On our trip to Great Saltee Island back in June we experienced a treasure trove of seabird life. We came for the puffins and were delighted by the gannets, but soon realised just how many more seabirds had made the Saltee Islands their summer home. These three razorbills had perched themselves on a rock right […]
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Here I am immersed in an oceanic world, 40km offshore with 120m of water below me, and I can’t get that cute and crazy song out of my head. Baby shark, do do do do do do… Pinkfong’s YouTube version of Baby Shark has become the most-viewed video of all time and I find I’m […]
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Ireland has some of the most significant gannet nesting colonies in Europe. I have visited a few of them now, including Little Skellig (Sceilig Bheag), the Bull Rock (An Tarbh) and now Great Saltee (An Sailte Mór). We came here for the puffins, but as Great Saltee has Ireland’s third largest gannet colony we simply […]
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I imagine myself at the poker table. I’m holding a pair of queens. On the table there is a third queen along with a jack, a nine, an eight and a two. Given this strong position I make a substantial bet. The puffin looks right at me and raises all-in. Do I call or do […]
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For most of our time in the water the blue sharks moved around us near the surface, sometimes close enough to make eye contact before gliding effortlessly away again. The experience changed completely when I held my breath and dived down deep. Away from the surface the sharks became lost in a blue-green world with […]
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