SHERKIN COMMENT

Issue No. 52 Environmental Quarterly of Sherkin Island Marine Station 2011

Mediterranean Gulls Cleaning up the mess we made Supporting Conservation in the Amazon STOP Food Waste Campaign Oscar Merne on the expansion of the A 3-part series from Walter Mugdan, exploring William Milliken explains how Kew has been Odile Le Bolloch from the EPA explains how breeding and non-breeding range of the mess we are in regarding toxic chemical providing information necessary for you can shop successfully with children in tow Mediterranean Gulls. 3 waste & how we can start getting out of it. 10 management planning in the Amazon. 15 & offers tips for reducing food waste. 20

INSIDE The Beetles of Sherkin Island & Roaringwater Bay

The beautiful iridescidescent Rose Chafer beetle.. Photograph  Tom Daguerre 2 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 Contents Editorial EDITORIAL: Guardians of Our Lands...... 2 Matt Murphy highlights the various sectors involved in protecting our countryside. Guardians of Our Lands Mediterranean Gulls ...... 3 Oscar Merne on the expansion of the breeding and investment and labour input. The environ- tains, bogs, grasslands and woodlands. non-breeding range of these birds. By Matt Murphy ment, without a doubt, gains in a very • Glenveagh National Park in north-west Wood Ships and Iron Men...... 4 positive way from the requirements of Co. Donegal with over 16,000 hectares WHAT a resource we have in our land. Daphne Pochin Mould brings us back to the early REPS. of rugged mountains, pristine lakes and It fulfils a multitude of roles. It gives us The semi-state body, Coillte, is another peatlands. days of navigation on the high seas. food – such as dairy, meat, vegetables and guardian that many do not realise has a • Killarney National Park with moun- The Beetles of Sherkin Island & Roaringwater Bay..5 grains – provides us with recreational huge stake in the sustainable management tains, lakes, wood and waterfalls, The history of Sherkin Island Marine Sherkin’s activities and above all a landscape that is of our natural resource. It is a commercial covers 10,236 hectares. enjoyed and which attracts millions of beetle collection is outlined by Tom Daguerre. company operating in forestry, land-based • And finally, Wicklow National Park people to our shores each year. There are a businesses and renewable energy. They covers part of a mountain range that The Global Shark Fin Trade ...... 6 number of guardians of that resource, own 445,000 hectares (over 1 million extends over most of Co. Wicklow. John Richardson tells us about this disturbing practice. which are often taken for granted. Our acres) of the land cover of Ireland, most of The National Parks are of special scien- Lough Hyne ...... 7 farmers have the largest input. which is forested. The forestry side tific, educational and recreational interest So often the subsidies that farmers includes log sales, farm forestry services, and contain a natural landscape of great Terri Kearney chronicals, in pictures, the marine receive annually under various schemes, researchers at Europe’s first Marine Nature Reserve. plant sales. Within their forests Coillte give beauty, which visitors can access for free. through the European Union, are criti- free access to miles of walking, hiking, There is now development of national Dwarf Minke Whales...... 8 cised by the non-farming community and cycling, orienteering, fishing picnicking and local walks throughout the country, Photographer Pete Atkinson tells us about his media. The IFA (Irish Farmers Associa- and wildlife watching. It is to be hoped that which are helping to get us outdoors, to experience with one of the smallest balleen whales. tion) in answering these critics on behalf if Government decides to sell off Coillte appreciate the landscape and above all to of the farmers rightly point out that with- West Cork, a hotspot for rare Irish plants ...... 9 that free public access is retained for all help us to be more health conscious. They out those subsidies farming would be time. Strict environmental guidelines must feature both coastal and inland walks, tak- John Akeroyd explains how this area is a refuge for uneconomical for many now on the land. be laid down for any would-be purchasers. ing in archaeology and historical sites, rare and threatened Irish plants. The knock-on effect would be much Coillte owns a huge amount of land (7% of local flora and fauna and villages. The Cleaning up the mess we made ...... 10 dearer food, which would effect society as the land of this country) and it is a very pre- Beara and Sheep's Head walks in south- a whole. Even with subsidies, many farm- cious asset to be handing to others to west Cork Millennium Stone Loop, which A 3-part series from Walter Mugdan, exploring ers would not make a reasonable living the mess we are in regarding toxic chemical waste manage without careful consideration. We explores the unspoilt Glen of Aherlow, the without some off-farm work. cannot end up with another Eircom deba- Spink Look walk in Glendalough, the & how we can start getting out of it. These subsidies from Europe have more cle. We must ask ourselves, is this road Cavan Way and the Kerry Way are but a Fishing Salmon Sustainably ...... 12 and more environmental conditions map the wisest for Ireland? few. There are many local and some Ciaran Byrne on why this valuable fish should not attached to them. These conditions are The National Parks and Wildlife Service national groups such as Birdwatch Ireland there to ensure that the landscape is being be exploited and what is being done to protect it. (NPWS) is also a committed protector of and An Taisce that contribute to the protec- protected for future generations and are our environment and plays a unique role in tion of Ireland's National Resources. Russian Leather from a Watery Grave ...... 13 particularly strict about protecting our the guardianship of six very special land- We have a very precious natural Anthony Toole explains how a treasure trove from wildlife. One of the schemes is the Rural scapes – our National Parks. They also resource in our land and we should all be 1786 is being crafted today. Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS have around 10,000 hectares of small interested in its protection. Throughout the 4), involving 30,000 farmers. When they Planning & Environmental Law in Ireland...... 14 nature reserves. The parks: world there are many people suffering joined REPS, farmers signed up to farm in • A review of John Gore-Grimes’ new book. Ballycroy National Park in northwest from famine because continuous droughts an environmentally friendly way. The Mayo, comprises 11,000 hectares of has destroyed their meagre lands. What Supporting Conservation in the Amazon ....15/16/17 farmer must employ an independent plan- Atlantic blanket boy and mountainous these people would give for this wonderful William Milliken on the necessary information Kew ner to prepare a REPS plan for the period terrain. green landscape to feed their families and provides for management planning in the Amazon. of the scheme. There are eleven measures, • Burren National Park in the southeast- the health to enjoy it. or sections, with sub-sections, some appli- ern corner of the Burren is 1500 Rabbitfishes, Chimaeras & Ratfishes ...... 18 cable only to diary or tillage farmers. hectares. Matt Murphy, Director, Sherkin Island Declan Quigley on a primitive sub-class of fish Farms taking part in the scheme are sub- • Connemara National Park, in West Co. Marine Station, Sherkin Island, that dates back to the Devonian period. ject to REPS inspection. The Department Galway covers some 2,957 of moun- of Agriculture inspectors do spot checks at Co. Cork. Sheep-eating plants ...... 19 farm level to ensure that farmers have A new initiative by the National Botanic Gardens done what they have undertaken to do in to encourage and inform visitors about the gardens. their farm plan. Farmers who are found not SUBSCRIPTION FORM to have complied can be subject to penal- STOP Food Waste Campaign ...... 20 SHERKIN COMMENT is a quarterly publication of Sherkin Island ties of up to 50% reduction on their grant. Odile Le Bolloch from the EPA, offers tips for Marine Station aiming to promote the awareness of our natural resources, shopping with children & for reducing food waste. Some of the measures within the scheme require the farmer to: their use and protection. My Life as a Geologist ...... 21 • Manage nutrients spread on their land. SUBSCRIPTION: to receive a year’s subscription to “Sherkin Comment”, Peadar McArdle on his long career in geo-science. • Protect and maintain watercourses, please send a cheque or money order for €7.00 for Ireland and £6.50stg for water bodies and wells with fencing the U.K. (sterling cheques accepted from UK); send €11.00 for Europe and If not Now, WHEN? ...... 22 • Manage grassland and soil to include the rest of the world (surface postage) – payable to Sherkin Comment, Alex Kirby urges us to act now when it comes to stock density during out wintering of Sherkin Island Marine Station, Sherkin Island, Co. Cork. Ireland. the environment. animals. Life in a Russian Lake ...... 23 • Drainage maintenance to improve the Tel: 028–20187 Fax: 028–20407 Email: [email protected] Geraldine Reid tells us about a lake which has one drainage of certain fields. • Please send a 1 year subscription – beginning with Issue No...... of the most diverse diatom floras in the world. Controlling of noxious weeds. • Retain wildlife habitats. Please send a 2 year subscription – beginning with Issue No...... Publications of Interest...... 24 • Maintain farm and field boundaries. New species of Fucus honours Michael Guiry ...... 25 • Establish biodiversity buffer strips sur- I enclose cheque/postal order to the sum of €...... Arklow Coastcare’s Annual Exhibition of Photos ..25 rounding features of historical and Name ...... Captain Cockle ...... 26 archaeological interest. More exciting facts from John Joyce. • Maintain a 1.5m margin around the Address ...... headland of each field. No ploughing, ...... Make a Bird Hide in the Classroom or at Home....27 sowing, spraying or fertilising can be Rockpool Chase ...... 28 carried out. Tel ...... Email Address ...... Environmental Competition for Primary School • Maintain and improve visual appear- Date ...... Signature ...... Children in Munster 2011...... 29 ance of farm and farmyard. Gaisce – The President’s Award ...... 30 • Restrict the use of pesticides and fer- STAFF: Editor, Matt Murphy; Editorial Assistant, Susan Murphy Wickens; Sustaining the Past...... 32 tilisers near field boundaries, ponds, Typesetting, Susan Murphy Wickens; Publisher, Matt Murphy. Mike Ludwig gives us food for thought, when it streams and wells. ISSN 0791–2447 © 2011 • comes to the environment. Not burn straw and stubble. Sherkin Island Marine Station website: www.sherkinmarine.ie Much of the above requires financial SHERKIN COMMENT 2010 Issue No 52 ______3 Mediterranean Gulls

