#KITESURFING - Ten days of top-class kitesurfing action kick off today (19 October) on Achill Island at the Aer Lingus Kite Surf Pro.

Some 36 riders from 19 countries have converged on Galway Bay to tackle the cold Atlantic waters in what marks the first time the tour has been hosted in Ireland.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, current world number one Patri McLaughlin will be looking to retain his tour lead in the coming days, but may face a stiff challenge from local wildcard entrants Ryan Coote and Keith McGewon.

Meanwhile, local female wildcard Jade O'Connor will join a field topped by championship leader Ninja Bichler from Germany.

The contest is the penultimate stop on the KSP World Tour for 2012, and will be streamed live online via the official tour website.

It will operate with a mobile format, with riders based at the Pure Magic Lodge on the island and heading out to whatever spot produces the best possible combination of wind and waves on any given day.

#ISLAND NEWS - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) outlines the reinstatement of passage for boats through Achill Sound in Co Mayo.

Passage will be subject to the following procedures that Mayo County Council have put in place in relation to the opening of the Achill Sound Bridge:

Mayo County Council will require a minimum of two working days’ notice to open the bridge (contact [email protected] or call 097 81004 between 9am-1pm and 2pm-5pm Monday to Friday to give the required notice).

Opening will be dependent on weather conditions.

Opening shall be at high water and between the hours of 9am and 3.30pm (Monday-Thursday) and 9am-2.30pm on Friday. Opening outside these hours and on public holidays will only take place in exceptional circumstances.

As a result of the changes outlined in Marine Notice No 24 of 2012, the directions of Marine Notice No 36 of 2010 are now superseded.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - A minke whale died shortly after washing ashore in what was a rare stranding on Achill Island last week, according to Mayo News.

The whale, reportedly and eight-metre adult male, was discovered beached on Keel beach last Tuesday 17 April, It was the first recorded stranding of a whale on Achill Island in over 20 years.

It was followed by reports of a second whale stranded on Annagh Strand on the north side of the island, though full details are unclear as the tide returned the animal to the sea.

“We can’t say why the whale came ashore or how it died,” said Orla Calvel of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG). “It was not an old whale, as it was very clean – older whales would have barnacles on them."

The IWDG retrieved a tissue sample from the carcass for DNA purposes to record the stranding.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has confirmed the sighting of a humpback whale off Achill Island in Co Mayo last weekend.

Surfers off Keel Beach were credited with the discovery, after spotting a large whale of 30-60ft breaking the surface multiple times, lifting its tail fluke vertically.

The sighting is only the fifth validated record of a humpback whale off the coastal area from Galway to Donegal.

"It remains something of a mystery as to why sightings of this species remain such relatively rare events along our west and northwest compared to our south and southwest coasts," says IWDG sightings co-ordinator Pádraig Whooley.

"This latest sighting is a timely reminder that species such as humpbacks can and do turn up in places that are well outside what we perceive to be the known 'hotspots'."

Humpback whales tend to feed in inshore waters, which should make them increasingly easier for the public to spot from the shore, he added.

The IWDG has more on the story HERE.