerted to the marine mammal's plight by a member of the fishing community who had spotted the seal in an exhausted condition near Arklow lifeboat station.

On arriving at the scene, Arklow RNLI lifeboat volunteer press officer Mark Corcoran made contact with the Irish Whale & Dolphin Group and the Irish Seal Sanctuary to ascertain the best course of action to assist the seal pup. Also on scene was Tommy Heffernan from Avondale Vets.

Arklow RNLI lifeboat crew members including Scott Heaney and other members of the public assisted by keeping onlookers and curious dogs away from the distressed seal, who was determined to be tired and dehydrates following consultations with experts.

It was then decided that it would be best to remove the baby seal - named Sammy by the crew - to the safety of Avondale Vets and, once he was stabilised, to move the seal onward to the Irish Seal Sanctuary.

The pup is now being cared for by the Irish Seal Sanctuary and will enjoy a diet of fresh fish until it reaches a healthy weight and can be released back into the wild.

"It was an amazing experience to get so close to a seal," said Corcoran after the call-out. "They’re really fantastic creatures, and it’s not an everyday occurrence.

"Thanks to the teamwork demonstrated by the different groups involved, the story had a happy ending and I’m really pleased that we could help."