well, and extending their ranges. Here in Ire- Western Palearctic Zone, with the core breed- Mediterranean Gull’s wings can be seen to be By Oscar Merne land we have seen a number of birds arriving ing area in the Ukraine, on the northern side of pure white, while the wings of the Black- here in recent decades and establishing breed- the Black Sea and in the Sea of Azov. In the headed Gull have a prominent white leading THOSE of us interested in wildlife conserva- ing populations. Some good examples are latter half of the 20th century the population edge and blackish trailing edge. In winter tion have become used to reading depressing Collared Dove, Reed Warbler, Little Egret, underwent a rapid increase in numbers, now plumage, the black or dark brown head of the news about loss and destruction of habitats and Great Skua, Great Spotted Woodpecker …. estimated to be between 120,000 and 320,000 two species are lost, but the wing patterns more and more species being listed as threat- and, the subject of this article, the Mediter- breeding pairs – the wide range is due to remain a good way of separating the gulls. ened or endangered. However, not all is doom ranean Gull. movements of major Ukrainian colonies from Close up, the bill of the adult Mediterranean and gloom, as some species are doing very Mediterranean Gulls are restricted to the year to year, making population estimates dif- Gull is “heavier” than that of the Black- ficult. With the increase in numbers there has headed, is mainly red, with a yellowish tip and also been a breeding range expansion, and the a narrow black band separating these colours. species has spread north-westwards as far as The bill of the Black-headed Gull is slimmer, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, north- and red with a dark tip. Both gulls have red ern France, England and Ireland. It is believed legs. Before the gulls moult into their adult Courtesy of Oscar Merne the great majority of these gulls spend the plumage described above, they progress winter months in the Mediterranean Sea – through several plumage phases from juvenile hence the English name of the species. But to first winter, first summer, second winter and with the range expansion outlined above, non- second summer. Field identification becomes breeding, overwintering birds were also found progressively less difficult as they approach increasingly in north-west Europe, including adulthood. Britain and Ireland. Before 1966 there were Since 1999, when 25 Mediterranean Gulls only four records of vagrant Mediterranean were present at Sandycove (between Dun Gulls in Ireland, but between then and 1980 Laoghaire and Dalkey, on the south side of the species turned up almost annually in very Dublin Bay) from August to December, this small numbers, mainly on the east and south location has become the premier site for the coasts. Thereafter, non-breeding birds species in Ireland. Numbers of gulls have increased in numbers and during the last increased there annually, reaching a peak of decade flocks of 50–100 have been seen, and 101 in autumn 2010. Observations throughout a few (up to 15 pairs per annum) have been breeding regularly in mixed gull and tern the year are showing that the gulls are present colonies in Cos. Wexford and Down, and for much of the year, not just in the winter Mediterranean Gulls, Sandycove occasionally elsewhere. months. Adults in full breeding plumage, Adult Mediterranean Gulls in full breeding immature birds, and even recently-fledge juve- plumage are usually easy to distinguish from niles, are now appearing as early as the end of the somewhat similar and much commoner June, with many staying until late April or Black-headed Gulls, even in flight at long even early May of the following year. At range. The two species resemble each other Sandycove, the gulls spend most of the day Courtesy of Cian Merne superficially, but the Mediterranean Gulls are time loafing on the granite rocks between the larger and bulkier-looking than the Black- East Pier at Dun Laoghaire and the Forty-foot headed Gulls, have a black head rather than the swimming place at Sandycove, apparently dark brown of the Black-headed Gull’s head, doing very little if any foraging for food, and the black on the head extends further down except taking bread thrown to them by local the nape. Both perched and in flight, the people. Recent studies have shown that the gulls fly inland to feed on worms and other soil invertebrates at parks and playing fields up to 10 km from the coast. Many do so early in the morning, but if the ground is waterlogged by heavy rain they can be seen at any time during

Courtesy of Cian Merne the day. Another activity that has been noticed recently is the flighting of Mediterranean Gulls to freshwater stream outfalls on the south side of Dublin Bay, between Sandy- mount and Booterstown. What the gulls do at night is still a mystery… Ornithologists have been ringing many Mediterranean gulls in second summer plumage (left) and adult plumage. Mediterranean Gulls (both chicks and adults) in colonies in Europe in recent decades. Together with standard numbered metal rings, many A gull in juvenile plumage. birds have been fitted with brightly-coloured plastic leg rings with alpha-numeric codes that can be read in the field with binoculars or tele-

Courtesy of Oscar Merne scopes. Each year a number of these marked birds have been seen in Ireland – mainly at Sandycove and in Cork Harbour – and from

Courtesy of Cian Merne these we know that Mediterranean Gulls are coming here from as far away as Hungary, Den- mark, The Netherlands, Belgium, northern France and England. We also know that they are not simply passing through on passage migra- tion, but are often staying for long periods (some from July through the winter to April), and also returning to the same place in succes- sive years. It will be interesting to see what other findings about these attractive and enig- matic gulls emerge over the coming years.

Oscar Merne retired from Ireland’s National Sandycove where the birds congregate. A Mediterranean gull in first summer plumage. Parks & Wildlife Service in January 2004. 4 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 off. To calculate speed, another rope with By Daphne Pochin Mould evenly spaced knots, originally tied to a log but later a weight, could be armed to bring up sam- HOW ever did they do it? Forge engines and ples of the sea floor. You threw the log or the GPS. These days it will guide you from Wood Ships weight as far ahead of the ship as you could and your own front door to your favourite pub, then waited till she came up where it had fallen. though maybe not your staggering route back. The rope was now vertical and by counting the But I am thinking of harbours full of wooden knots gave you the speed. A nautical mile is sailing ships, all powered by the wind; no longer than a statute one. A knot is one nautical engines but travelling and trading with the and Iron Men mile per hour. All these very old and simple world. Could you, modern sailor, on sail alone, things, part of our far off ancestors’ activities and only with an outline of a map, get yourself with ropes and logs, have given birth to count- to Iceland to raid the Westman Islands and less log books. carry a load of slaves back to Africa? Yet the Every ship keeps its log book, and log books Algerian “pirates” (explorers/empire builders?) from old sailing vessels make fascinating read- did, as well as taking Baltimore in Co. Cork ing. “From here I take my departure” (from a and many other places one presumes. They known point, say the Old Head of Kinsale) and were good sailors, as were the Icelanders who then working on dead reckoning. But the sea is went to Africa to try and get the captives back. no millpond but very much on the move, so a But think of sea travel without radio – no canny captain would factor in “I allow for the word from land till you came into a port or heave of the sea” anchorage. Had the “Titanic” not been fitted An article in the Hibernian Chronicle of with that new fangled gizmo, the wireless, 1801 describes how these little ships were able used to call for help in Morse code, we would to put a girdle round the earth and go on doing never have known what had become of her. it. The writer says that not so very long ago Icebergs tell no tales. people thought the accounts of great voyages, But the origins of navigation are distant. At even of Sir F. Drake, were read with interest the beginning of human evolution, when like but disbelief. Now for real, the ships set out all animals curious about their environment, from Ireland across the Atlantic and would humans looked up at the stars and asked “Why arrive at the Brazils. They would then turn stars, why the moon, light and dark and the eastward, round the Cape of Good Hope, and great fire of the sun, which blinds those who keep south of India and its islands, going on look at him/her? And they move about, mobile for Australia – that is if they were not to pick bodies. Helios the sun god sinks into darkness up items from India or tea from China, in at evening and rises into light at dawn. How? which case they diverted to do this. Otherwise Why?” But in those early days of humans on they picked up the Australian coast and sailed this planet there were some illiterate and very along to Port Jackson and Botany Bay. Leav- clever people who watched and remembered, ing for home, they went east across the Pacific, so they could tell you when the Moon was round Cape Horn to the Atlantic and eventu- likely to try to gobble up the sun and turn the ally Ireland. The southern part of their trip world’s lights off. That was a total eclipse and took them into those seas where the waves they knew enough about the movements of sun drive unbroken round the world. Cold, moun- and moon to know when it might happen. tainous and iceberg strewn they move around Every fine night, the heavens blazed with fire; lands of the albatross and the penguin. You had there was no light pollution then, so you could to be tough for that sort of life. What the emi- watch and learn. From very, very early times, grants and convicts thought of it all, we can there was a lot of knowledge of the stars – only guess at – perhaps the road to fortune and astronomy was born. These very clever people Centuries of sailing made men aware of the excitement of a new world? Whatever they had brought the lights of the sky down to earth, the glob wind systems sweeping the dreamed of, they made the tough, proud Aus- so you knew when to sow your crops, or in globe (top). Knowledge of the stars played an important role in the history tralian nation. Sadly, as in other newly which direction to steer your little boat. of navigation (left); Sextants have been colonised countries, they had no time for the It was a world without compasses and instru- used for centuries as a navigational native people and their culture, and treated ments, or paper and pens, but they knew how to instrument (above). them brutally. shift very large stones and lay out their findings at the Guinness barges on the Liffey. Often the hooks made from shells. There was plenty for Now it is hard to imagine Cork Harbour full in stone circles, which virtually became stone parrot did arrive though from further off than Cork to wonder at. It had taken some six of sailing ships, travelling and trading world- calendars. I doubt clever people in modern the port of Dublin. In the case of “T’aint a bird” months to get to Ireland, for she had left Jack- wide – convoys of 100 sailing ships, protected times would be able to lay out Newgrange, so the lost American plane, which landed at Clon- son’s Bay in Australia on the 20th of November by naval, armed war ships, setting off for the many centuries old, yet still working. Or Stone- akilty during World War II, it was a monkey. last (1788). She made only one stop en route, at East or West Indies, for Australia and America. henge –anyone who has seen an autumn sun at But when the “Golden Grove” sailed into Cork the Falkland Islands, for water. Then, in the first years of the 1800s, a small the equinox line itself up with the marker Harbour, it was a kangaroo. The wind was from Sailing ships lived on dried and salted food barge on the Forth and Clyde canal was given stones will wonder at this science, which seems the south, when the “Golden Grove” sailed past and were often sick with scurvy from want of a steam engine and it worked. Ships and to have grown out of nothing. Now we seem to Roches Point to enter Cork Harbour. It was green fresh items. Running out of water was engines got bigger. For a while captains of need so much to do very little. Thursday, May the 15th, 1789. Captain Sharp the great hazard, like running out of fuel for an “steam kettles” could be left far behind as a But navigation starts with knowing about the has been part of the “First Fleet” that had gone engine. fast sailing ship swept past. Captain Richard planet on which we live and its relationships out early in 1788 with a party of convicts, and Centuries of sea going had made men aware Roberts steamed “Sirius” of Cork across the with other bodies moving in space. The world other things to begin the settlement of the new of the great global wind systems that sweep Atlantic and back, hotly followed by Brunel’s is more or less round and geographers have country. Now his was the first ship to arrive round the globe – the Trade winds – and how to “Great Western”. The age of large, engine- drawn lines from pole to pole – longitude – and back in Ireland since then, and give all the use them. They knew too about major ocean powered ships had begun. Advising a young another set circling the earth’s circumference – news of their adventures and the new settle- currents, such as the “Gulf Stream” (which is friend on choice of career, Captain Roberts latitude. Combining the two gives a position on ment. The “Golden Grove” had sailed back in why tropical shells end up on our shores as well who had worked both in sail and early steam- earth, your modern-day Sat/Nav works on it. ballast. Australia had yet to have exports, but as messages in bottles). Men too had become ers, told him the future lay in steam, but SAIL Latitude is easy to measure, the Vikings knew she also carried an important exhibition of aware of the earth’s magnetism. Compasses IS PLEASANTER. As indeed it is, and may about it. But longitude is harder, unless you CURIOSITIES FROM BOTANY BAY. This were made and this allowed you to determine a yet make a comeback as some freighters are have a very accurate clock. At certain positions had been made for the private museum of a direction and try to keep your ship on it. Vari- experimenting with auxiliary sails or kites. of sun and moon, and the right lunar table (no gentleman in Dublin. However he agreed to let ous simple forms of sextant were devised to When wind power is there, why not use it. longer published), you can calculate the longi- Cork have first sight of it. And it went on show measure the sun’s position at mid-day and so Meantime, virtually all the world’s trade is car- tude. Long haul sailing ships used it and many in the heart of the old walled city, near the work out the latitude. When you knew the lati- ried in big ships. These are the world’s life captains still use “lunars” instead of the new exchange and in the house that had been the tude of your destination, you could sail to that line. Airfreight is making steady growth. Fifty method of using an expensive chronometer. Gibraltar Tavern. It opened on the 20th of May, latitude and then kept on it. “Running your years ago, it was described to me as “the sleep- But one way or another the old ships sailed, 10am to 3pm admission 2s 8.5d. But for 8s 1d easting down” was the phrase used (if your tar- ing giant”. Today the giant is very much awake loaded with cargo to sell and return with a new you could go and visit as often as you liked. get lay to the east). and steadily growing. But unlikely ever to load. They were tough fellows, with years of There was plenty to see. With maps and charts, A ship’s speed (and an aeroplane’s) is meas- carry all the heavy, bulky things the sea can. learning the sea; all the small things that it covered Birds, Beasts and Fishes and ured in knots and the water under her keel in And for those of us who love the sea in all her nobody heeds today but which brought so included some live kangaroos. It also gave an fathoms. A fathom is six feet. A weighted rope ever-changing moods, Captain Roberts words many back home. account of the native population and their marked in fathoms, was let down from the ves- still have meaning: SAIL IS PLEASANTER. Boys used to shout “Bring us back a parrot” weapons – fishing lines made of bark and sel and when it touched bottom, the depth read SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______5 The Beetles of Sherkin Island & Roaringwater Bay

