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ireland spearing 2009

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Just hearing news about the oil slick at least they are saying it shouldn,t hit the coast small consolation still a lot of dispute to the size
 
Feargus, I was just on the phone to my father. he flew over the slick yesterday just after it happened and said the slick was 10-15 times the size of the aircraft carrier. Thats fairly big for an initial spill. Imagine how much area it will spread over. My father is a commander in the navy and says so far they believe it was a refueling accident.
Found this info:

“The incident possibly occurred as a result of a refuelling operation. The Irish Coast Guard are in contact with the Russian authorities and are monitoring the spill which is breaking up.”
Based on the weather conditions, it was not expected that any oil would reach Irish land, she said, but the situation was being monitored closely.
The joint surveillance operation by the Irish and British Coast Guard services will get under way this morning. Its findings will dictate how the clean-up operation will proceed.
Friends of the Earth has called for a full investigation into the incident. Its spokesman Oisín Coughlan said this was a “significant spill” off the Irish coast and it would certainly cause serious damage to marine life.
“The environmental impact could worsen if the oil reaches offshore islands or the west Cork coast,” he warned. He called for full co-operation from the Russian authorities in any investigation by the Irish agencies.

i hope its contained lads.................:rcard
 
I went out in a local bay last night, just after dark. It was a little "swelly" and I was hoping vis would improve when I got out deeper but the surge was "puffing up" dust from the bottom. Vis was around one and a half metres, temparature was eight degrees and I gave up after half an hour.
The sea looked great today, much calmer, and I'll probably try somewhere tomorrow daytime.
 
Johnny, if you've any more news on the spill, could you keep us updated please? I've been looking about and can't find anything newer than two days ago.
I've bought a new phone and I'm saving the numbers to sim as well as phone this time!
 
Yesterday (Saturday) I dived a small bay on the East of the Seven Heads. It's almost half a mile wide and is enclosed by rocky headlands, the Western one being a mile long and the Eastern, just over half a mile, so it's very sheltered from Westerly swell.Vis was around 3 metres. I set off from the Eastern side to check a bass spot on the Western head, checking the bottom every few metres for flounder. I saw none and the bass spot seemed barren too, even of crabs, so I swam back to the (calmer) Eastern tip, to look for crabs again. I'd never dived the ground off the tip but it turned out to be very good "craggy" ground with lots of holes, caves and cracks. I'd found a few crabs, though none big enough for my liking, when a pollack of at least 6lbs appeared, swimming towards me. I don't normally see pollack this big before May and my gun was strapped to my float. I floated up and got it of course but didn't find the fish again and after a few more dives I got out.
 
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Back to the same bay twice, Tuesday and today, both daytime. Found only small (under 7 inch) crabs, and an undersized lobster. It is a fine looking crabbing spot and I hope to do better there in summer.
While looking over the sand I found a couple of scallops but I wouldn't eat shellfish from that particular spot. (Too near to a notoriously "sewagey" bay).
Vis was good at 3 metres+ and water still cold at 8c. If it hits 9c and we get some sun on the shallow rocky beaches, I'll start looking for bass again.
 
Just back from a night dive out East near Cork harbour. Vis was excellent though the swell was already starting to build. I saw only small plaice, a few rocklings and some small pollack, but I enjoyed it a lot, hand catching a couple of small plaice. (I released them of course).:):):)
 
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Keep the reports coming mate, always interesting to find out what you have seen.
 
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Also grate prices.

I have also only herd good things of the owner and the line.

I like the camo tape. think its the best/ diffrent idea in a while.

Enjoy/ (do not try and blame it on me when the wife see the bills!!!)
__________________
 
This is getting monotonous but yet again, on Sunday, I dived without catchingrofl.
I started in a bay near Cork harbour entrance and had to swim out half a mile or so to find 15ft of depth. I dived on sand for two hours then mooched around the rocks at the side. There were a lot of crabs in the rocks and it looked very "bassy". Sandeels over the rocks too. Johnny, Dennis, PM me if you want to know where it was. I then moved to the "plaice place". As it was almost dry (low tide) I swam out to dive the cliffs out side. I spent an hour but I'd like to spend longer sometime. Seems like a nice spot to relax and check out cracks and caves.
Some people were scuba diving further along, with two orange ribs. Maybe the dive club?
 
Fair play sunfish for being out so regular my last outing was in the pool on friday night where i got 4.12 on my static which was great as I haven't been passed 4min in a long time. Figure I,ll be out over easter or paddys day.
 
Out to the point again this morning to look for a calm patch with some vis, to exercise my finning muscles. Vis underwater was 1 to 2 metres and above water was 2 to 3 hundred metres. After two hours I came out to warm up. It's still 8 degrees but I reckon as soon as it hits 9 or 10 and we get some sun on the rocks, and then a rising tide coming over them, we'll get some bass inshore. I've been seeing sandeel inshore for a couple of weeks now and the spot I swam this morning seemed to have prawns everywhere.
 
Prawn is a good sign sunfish. hopefully will get some good weather soon! just signed up for the rib run at the end of april from kinsale to milford haven in wales. would be fun to have a 2-3 metre swell but not for 10 hours!!! fingers crossed. hoping to raise over 1500 euros per boat for the RNLI. A great cause and if anybody wants to sponsor me........:)
 
I was out in Galway Bay by last weekend, only saw 4 sand eels, however I did grab a lobster and 2 scallops. On returening a friend told me it was illegal to take lobsters whilst diving in Ireland, they said it was a serious offence and you can have your car taken off you. I cannot believe that's true. I catch lobsters regularly in Scotland. Are the Irish rules so different? And what about crawfish, it got a tip about a small rocky island "crawling" with them!!!
 
you can take them but not on scuba. make sure they are regulation size too.
just leave some for me!rofl
 
I was out in Galway Bay by last weekend, only saw 4 sand eels, however I did grab a lobster and 2 scallops. On returening a friend told me it was illegal to take lobsters whilst diving in Ireland, they said it was a serious offence and you can have your car taken off you. I cannot believe that's true. I catch lobsters regularly in Scotland. Are the Irish rules so different? And what about crawfish, it got a tip about a small rocky island "crawling" with them!!!
As Baldyfish say's, it's illegal to take lobsters, crabs, crawfish etc. but the law only mentions scuba so freediving is OK. The same goes for shellfish.
Also, if lobsters have eggs on them, or notches in the tailfin, they are female and musn't be taken. Most slipways have posters up, showing what a notched tailfin looks like. Once you have seen it you can notch any you find bearing eggs. Every little bit helps.
 
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here is a v notched female with spawn. ‘V-notching’ is one of the most important technical conservation measures for the Irish lobster stock. The practice was introduced to Ireland in the early 1990’s from Maine in the USA, where it is used in the American Lobster fishery. The technique was perfected by BIM in co-operation with the Shellfish Research Laboratory Carna, Udaras na Gaeltachta, and with the inshore fishing industry. It involves cutting a small notch in one of the flaps on the tail of a female lobster to create an easily recognised mark that remains for up to two moults. so they are not always v notched so its good practice to return ANY females you catch.
Hope this helps.
 

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