Sherkin Island Marine Station and in 1991 and 1993 and numbers were even up on 1995 sug- 1992 Simon Bird took the reins and added 104 gesting that the island is ecologically healthy. new species of beetle to the collection – 34 new Good news for beetles and the other wildlife to County Cork and 8 new to Munster. He was associated with them. instrumental in starting to expand the number of islands included in the survey, recording Unique and Biologically diverse species from nine other islands of Roaringwa- The amazing diversity and high abundance ter Bay. In 1993 Anna Wood added a further 20 of beetles recorded by the Sherkin Island species to the checklist and in 1995 Stuart

Photo: Robbie Murphy Marine Station is a clear reflection of the abun- Munro added 6 more, also surveying three Caring for the collection. dance and variety of plants and other wildlife

other previously unsurveyed islands and Daguerre Photos: Tom of the area. Invertebrate life has been shown to expanding the records of species distribution. Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata) indicate the over-all health and quality of the By T. R. Daguerre wider ecosystem. This diversity in beetles 2010 alone illustrates the value of the islands of In 2010 the project was resurrected. It was Roaringwater Bay and qualifies them as some History of the Collection: 1981 to 1995 designed to increased the knowledge of distri- of the richest natural habitat in Ireland. If the Since surveys began in 1981 Sherkin Island bution of beetles across Roaringwater Bay as other factors such as the rare plants, animals Marine Station has compiled a truly stunning well as to discover species that had been over and people are taken into consideration its collection of beetles. It contains 550 different looked in the last decade and a half. apparent this area is a wealth of natural phe- The Station has compiled a collection of 550 nomenon that is prevalent in every aspect of species in fifty separate boxes with well over It was successful in compiling 187 new different species of beetle. 1000 individual specimens. There have been records of 107 species from nine islands of the day to day life, a culmination of wildlife and five contributing Coleopterists (someone who bay, also recording from two previously unsur- Assessment of the of the abundance of certain culture that is thoroughly unique. studies beetles) that have put this impressive veyed islands. Of these records 15 were new indicator species across varied habitats on The beetle collection resides in the archives collection together over the last thirty one species to the marine station’s checklist taking Sherkin was undertaken to explore whether of Sherkin Island Marine Station. years. the total to 550 species recorded from across 15 these habitats still supported populations that The first to survey beetles and the founder of islands. 5 species were seemingly new to Co. compared to numbers recorded in past Tom Daguerre volunteered at Sherkin Island the collection was Rosemary Moore. She began Cork and 1 new to Munster. research. It was found that the relative abun- Marine Station in 2010 and 2011, work in 1981 and 1982, recording an astound- dance of the selected species was comparable documenting the island’s beetles and other to results of the previous surveys from 1991, ing 358 different species in the two years of her 2011’s Additions insects. survey – a most remarkable achievement. Of In 2011 further work has been done to these species 49 were new records for Cork, 14 expand the recorded distribution of species new to Munster, and 4 new species to Ireland. across the islands of Roaringwater Bay. Eight She set the bar for all future work, laying the islands were surveyed, two new to the study. foundations for all who have followed her. 167 new records of 93 species were recorded After Moore’s amazing discoveries ten years across these islands with twelve new species went by until the next Coleopterist arrived at added to the checklist, currently subject to con- firmation. The additions of 2011 will take the overall number of species recorded by the Sherkin island marine station to 562 with records of dis-

Photo: Tom Daguerre Photo: Tom tribution from 17 islands, an amazing and unequalled survey in south west Cork. From the distribution records it has been possible to identify the most common and the rarer species across the bay’s islands. Sherkin’s Modern Day Beetles Approaching the project in 2010 it was apparent that no work had been done on the population numbers of Sherkin’s larger and Seven-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) most abundant beetle species for fifteen years. Photo: Tom Daguerre Photo: Tom

Violet Oil Beetle (Meloe violaceus) 6 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 removed at sea under any cir- cumstance – that sharks are landed with their fins natu- rally attached (figure 2). And Image © Linda Pitkin why the emphasis on natu- TheThe GlobalGlobal rally? There have been cases where sharks were required to be landed with their fins sim- carcass are retained in accor- ply ‘attached’ – and sharks dance with the fin:carcass were then landed with fins ratio. While Ireland did not attached to carcasses with issue these permits, until late Shark Fin rope, fins which seemed sig- 2008/early 2009 Germany and Shark Fin nificantly larger than the the UK did, until governments carcass. were swayed by rational Prohibiting the removal of debate and now require sharks shark fins at sea seems the to be landed with their fins obvious way forwards – no naturally attached. Spain and need for complicated rules or Portugal still remove fins at TTraderade ratios. Enforcement would be sea, and with Spain the third simplified – any fins found on largest shark fishing nation in a vessel without a carcass the world this is a significant would be illegal, and the abil- issue. The EU finning regula- tion is currently under review and the Shark Trust, working with the Shark Alliance, will be heavily advocating for the Image © Scubazoo EU Finning Ban to be tight- The Blue Shark Prionace glauca is the most heavily fished oceanic shark species, with estimates of up to 20 ened and enforced according million caught each year. to its original intent – that no shark fins are removed at sea. By John Richardson This position as apex pred- Hong Kong market, the To find out more about ator gives rise to a common largest shark fin market in the shark finning visit misconception – that sharks, world, come from the EU. www.sharktrust.org/campaign THE Northeast Atlantic – and shark populations, are In the twenty-first century and select Stop Shark Finning. including the waters around highly resilient to human shark fins have become a Ireland – is home to a remark- activities. Sharks, in fact, dis- commodity in a global trade able diversity of sharks, with play remarkably vulnerable worth billions of euros each References thirty-five species either resi- biological traits: slow growth, year, supplying the incessant 1 Myers et al. 2007. Cascading dent all year-round or late sexual maturity, rela- demand for shark fin soup. Effects of the Loss of Apex Predatory Shark fins: a global commodity. Sharks from a Coastal Ocean. Science, seasonal visitors. Of these tively few offspring and And with the fins of up to sev- some nineteen are more com- 315: 1846-1850. longevity. In short, they do enty million sharks passing weight of an individual shark. ity to identify the species 2 monly encountered, including Clarke et al. 2006. Global Esti- not fare well in the face of through the fin trade on an However, depending on landed would aid data collec- mates of Shark Catches Using Trade the Porbeagle Shark, Basking commercial fishing – a vul- annual basis, shark finning is which legislation you are cov- tion and species-specific Records from Commercial Markets. Shark, Shortfin Mako, Blue nerability magnified by the now the greatest threat to ered by, this ratio could be set management. An increasing Ecology Letters, 9: 115-126 Shark and Thresher Shark – as wasteful practice of shark sharks2. However the issue is at 5% of the live weight of the number of countries are well as Angelsharks, Tope and finning which has emerged to far more complicated than an shark, or five per cent of the adopting this option. John Richardson is a Spiny Dogfish (also known as exploit this increasingly easy media headline would dressed weight (head and Europe has had a finning Conservation Officer with Spurdog). lucrative resource. have you believe. organs removed) – and with a ban since 2003, but there is The Shark Trust and was a Healthy shark populations Shark fins are worth signif- sharks head and organs the option to derogate – for volunteer at Sherkin Island are crucial in maintaining icantly more than the meat – a accounting for thirty-to-fifty Member States to issue per- Marine Station in 2007. diversity amongst other Shark finning disparity creating an eco- per cent of the sharks weight, mits allowing the removal of species by keeping popula- To many people in the UK nomic incentive for fishing five per cent dressed weight is shark fins at sea, providing the tions in equilibrium, playing a and Ireland, shark finning is vessels to retain shark fins and a very ‘generous’ ratio. critical role in regulating the something that happens in the discard the carcass: this is The best research suggests health, balance, and structure faraway Pacific Ocean or ‘shark finning’. The fins are the fins of an average shark of marine ecosystems. The South China Sea. The reality, easy to store, requiring no make up approximately two removal of shark populations however, is much closer to refrigeration, and demand is per cent of its live weight, so a through overfishing can upset home: Spain, an EU Member higher than ever. Trading in five per cent fin:carcass ratio Image © The Shark Trust The Shark Image © this balance, producing a cas- State, is the world’s third shark fins is legal. But the act could enable less scrupulous cading effect throughout the largest shark fishing nation, of shark finning – keeping the operators to land two-to-three marine food-web, with while approximately one third fins but discarding the carcass times the amount of fins to impacts documented from the of all shark fins sold in the at sea – is prohibited in many carcasses. Now considering 1 pelagic to the benthic . countries and by Regional many finning bans also allow Fisheries Management Organ- the landing of fins and car- isations who have the remit to casses in separate ports and, as for trying to identify the manage areas of the high seas. Fin: carcass ratio. © The Shark Trust However many of the finning finless, headless trunk of a ‘bans’ are weak, often permit- shark… well the enforcement Image © Shark Cornwall ting the removal of shark fins nightmare begins. It is no real at sea under the proviso that surprise then that there are the carcass is retained in three-to-four times more fins on the market than can be accordance with a fin:carcass Trust The Shark Image © ratio – a complicated mecha- accounted for through FAO nism intended to ensure fins fisheries statistics. and carcasses are landed in proper proportion. How is this resolved? Sharks will be caught in Fin:carcass ratio fisheries – this is an unavoid- A fin:carcass ratio (figure able truth. But the wasteful 1) is usually set at around five and unsustainable practice of per cent – that is, the weight shark finning must be of the primary fin set (dorsal addressed and an effective fin, lower caudal fin and two first step would be to ensure The elusive Porbeagle Shark Lamna nasus: the Northeast Atlantic all finning bans are upheld, population of this species has experienced an acute decline, with less pectoral fins) is regarded as than 10% of original biomass estimated to remain. making up five per cent of the that shark fins are not Fins naturally attached. SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______7 Lough Hyne The Marine Researchers – in Pictures Skibbereen in West Cork. This visual archive spans over a century, from 1886 when scientists on a Royal Irish Academy was forced by rough weather to take shelter in Barlogue Creek just outside the lake. Little research was undertaken until 1923 when Prof. Louis Renouf of the Zoology Department of University College Cork made his first visit. Thus began a life-long dedication to promoting this unique salt-water lake. Prof. Renouf’s first “field laboratory” in 1926 was amazing and is photographed in the book. It was a large timber packing case placed on its side, with the lid supported by two columns of stones. In 1928, the Professor erected a timber army hut at the Rapids, which was fitted out as a laboratory and aquarium. Early photographs show the Professor’s family, including his wife Nora. The photographs bring us through the 1930s, documenting the arrival of scientists from Britain who helped Prof. All images from “Lough Hyne: The Marine Researchers – in Pictures” “Lough Hyne: The Marine Researchers All images from Renouf establish Lough Hyne as a unique From top: Lough Hyne, Europe’s first marine site. The photographs are intertwined Marine Nature Reserve; 2008, Rob Reviewed by Matt Murphy with local people and scenes. One of “Dancing McAllen, UCC at the ‘Touch Tanks’ event for Heritage Week. UCC, in conjunction at the platform just behind the North pier” with Skibbereen Heritage Centre, run USUALLY the history of a place is in the shows couples in their Sunday best, with all the this annual event to inform and educate written word, however in a unique and accessi- men in suits and wearing caps! local people on marine life within the ble way the scientific research history of Lough lake; John Bohane of Dromadoon ferried Through those early years of the 30s, 40s their goods and supplies back and forth Hyne, Europe’s first Marine Nature Reserve, is and 50s, the visiting university groups from the across the lake; Louis Renouf at Lough presented in a fascinating book of photographs UK camped in their beautiful bell-type tents. A Hyne; Cynthia Trowbridge, Steph and captions by Terri Kearney. The Reserve is new laboratory was built in the early 50s, with Schroeder, Alix Laferriere, Colin Little a saltwater lake situated 5km south-west of and Graham Piling carrying out a shore the help of the students. Louis Renouf is seen survey; ‘1928 saw the erection of an army-hut... which was fitted out as a laboratory and aquarium alongside the Narrows [The Rapids], and an intensive study of Lough Ine and its immediate surroundings was started.’; Ronald Bassindale (left), Jack Kitching and others on Rapids’ wall. (note the ‘Irish Free State’ stamped on wooden butter boxes to left of photo).

placing the “time capsule” in the foundations. carried out without luxurious laboratories and Photographs are abundant of students and expensive “tools”. scientists working in the outdoors. One of sam- The final pages of the book have two gems: pling on the rapids with Jack Ketching and the first is Prof. Renouf’s timber hut lab. This Ronald Bassindale, shows them using butter was swept into the lake by a high tide many boxes as an outdoor “lab”. A number of pages years later. Neilly Bohane recovered it and will bring back memories for local people of brought it to his farm at Dromadoon, where it is the mobile creamery at Ballymacrom, with the still in use today. The second: the first boat used donkey and horse carts. The great Denny Salter by the Professor in 1923 is still used nearly 90 of Salter’s Bar (now Bushes) in Baltimore is years later by Denis O’Driscoll near Goleen. featured, with the present sailing club being The boat was built by Skinners’ Boatyard at built in the background. Rath in 1915 for £1 per foot by Denis’ father. It is amazing that there are now over 450 sci- This wonderful book of photographs, which entific papers based on studies carried out at includes many local people and views would Lough Hyne. None of this research would have be a marvellous Christmas present. happened but for the vision of Prof. Louis Renouf and his family’s support, especially his Lough Hyne – The Marine Researchers – in wife Nora, who would feed and entertain the Pictures. A visual history of the scientific many visitors in those early years. This is an research carried out at Europe’s first Marine extraordinary story brought so alive by Terri Nature Reserve By Terri Kearney. Skibbereen Kearney of Skibbereen Heritage Centre. I hope Heritage Centre. www.skibbheritage.com it will be an inspiration to present-day students Price: €18.00 (inc. p&p). 2010. ISBN: 978- and scientists that the finest of science can be 0-9568863-0-9

We need your support Subscribe to Sherkin Comment See page 2 for details. (you can now subscribe using Paypal) 8 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 Images © Pete Atkinson Images © Pete

Dwarf Minke Whales

times there were half a dozen whales around the boat at once. Once they had found the boat, the whales would hang around for hours. Sometimes they will stay with the boat all day. During a single short season, more than 350 individuals have been iden- tified using photo i.d. and some return repeatedly. Permits for swimming with whales are tightly controlled and the code of practice that the operators adhere to is rigorous, but it certainly seems that the industry has no impact on the whales, yet creates thousands There were minke researchers on of ambassadors for whale conserva- By Pete Atkinson board too, which added to the party tion every year. By enforcing atmosphere. respectful and discreet behaviour by MY favourite time of year on the Queensland is highly regulated boats and people in the water, it Great Barrier Reef of Australia is when it comes to interactions with seems that at least in this whale November, when the trade winds are marine mammals. When I first heard watching industry great encounters lighter and the grey and rain of about what you must do to be in the occur without adverse impact on the cyclone season have yet to arrive. water with minke whales I was But if you want to see dwarf minke incredulous. Thick floating lines trail whales. whales you need to be there in June from the drifting boat, the and July, when the trades are usually snorkellers must hang on to the lines Pete Atkinson was a volunteers at at their strongest. In the southern at all times and wait for the minkes Sherkin Island Marine Station over summer (December to March) this to approach them. Yeah, right! 30 years ago. Pete studied marine subspecies of Balaenoptera acu- I was suitably chastised by the zoology at Bangor University, torostrata – one of the smallest whales’ behaviour. Although 9m continuing a life-long obsession baleen whales – is found in the sub- long as adults, they are shy and take Antarctic around 60 degrees south with the natural history of the a while to get comfortable with peo- oceans. In 1982 he bought Eila, a feeding largely on krill. They come ple. People apparently attached to north to calve. the boat are not much to fear, and the 1935 classic yacht, which he sailed I lived in Cairns in northern inquisitive whales circled, first at the all over Polynesia, writing articles Queensland for six years, which had limit of the 30m visibility, then and taking photographs. After 17 the advantage that I could watch the closer. They vocalise to one another years and 45,000 miles, he bought weather maps looking for the short making a noise like pigs grunting. Vigia, a 13.5m aluminium yacht breaks between the high pressure Over two and a half days of perfect to continue his travels in the systems that generate the trade weather and five knot winds, 58 dif- Pacific. In 2004 Pete sailed to winds, and then phone around to see ferent individuals were identified by who had space on their boat. One Cairns, bought a house, sold Vigia the researchers Dr Alistair Birtles and married the Thai photographer year I was lucky to get the last bed and the late Dr Peter Arnold. The on Undersea Explorer, more a float- boldest whales came within a metre, Darin Limsuansub. They now live ing commune than a dive boat, with rising vertically right next to the in Phuket, Thailand. minke guru John Rumney as skipper. snorkellers clutching the line. Some- www.peteatkinson.com SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______9 West Cork, a hotspot for rare Irish plants

widespread Bird's-foot Fluellen (Kickxia elatine), (Ornithopus perpusillus) – once widespread but today West Cork and Co. Wexford restricted to Cos Cork, Dublin are their main areas of Irish and Wexford, and the larger, distribution. Both Soft Clover erect, pink-flowered Lesser Photos by Robbie Murphy (Trifolium striatum) and Snapdragon (Misopates oron- Bird's-foot Clover (Trifolium tium), which has appeared ornithopoioides) persist spar- sporadically for over 60 years ingly, especially around on Cape Clear. Spotted Rockrose (Tuberaria guttata), a West Cork speciality. Horseshoe Harbour on An exciting find in dis- Sherkin. We don't see them turbed ground on Sherkin this Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis our protection. Not only are every year, yet they never last year was Corn Marigold var. lilacina), near the com- Marine Station botanists quite disappear! A plant of (Chrysanthemum segetum), munity centre on Sherkin – recording all these plants and damper heaths near the sea is otherwise only on Cape Clear new to Ireland! others, but also they are mon- Pale Dog-violet (Viola lactea), but not seen for over 10 years. Other rare weeds, including itoring their ecology and with large whitish-violet flow- Other weeds, former colonists old medicinal plants, persist numbers. The data from this ers in May. This West Cork of vegetable patches, newly around buildings and on way- long-term project will be pub- Lilac-flowered Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis var. lilacina). speciality has a few scattered recorded since the 1996 Flora, sides, vulnerable to improved lished in due course. sites elsewhere in Ireland. are Dwarf Spurge (Euphorbia road-verges and tidiness. In such as Little Robin (Gera- Cultivated and disturbed esula) and Small-flowered particular, Elecampane (Inula Dr John Akeroyd has been By John Akeroyd nium purpureum) on a shingle ground is another place to Catchfly (Silene gallica, not helenium), a robust 1–2m-tall visiting and recording plants seek rare plants. Most are less recorded since 1948), both on yellow daisy, and Marsh Mal- THE Wild Plants of Sherkin, strand on Long, otherwise on Sherkin and Roaringwater competitive than the usual Horse. Also on Horse, another low (Alcaea pallida), a hairy Cape Clear and adjacent largely restricted to walls in Bay for 25 years. He edited docks and thistles of culti- plant of disturbed places, the miniature hollyhock, survive islands of West Cork (1996) Cork City. This and other rari- The Wild Plants of Sherkin, vated land, and they've elegant red-flowered Deptford here and there on Sherkin and was a milestone in the study of ties are included in the Irish Cape Clear and adjacent decreased nationally since the Pink (Dianthus armeria) per- Cape Clear. Both were once the plant life of Roaringwater Red Data Book: the islands in 1950s. Five fumitories, plants sists at its only station in remedies for coughs and other islands of West Cork Bay. Now the publication of Roaringwater Bay have 14 almost restricted to cultivated Ireland – we found it new to illnesses of cold damp farm- (1996), co-authored a its Supplement is an opportu- such rare plants, while three land, occur on Sherkin and the country in 1992. One of houses. Supplement (2011), and is nity to reflect on the special more occur on the adjacent the most pleasing records in There are plenty more author of A Beginner's wild plants of Sherkin and mainland. recent years has been a lilac- examples, an astonishing rich- Guide to Ireland's Wild other islands, and the flora of Spotted Rockrose (Tuber- flowered variant of Scarlet ness of rare plants in need of this far western district of West aria guttata) is West Cork's Flowers (2008). Cork. For 'Carbery's Hundred floral 'jewel in the crown'. It Isles' and the adjacent main- occurs in West Galway and land have emerged as a Mayo, but its Irish headquar- veritable botanical hotspot, ters is here: islands in and a refuge for rare and Roaringwater Bay, on and threatened Irish plants. around Mizen Head, and Bere Some islands – Sherkin, Island in Bantry Bay. Cape Clear and Heir or Inis Uí Recorded in the 1930s, it was Drisceoil – are easily visited. refound in 1992 – it's rarely Others, such as Castle, the more than 5 cm tall, usually Calfs and the Skeams, are much smaller. Since then remote, unpopulated and sel- we've discovered it on Castle dom visited, except by and Long, with new popula- Sherkin Island Marine Station tions on Heir. A plant of rocks biologists. Each has its own among stunted heather, on thin peaty soil that dries in Hairy Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus botanical riches, although subbiflorus) Sherkin has almost all the 635 summer but remains wet in other islands, including the plants recorded from the winter. It may have survived nationally rare Purple Ramp- islands in Roaringwater Bay. the Ice Age in the area, along ing-fumitory (Fumaria An unkind person would say with some mountain plants, purpurea) and White Ramp- that's because we've been and later grew on bare ground ing-fumitory (F. capreolata), recording there so busily! – in after the ice melted – it's really the latter more a plant of fact Sherkin has a much- more a Mediterranean plant. hedge-banks than gardens. indented coastline and varied Rocky places in heathy pas- Fumitories, with feathery topography and habitats. It's tures are home to rare Irish leaves and pinkish flowers, rich in the habitats that are clovers and related 'peaflow- are hard to distinguish, but particularly good places to ers'. Like Spotted Rockrose, both these species have rather look for plants, including the these sub-Mediterranean showy flower-clusters and rarest: rocky coastal pastures plants need a mild climate but down-curved fruit-stalks. and heaths, blown sand and also habitats that dry out in Other rare plants of disturbed disturbed ground. summer. The most important ground are two miniature Other islands too have is Hairy Bird's-foot Trefoil snapdragons, purple- and yel- plants not found on Sherkin, (Lotus subbiflorus), which often grows with the more low-flowered Sharp-leaved

Just Supplement to The Wild Plants of Sherkin, Cape Clear and Adjacent Islands of West Cork Published! Species new to the islands, rediscoveries and significant extensions of known distribution. A Sherkin Island By John Akeroyd, Leander Wolstenholme & Jenna Poole Marine Station ISBN: 978-1-870492-58-4 Publication Price: €5.00 (inc. p&p) 36pp. 246mm x 170mm. 2011. 10 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 Cleaning up the mess we made Part 1 of a 3-Part Series By Walter Mugdan1 our per capita waste “foot- print” expanded also. FROM time immemorial, a And what we have done fundamental issue confronting with our wastes has almost human society has been how invariably been to throw them to dispose of our wastes. For away. Photo courtesy of US EPA the most part we have done a Archaeologists are delighted EPA Photo courtesy of Yosemite pretty bad job of it. The series that ancient societies often of articles will focus on the threw their wastes onto piles or witch’s brew of toxic chemi- into pits near their habitations. cal wastes that are the bitter Ashes from cooking fires, food fruits of the Industrial Revolu- wastes, flakes from flint knap- tion. The series will explore ping and the making of how we got into the mess we arrowheads, ceramic shards, are in, and how we are now and broken items from totems starting to try to get out of it. to toys all found their way into From the time our first these ad hoc landfills. They have proven to be an important hominid ancestors tamed fire, A Manufactured Gas Plant in the mid 1950s. the amount of waste each indi- window through which scien- in the past they were often dis- swamps in Celtic times. Simi- vidual human makes has tists can catch a glimpse of 2 missed in as pestilential larly, the islands that make up exceeded that made by any how our ancestors lived. quagmires that served no use- New York City are consider- other animal of comparable So where do we tend to put ful purpose. Throughout the ably larger today than four size, and the disparity has all our waste materials? Two world, wetlands near agricul- centuries ago when Henry only continued to grow. Over favoured locations have been tural communities have been Hudson first saw the area. the millennia we learned how holes or depressions in the drained to expand farmland, Indeed, much of Manhattan’s to make and use tools, grow ground; and what we now call while wetlands near towns current shoreline is hundreds food, domesticate animals, wetlands and used to call and cities have been filled – of feet further out than it was make implements from bone, swamps. We know now that often with with wastes – and in Hudson’s day; and all three wood, stone, clay, metal and wetlands are among the most then converted to what people New York area airports, as glass, and build ever larger productive ecosystems on considered to be better uses. well as the World’s Fairs of and grander structures. With earth (along with coral reefs Large parts of London were 1939 and 1964–65, were built every technological advance, and tropical rainforests); but on filled wetlands. Toxic waste discharges from mining operations. Still, for most of human his- tory the amount of waste each erated by the industries that unique challenges for safe – or person created and discarded support that American’s at least safer — management. was relatively small, and was lifestyle, from automobiles to Among the first industries primarily organic and “natu- electronics to processed to experience a massive ral” in origin – think food and foods. expansion at the start of the agricultural wastes, wood Along with an incredible Industrial Revolution were debris, ash, etc. Construction increase in the volume of mining and metal smelting. materials such as quarried wastes that we as individuals These were the enterprises stone and fired brick, and met- and as modern societies cre- necessary to extract and use als like copper and iron for ate, the nature of those wastes the coal, and make the metals, implements, were on which the developing industrial society came difficult to extract “... the Industrial Revolution has and work, and so to depend. These indus- they were used and also been a Chemical Revolution, tries leave behind large reused and reused yet as we have created a staggering quantities of wastes at again. number of compounds that never every step of the way, But this rapidly from mine tailings to existed in nature, and to which coal ash, smelter slag began to change with earth’s organisms therefore never the onset of the and foundry sand. More- Industrial Revolu- had a chance to adapt.” over, these wastes tion. In the 18th concentrate and expose century coal replaced wood, chemicals that in nature peat and dung as a primary has also changed dramatically are inaccessible. For example, source of energy, and in the … and invariably for the coal is laden with impurities 19th and 20th centuries oil worse. In fact, the Industrial such as sulfur, mercury and and gas augmented or Revolution has also been a other metals, which are then replaced coal. The amount of Chemical Revolution, as we released as air pollutants when energy available to human have created a staggering the coal is burned, or remain societies increased exponen- number of compounds that as residual contaminants in tially over the past 300 years, never existed in nature, and to the ash. Similarly, many ores allowing the creation of the which earth’s organisms of desirable metals also con- disposable consumer society therefore never had a chance tain undesirable substances. prevalent today in most of the to adapt. As an example, arsenic is developed world. In conse- Every modern industrial commonly found in iron ore, quence, the amount of waste (and, for that matter, agricul- and can become accessible generated by each person – tural) enterprise generates a and/or concentrated in mine directly and indirectly – has waste stream that must be tailings and smelter slag. also increased exponentially. managed. Each type of enter- Often, industrial chemicals The average American gener- prise has its own suite of waste never seen in nature are used ates about 4.5 pounds of products, each creating differ- to work the materials, such as garbage each day, and this ent risks to human health and harsh acids that are used to doesn’t count the wastes gen- the environment, and posing liberate metals from their ore SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______11 matrix. These, too, end up as pected carcinogens. In 1834, Gowanus Canal, home for learned how to extract a new 1910 to over 7 billion today. toxic legacy they have too waste products. And of German chemist Friedlieb over a century to three manu- class of phosphate fertilizers The manufacture of both phos- often left behind, and the steps course, many useful metals Runge isolated from coal tar a factured gas plants, contains from rocks, which of course phate- and nitrogen-based we have taken to start to clean are themselves hazardous, chemical later called aniline, nearly 5% coal tar waste! had to be mined and fertilizer creates hazardous up the mess. such as lead, mercury, and the basis of the aniline dye Over the course of the 20th processed. A century later Ger- wastes, often in large quanti- chromium. industry from which sprang century, the petrochemical man chemist Fritz Haber ties. In addition, excessive use Walter Mugdan, Director, A significant frontier in corporate giants like BASF, industry supplanted the coal discovered a way to extract of the synthetic fertilizers Emergency & Remedial waste generation was crossed GAF and IG Farben. Many tar-based chemical industry ammonia from atmospheric themselves also poses serious Response Division, U.S. in 1792, when the Scottish other compounds that today (although the process of heat- nitrogen for subsequent trans- environmental threats. Environmental Protection engineer William Murdock we make from petroleum were ing coal to produce coke and formation into synthetic As long as people have had pioneered the process of com- first made from coal tar. gas is still used today in the fertilizers. This chemical farms they have feared agri- Agency, Region 2, New York mercial coal gasification – Coal tar continued to be a metallurgical and other indus- process revolutionized agri- cultural pests. People have City, New York, USA. that is, turning the solid lumps used pesticides of one sort or October, 2011 of hard, black mineral into another for over 4000 years. 1 gaseous form. Murdock, a col- The earliest known use was in Any opinions expressed herein are the author’s own, and do not league of James Watt of steam ancient Sumeria, where ele- necessarily reflect the views of the engine fame, heated coal in mental sulfur was used to U.S. Environmental Protection the absence of air, converting protect crops. But the modern Agency. most of the coal to methane Photo courtesy of Ohio EPA pesticides industry traces its 2 Like every other animal we gas. This gas is very similar to roots to the first half of the humans also produce bodily the natural gas that many of us 20th century with the inven- wastes, with which every society use today to heat our homes or tion of chemicals like DDT throughout time has had to con- cook our meals. (implicated in world-wide tend. This aspect of human waste Initially, Murdock’s tech- population declines of eagles management is not, however, the focus of this series of articles. nique was employed mainly to and other large birds), dieldrin, Nevertheless, it is worth noting produce gas for lighting. aldrin, the infamous Zyklon-B that inappropriate management of Within just a few years gas used in Nazi extermination human sewage has been a major lighting became common in camps, and the herbicide vector for the spread of diseases, many factories in Britain. By Agent Orange used by the at least during the ten or twelve 1814, gas streetlights were U.S. in the Vietnam war which millennia since people started to being installed in London and was found to be contaminated gather in larger, permanent com- munities. Ancient Rome was by 1819 close to 300 miles of with dioxin, among the most distinguished among cities of its pipe had been laid in that city toxic chemicals known. The time by, among other things, its to supply some 51,000 burn- purpose of most pesticides is use of underground conduits to ers. In 1816 the first coal to kill living organisms, so it is carry away sewage. The waste- gasification operation started A contaminated site in Northwest Ohio. no surprise that wastes from water didn’t go very far, however in America, also primarily for the manufacture of these prod- – it simply emptied into the Tiber use in lighting. For many major feedstock of the chemi- tries). The oil and gas culture (and a number of other ucts, as well as their use, can River with little further thought given to the impact on those living decades, coal gas was the cal industry well into the 20th industry, of course, has left its industries as well), helping to pose serious risks to human downstream. It was not until the dominant fuel for indoor light- century. Nazi Germany, with own legacy of pollution and make possible the unprece- health and the environment. 20th century that we began to treat ing, and for nearly a century it plenty of coal but not much oil toxic wastes to rival and dented increase in human Coming in Part 2: more sewage; and not until the latter was dominant for urban street or natural gas, depended on eclipse that of its coal-based population over the last cen- about the major industries that part of that century that we started lighting. More than 1500 gasification to create some of predecessor. These include tury, from less than 2 billion in have shaped our lives, the to do it well. “manufactured gas” plants the substances on which its massive oil spills like the operated in the U.S. in the chemical, fertilizer and arma- 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of past. New York City alone had ments industries depended. Mexico or the Exxon Valdez several dozen; the last such During World War II, Britain spill in Alaska two decades plant in New York State and France also used the tech- earlier; and wastes from the closed as recently as 1972. nology, for similar reasons. refineries and chemical plants In due course, gas gave way Alas, the same coal tar fed by the industry that to electricity as a means of which spurred much of this include pollutants like ben- producing light, but gasifica- chemical ingenuity also cre- zene, toluene, xylene and tion of coal continued to be ated an enduring legacy of others far more exotic, many important for many other toxic waste sites. The gooey of them carcinogenic or other- industrial purposes. Indeed, stuff never really hardens, and wise hazardous. we learned how to use some when dumped on or in the The plastics industry traces of the wastes from coal gasifi- ground (as it usually was) it its roots to 1868 with the cation as the raw materials for oozes downwards until it invention of celluloid by the the predecessor of what today reaches an obstruction like American printer John Wesley we call the petro-chemical bedrock, and then keeps mov- Hyatt. Three decades later Dr. industry. Coal gasification is ing sideways. It severely Lee Baekeland introduced an extremely messy business, contaminates everything in its phenolics, a more versatile leaving behind large volumes path – not only the soil, but class of plastics, made from Salmon, Trout & Shellfish of coal tar – a thick residue also any groundwater or sur- coal tar or petroleum, which loaded with hazardous or face water with which it could be liquefied and formed Marine & Freshwater toxic compounds such as pol- comes into contact. For exam- into myriad shapes. Today, yaromatic hydrocarbons ple, the mud underneath New over 100 billion pounds of (PAHs) that are known or sus- York City’s infamous plastic, of dozens of different North, South, East & West types, are produced each year in North America alone, pri- marily from petroleum. Much of that plastic ends up as waste – think, for example, of the vast numbers of water and Delivering results for Aqua-Business Photo courtesy of US EPA soda bottles we toss out each day. And, of course, the manu- facturing processes that make the plastics have their own waste streams to contend with. Since the dawn of agricul- For more information contact: ture, humans have fertilized IFA Aquaculture Section, their farms. For most of the Irish Farmers’ Association, Bluebell, Dublin 12 past 10,000 years this was ph: 01-4500266 fax: 01-4551043 done through application of e-mail [email protected] “Valley of the Drums” toxic waste dump site in Kentucky, USA. animal wastes – manure and urea. In the early 1800s, we 12 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 Fishing Salmon Sustainably

all overseas anglers contribute the fishing and he is never By Ciaran Byrne approximately €105 million to there” these are just some to the Irish economy and domes- the sound bites which IFI offi- INLAND Fisheries Ireland tic anglers also contribute cers regularly hear from (IFI) is the State agency significant millions. In a 2003 people apprehended while responsible for the conserva- study by INDECON it was illegally fishing. Some con- tion, protection, development reported that overseas salmon sider it to be a ‘past-time’, and enhancement of the inland anglers had an average daily ‘doing no harm’, and as much fisheries and sea angling expenditure of €203 each, part of our heritage as the fish resource, and quite logically it while a domestic salmon themselves, however illegal reports to the Department of angler spent €136 per day. fishing is an environmental Communications, Energy and Thus, in the midst of one of crime. It is a crime against the Natural Resources, as our the worst recessions the coun- Irish people and the Irish inland fisheries are a signifi- try has ever seen, where there economy. cant national resource, there to has been a significant refocus- Each and every angler gen- be sustainably exploited. The ing on the importance of erates a positive return for the habitats and the fish them- tourism as a driver of eco- Irish economy, they keep selves form part of Ireland’s nomic growth, we have a ghillies and guides in employ- rich culture and biodiversity natural resource which, if sus- ment, support many local and they also play a key part tainably exploited can deliver tackle shops, accommodation of Ireland’s tourism offering. a massive boost to the Irish providers and restaurants espe- In looking at the various economy. Most importantly, cially in rural communities. species that make up our most of the economic benefit Unfortunately the corollary to Photo courtesy of Inland Fisheries Ireland native fish stocks, the salmon from angling is generated in this statement is also true each is the one that most Irish peo- Gear and fish seized by Inland Fisheries Ireland personnel on routine patrol on Corstown Lough, rural communities which have person illegally fishing is tak- Co. Meath, Summer 2011. ple can immediately relate to. been hardest hit in the down- ing from the economy and the Generations of children have turn. local community. Like all There is a large suite of which typically provide the rely on information to target learned about the salmon of You would think that with crimes there are different fisheries laws in place ranging seller with money for a few illegal fishing hotspots. This is knowledge, and the salmon is such an important resource scales, and in the case of ille- from national legislation to drinks, but anything up to where you come in, IFI oper- an iconic symbol of Ireland that people would do all in gal fishing they range from the local bye laws. What each of €1,000+ which is lost from the ate a manned 24 hour hotline having previously featured on their power to protect it and top end, organised poaching these laws is designed to do is local economy and this trans- (1890 34 74 24) to report all the florin (2 shilling piece) ensure it is sustainably gangs who target specific to ensure that people can lates directly into jobs lost or illegal fishing issues, be it first struck in 1928 and later exploited. Unfortunately this rivers or lakes to the individual enjoy and exploit the fisheries curtailed. Why does the local reporting an illegal net, an the 10 pence coin. The ration- is not the case. Inland Fish- recreational angler who takes a resource sustainably, as this is restaurant only do one sitting angler in breach of the law, a ale behind choosing the eries Ireland is currently ‘few extra fish’ or who do not the basis of all recreational on a Saturday night? Why person or commercial estab- salmon for the florin was tackling a scourge of illegal quite ‘stick to the rules’. Let’s angling. So clearly when a does the local B&B owner lishment offering illegally because salmon represented fishing. “It was only a few fish be clear, in both cases people person puts a net across the have a shortened season? Why caught fish for sale or to both the sea and freshwater for the freezer”, “why don’t are guilty of committing envi- river they are breaking the law is the tackle shop not doing as report any other fisheries game fishing and was consid- you go and get real criminals” ronmental crime and breaking but so too is the angler who well as previous years? How offence, this hotline is how the ered very important to the “There are plenty more fish in the law, it is not a case of ‘I does not tag a salmon or likely is it that a tourist will public help eliminate illegal Irish economy. the river” “I’m entitled to take have only done a small thing, breaches the coarse fish bye return to an area to fish if he or fishing from their communi- In this regard not a lot has them aren’t they free”, “The and it is really the other guy laws. she finds a net across the river ties. Since its establishment in changed, it is estimated that guy in the big house owns all that is guilty’. It is important that the eco- or witnesses illegal fishing December 2010 it has proved nomic benefits generated by activity or flagrant abuse of remarkably successful and has angling are closely linked the laws by individual led to a number of prosecu- with the negative economic anglers? For sure illegal fish- tions, and it is IFI’s intention effects of illegal fishing and ing is not the sole cause of the to continuing developing the this is done at the local com- economic problems we are hotline and working with local munity level. In this regard IFI currently facing, but in small communities to overcome ille- are currently commissioning local communities reliant on gal fishing. economic surveys to actually tourist angling it can have a quantify the loss to local com- disproportionate negative Dr Ciaran Byrne, munities from illegal fishing. effect on service providers. Chief Executive Officer, Thus when a person comes So, what can you do about Inland Fisheries Ireland, around to the local pub or it? IFI have a large number of Swords Business Campus, goes door to door selling ille- highly professional and gally caught cheap salmon, trained fisheries officers who Swords, Co. Dublin, Ireland. coarse fish or trout, it is not are protecting our rivers, lakes Web: www.fisheriesireland.ie just €10 or €20 spent on fish, and coastline however they SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______13 Russian Leather from a Watery Grave which included immersion for a By Anthony Toole week in birch oil, which penetrated fully into the leather. Marco Polo THE link between an eighteenth mentioned its use by Asian Tartars in century shipwreck off the south-west the thirteenth century, and during the coast of England and a tiny, recon- next half millennium, it came to be dite workshop in the north-east of the regarded as the finest leather in the country would seem to be very tenta- world, and was used extensively for tive indeed. That this link has to do shoes and for binding books. The with Russia leather stretches the Russian Revolution brought its pro- credulity to its limits. Yet the story duction to an end, so that the leather holds together, for it is as remarkable preserved for two centuries beneath as it is unlikely. the mud of Plymouth Sound in now Austin Winstanley’s workshop is virtually the sole remaining source. not easy to find. It is one of a number “I generally buy a single hide at a that hide away in a small courtyard time,” says Austin. “I average four or off the main shopping street in Hex- five in a year, depending on commis- ham, Northumberland. Even as one sions. In addition to larger objects, I stands within the courtyard, the also make items such as jewellery workshop does not advertise itself, boxes, from smaller off-cuts from a Photos: Anthony Toole Poster advertising exhibition by Austin and its constricted space and some- hide.” what cluttered interior conceal the Austin Winstanley in his workshop with Winstanley and Robin Snelson. a roll of Russia leather. Some of Austin’s commissions are fact that its owner is a designer and unusual, and cause him to draw on manufacturer of extremely high of which are devoted to the moulding reserves of ingenuity. quality leather goods. and stitching of the corners.

Photo: Austin Winstanley “One particularly tricky job,” he “As a teenager,” he says, “I made “ One of the special features of my A case made by Austin Winstanley confides, “was a small watch case a leather bag for my sister’s birthday. cases is an integral hinge, which pre- from Russia leather. with a sliding door, which required That was followed, over the years, by vents wear-and-tear on the leather an intricate opening mechanism.” Petersburg bound for Genoa, carrying various pieces made as a hobby.” and so increases the life of the case.” Others reveal often sad and a cargo of hemp and Russia leather. After attempts at careers as a cow- Often, he designs and makes poignant histories. On the night of 10th December, a vio- man and an engineer, and even a objects according to specifications “I was also asked to make a carry- lent storm drove it aground on period in teacher training, he made a given him by customers who have ing case for a clock that had been Drake’s Island, in Plymouth Sound, sitar case for a musician friend, then been told of his skills by other satis- buried by a Jewish family for the where the ship sank. There it a guitar case, and the seeds of a life’s fied clients. duration of World War II. Most of the lay, buried under mud and work were sown. “A lady once brought me a design family died in Auschwitz, and the thirty metres of water, for During the early 1970s, Austin she had drawn up for a handbag. This heirloom had been retrieved by the nearly two centuries. Winstanley operated from a work- particular bag required seventy-two few survivors.” In June 1973, members of shop in Birmingham, and later in separate pieces of leather.” Using a variety of leathers, he has the Plymouth Sound Sub- Darlington, before finally settling Austin Winstanley’s connection made bell muffles for Hexham Abbey, Aqua Club discovered the into his present premises more than with the shipwreck is hinted at in a bellows for Northumbrian pipes, ship’s bell, and subsequent Part of a twenty years ago. In that time, he has poster hanging on the workshop wall, wooden beam upholstery for the seats of a recon- research revealed the history made cases for a variety of musical advertising a joint exhibition of leather from the Frau structed 1940s airplane and a toolbox of the wreck. Returning to instruments, attaché cases, handbags craft with another craftsman, Robin Metta for a 1904 Progress Voiturette motor the site, the divers found a Catherina von and overnight bags. These are nearly Snelson. “I read about Robin in a Sun- Key ring made by Robin Snelson car. He has supplied Beamish Open strange object protruding from Russia leather. Flensburg. all made to his own designs. day supplement, and later met him at a Air Museum with steam engine pipe “One customer for whom I made a from the mud, which proved conference. We held our exhibition in remarkably well-preserved hides was covers, blacksmith’s aprons and belts case recently asked me to make him to be a piece of leather in surprisingly Hexham in the early 1990s.” On a brought to the surface. for machinery. another. He had used the original case good condition. Thick layers of silt shelf beneath the poster is a piece of a The Duchy of Cornwall was estab- “One of my most recent commis- virtually every day for fifteen years, and debris meant that excavation and wooden beam from the ship. lished as owner of the wreck, and sions was for an assassin’s case for and it was still in good condition.” salvage would be extremely difficult, The story begins in 1786, when the Prince Charles granted permission actor Bill Nighy, in the 2010 comedy A typical attaché case requires but eventually the problems were Danish brigantine, Frau Metta Catha- for the Sub-Aqua Club, through the thriller film, ‘Wild Target‘.” some forty hours’ work, about a fifth solved, and the first of many rolls of rina von Flensburg sailed from St agency of leather craftsman, Robin Sadly, supplies of Russia leather Snelson, to sell the hides in order to are coming to an end, though there finance the excavation of the wreck. are stocks for the time being, suffi- Though he lives in Cornwall, Robin cient to see Austin Winstanley and owns a house on Sherkin Island, and Robin Snelson through to retirement. indeed sold his first piece of leather- Ian Skelton, the diver who has been work there in 1977, just a few months largely responsible for salvaging the before he learned about the wreck. leather from the Frau Metta Catha- Since then, he has enjoyed a career rina has now retired, with no based largely on the Russia leather forthcoming successor. This means from the Frau Metta Catharina. that the site is likely to silt up very In addition to making his own quickly, leaving the remaining hides leather goods he supplies hides to a to sink back into their muddy grave. small, select group of skilled crafts- This will undoubtedly add scarcity men, one of whom is Austin value to the leather creations of Winstanley. Another of his customers Austin Winstanley and Robin Snel- is G. J. Cleverley, a bespoke shoe- son. Indeed, G. J. Cleverley maker of Bond Street, London, advertises some of his Russia leather whose own customers have included goods as ‘limited edition’. This Winston Churchill, actors Laurence should see them appreciate consider- Olivier, John Gielgud and Ralph ably in value over the coming years. Richardson, Hollywood stars like Gary Cooper and Clark Gable, and Anthony Toole, 65, Cheswick Drive, more recently, Daniel Day-Lewis Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Elton John. NE3 5DW, U.K. E. The high quality, characteristic [email protected] odour and rich colour, suppleness, W: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ water resistance and insect repel- lence of Russia leather are due to the anthonytoole lengthy processing it underwent, 14 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 Planning & Environmental Law in Ireland

period of eight years from with development plans, are been incorporated into Irish has not had serious conse- • European Legislation – 2008. The over zoning, in discussed in detail and a num- Law. quences but these Council Directives. terms of dwelling units num- ber of important legal cases Chapter 11. The PDA Act consequences are around the • Treaties and Conventions – bers, amounts to enough are summarised. Other issues 2006 provides a special plan- corner and waiting to happen. EC Treaty, European Con- zoned land for 1,500,000 include contents and making ning application procedure for Further he states that there is vention or Human Rights; houses and apartments. of development plans, taking strategic infrastructural devel- an absolute necessity for a Transboundary Conven- Development occurred on in Planning and Development opment whereby the planning planning amnesty after 15 tion, UN ECE Espoo flood plains, the principles of Act 2000. In chapter one there authority is bypassed and the years (for example) for prop- Convention on EIA. sustainable development were are 327 subsections, which planning application is made erties without planning • Constitutions – Constitu- frequently overlooked and it shows the detail of the legal directly to An Bord Pleanala. permission, after which time tion of Ireland. appears that nobody thought to implications of PDA 2000 and The author addresses develop- permission must be assumed. This book is essential refer- look at the figures to establish PDA 2010. ment proposals by a local It is, he states, impossible to ence for planners and lawyers just how many dwelling Chapter Four. The decision authority, state authorities, examine the planning history on planning and the environ- houses the market required. of a planning authority either energy, transport, environ- of development over the past ment. John Gore-Grimes has It is to be hoped that the to grant permission with or mental and health 47 years and to give it a com- the rarest of gifts; he has suc- Reviewed by new principles of a “core without conditions or to refuse infrastructure. There are 13 pletely clean bill of health. ceeded in bringing to the strategy” will ensure that permission, or the right to categories of energy infra- That is what we are asked to reader many complex issues Matt Murphy future development will be appeal to An Bord Pleanala, structure, 4 categories of do under the present legisla- in a very readable form. more controlled and will pro- are addressed. The issues transport, 11 of environment tion and as time passes that Though largely a reference A MOST important guide mote sustainable development include – Jurisdiction of the and one of health. The situation gets worse and book and quite a hefty tome of to planning and the environ- and support economic renewal Board to hear appeals, limits requirements for the appli- worse. 1153 pages, lay people, out- mental in Ireland has recently by harmonising development for lodging an appeal, time cants, according to the various The thoroughness of the side of the professionals, will been published. The author is permission and directing it limits, Minister’s entitlement sections of the PDA 2006 Act, book is shown in the various find much to help and guide Dublin solicitor, John Gore- towards areas already targeted to vary the time limit, submis- are explained and include sub- tables listed, and which are them on issues such as house Grimes. He has extensive by the National Spatial Strat- sions or observations, oral missions and observations, referred to, summarised and purchasing or selling, how to knowledge and experience of egy (NSS) for development hearings, reports and docu- applications, the Boards deci- discussed in the over 2980 challenge planning decisions, the topic, as a solicitor over and for investment in infra- ments of the Board. sion and time limits. subsections. the workings of An Bord many decades. His main audi- structure. The concern must In Chapter Six, there is Chapter 12. The author • Court cases – over 400 Pleanala and development ence may be the legal and be as to whether or not the strong criticism of the lack of addresses the warranty which listed. plans for a local authority. planning professionals, how- NSS has been sufficiently progress made in terms of a house seller must give to say • Statues in over 160 acts – ever anyone with an interest thought out and advanced to social and affordable housing that all planning and environ- from the Planning and or involvement in planning Planning and Environmental give best advantage to the and of the social integration mental matters are 100% in Development (Amendment) and the environment should Law in Ireland By John “core strategy” principle. principles involved. The quota- order. In his view, the author Act 2010 to the Dublin Cor- consult it. Mr. Justice Ronan Gore-Grimes. Bloomsbury The legal implications for tion from Sister Stanislaus believes that very few would poration Act 1890. Keane, the former Chief Jus- Professional. ISBN: 978-1- the development plans of local Kennedy is still applicable and have been advised of the obli- • Statutory Instruments – tice, in his foreword states “It authorities lays out what the that paragraph is undoubtedly gations which this warranty over 56 Planning and 84766-365-8. Price: reflects the extremely com- € objectives must include under controversial: “It is shocking to imposes. However to date it Development Regulations. 175.00/2011 plex legal structures which the Planning and Develop- see the level of shortfall in the now govern Irish planning and ment (Amendment) Act delivery of social housing dur- which demand treatment on (PDA) 2010. They are eight- ing the boom years. This is this encyclopaedic scale.” He een in number, which include largely a direct result of a con- further states “One cannot surface and groundwater, scious decision by successive help being depressed by the habitat, infrastructure, preser- governments to, in effect, cut message which emerges from vation, improvement and back on provisions of social this book, that, during the extension of amenities and housing while the level of need years of recent prosperity, the recreational amenities. The was rising year on year.” huge arsenal of planning “core strategy” of the Act There is another controver- measures spectacularly failed requires planning authorities sial statement in paragraph to ensure that planning deci- to provide evidenced-based 6.05, which suggests that the sions, particularly those information statements to market does a poor job in reg- involving the rezoning of land demonstrate how both the ulating land prices. This is for housing were taken in the development plan and the backed up in the preface with public interest.” housing strategy are consis- the following sentence: In Chapter One, the alter- tent with Regional Planning “All in all there is some ation of zoning is discussed. Guidelines and with the recognition that land is becom- During the Celtic Tiger years National Spatial Strategy. ing too scarce and too valuable 40,000 plus hectares were The Department of the to allow its worth to be zoned for residential develop- Environment, Heritage and accessed by the wild and irre- ment when the requirement Local Government’s Planning sponsible forces of a was 12,000 hectares, for a Guidelines (No. 15), dealing merry-go-round market econ- omy. If we are to move towards a just and integrated Issues addressed in the book society in Ireland price control of land may become inevitable, Chapter 1: Plans, Policies, Guidelines and Directives no matter how repugnant such Chapter 2: Development and Exempted Development a concept is to many of our cit- Chapter 3: Control of Development izens.” Chapter 4: Challenging Planning Decisions Chapter 10 discusses the Chapter 5: Enforcement and Planning Injunctions statutory ground rules for Chapter 6: House Supply – Social and Affordable environmental impact assess- Housing ment (EIA) and also deals Chapter 7: Compensation and Compulsory Acquisition with environmental impact Chapter 8: Additional Planning Controls on Land and statements (EIS). EIA is on Buildings defined as a process of antici- Chapter 9: Substitute Consent and Appropriate pating the effects on the Assessment environment caused by devel- Chapter 10: The EIA Directive opment. This is an Chapter 11: Structural Infrastructure Development assessment, which is required Chapter 12: Planning and Environmental Law for in certain public and private Conveyancers projects, and the process has SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______15 Supporting Conservation in the Amazon By William Milliken

IN Ireland, when an area is declared protected, one can reasonably assume that its future is secure. This is not the case in so many other parts of the world. For the last few years our team has been work- ing with Brazilian partners to help strengthen the scientific basis for conservation in northern Mato Grosso. This area, on the southern fringe of the Amazon basin, lies in the 'arc of deforestation' where Milliken Images: William In the rainy season, wading up to your chest through flooded forests cattle ranching, soya farming is often unavoidable, and a good way to keep cool! and logging are pushing northwards into the forest. The scale of destruction in the region over the last four Thunder clouds over the Xingu decades has been staggering, River. and whilst in recent years the offer a viable option in other Brazilian authorities have parts of the tropics. Where made improvements in the people are involved, this is the control of Amazon deforesta- only kind of reforestation tion, Mato Grosso remains a that's likely to be successful in major problem. the long run. We're now work- In the Cristalino State Park, ing with another local for example – a relatively organisation to help develop small protected area that's reforestation systems that been the focus of much of our meet the needs of landowners, work in the region – substan- restoring water supplies and tial areas of forest have been supporting livelihoods whilst cleared since the Park's estab- Expedition vehicles, spattered with the red soil of the Amazon, Pressing and drying plant specimens in a forest camp. crossing a river on a barge. benefiting the region's biodi- lishment in 2001. The gaps in our knowledge of the versity. The understanding authorities responsible for Amazon. Maps and reports that our botanical studies have enforcing its protection are have helped to plan manage- generated – of the species that under-resourced, and the ment strategies for new and make up the forest – is vital to forces driving its destruction existing protected areas. But this process. too powerful to combat them in a region such as this, con- There's another holy cow effectively. A heady cocktail servation will only be out there, which is 'Payments of political corruption, greed effective in the long term if it for Ecosystem Services'. At and desperation. fits with the needs of the local its most basic level this evolv- Kew has been helping sup- people. Environmental educa- ing mechanism for reducing port conservation in the area by tion clearly has a role to play, global carbon emissions and providing some of the informa- and we've been working with conserving forests involves tion necessary for management a local non-governmental payments, from developed planning. The essential first organisation to develop pro- countries (with high carbon step – in a region previously grammes that help to foster a footprints) to developing unstudied scientifically – is to sense of pride in, and respon- countries with threatened find out what's there: mapping sibility for, the region's tropical forests, specifically and cataloguing the vegetation biodiversity, particularly to support measures to reduce and identifying priorities for among children. forest loss. Given that the conservation. Analysis of satel- Addressing economic real- burning of tropical forests lite imagery gives a useful ity, however, is equally critical. contributes almost 20% of overview and helps to identify The Brazilian land settlement global carbon emissions, this targets, but it's only by getting agency, INCRA, has brought is potentially hugely signifi- onto the ground that one can large numbers of immigrants cant. The challenge will be to generate meaningful, reliable to the region in recent years – ensure that any such pay- information. The Cristalino State Park in Mato Grosso, a relatively small reserve in the Amazon context but relatively often from poor parts of the ments make their way to the In practice, this work dif- large by European standards. arid northeast of the country – families scratching out a mea- fers little from what botanical allocating them small plots of gre existence in the forest. If explorers have been doing in observations are made, to include scientists, students, river at dawn, the morning mist forest on poor soils on which to they do, then the incentive for the Amazon for the last two within a few metres on the park managers and local peo- and the scents of night-flower- make a living. With little preservation could outweigh centuries: travelling up rivers Earth's surface. Aluminium ple with key knowledge and ing plants lying heavy on the understanding of how to man- that for destruction. If they by canoe, dodging rapids and canoes and outboard motors skills. In the course of these water, unknown revelations at age forest sustainably, these don't, they might well find rainstorms, establishing forest have made access easier and surveys we've found ourselves every turn in its twisting settlers soon find themselves in themselves sharpening their camps, and hacking our way quicker, digital cameras and in extraordinarily beautiful, course, never loses its excite- a wasteland of unproductive chain saws again. with machetes through dense laptops have allowed virtually cathedral-like forests, hellish ment. Sitting on a sandbank as pasture, their water courses vegetation with plant presses instantaneous data manage- tangles of vines and shrubs the sun sets over the river, fresh drying up and few options left and bundles of newspaper on ment, and satellite telephones where it can take half an hour piranha grilling on the fire and William Milliken, a former on the horizon apart from lay- our backs. offer the possibility of help in to move fifty metres, spectac- the last pairs of scarlet macaws volunteer at Sherkin Island ing claim to, and destroying, Technology, of course, has case of emergency. Nonethe- ular outcrops of sun-baked making their noisy way back to Marine Station, is Head of another patch of forest. moved on since Richard less there remains little one granite clothed in colourful their roosting trees, is an unfor- Tropical American Botany at Agroforestry systems, Spruce was paddling his way can do about bees, mosquitoes orchids, and isolated patches gettable privilege. which draw together sustain- the Royal Botanic Gardens, up the Rio Negro. With Global and galloping foot-rot except of savanna that seem to have Our plant collections and able forest management with Kew, UK. Positioning Systems we now grin and bear them. been frozen in time since the studies, including the discov- cash and subsistence crop pro- (See centre spread know where we are, our spec- Our expedition teams, the last Ice Age. ery of several species new to duction, have been shown to on pages 16 and 17.) imens are collected and our greater part Brazilians, Coming round the bend of a science, are helping to fill 16 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______17 William Milliken William  Photos Supporting Conservation in the Amazon

Xingu River from a hill top; much of the Amazon basin is flat, and views such as this a rare pleasure.

Photography by William Milliken

(See article on page 14) In the rainy season fungi are abundant, rotting down the dead wood to renew the forest cycle.

Sunset on the Xingu River.

Forest cleared for cattle ranching, a few sad trees remaining in a wasteland of grass.

The river network still provides the only means of access to remote areas. A species of passion flower collected in 2011, yet to be identified.

In the rainy season fungi are abundant, rotting With its wings closed this moth looks exactly like a leaf, Typical tall forest; the palms in the foreground produce edible fruits. A beautiful Trimezia flower, in the lily family, growing in a patch of savanna. down the dead wood to renew the forest cycle. but it opens them to flash its false eyes at predators. 18 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 Rabbitfishes, Chimaeras & Ratfishes (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes) in Irish Waters

Although European landings have By Declan T. Quigley been declining, elsewhere global landings of Holocephalans have RABBITFISHES, Chimaeras and been increasing exponentially since Ratfishes belong to a primitive sub- the early 1950s (Figure 1). Indeed, class of fishes (Holocephali) dating over the last 60 years, global land- back to the Devonian Period ings increased by 10-fold, from 1100 (416–359 million years ago) which Hydrolagus lusitanicus – male Harriotta raleighana – male Chimaera opalescens tonnes in 1950 to 9565 tonnes in share many morphological charac- 2009. Five countries, all located in teristics with sharks, skates and rays the southern hemisphere, accounted (Subclass: Elasmobranchii) indicat- for 94% of global landings during ing a common albeit unknown 2009 (Table 2): New Zealand Photo: Dr Leonel Gordo Photo: Dr Samuel Iglesias

ancestor. For example, in common Photo: Dr Elena Luchetti Photo: Dr Elena Luchetti (46.2%), Argentina (29.1%), Chile with sharks, they have a cartilagi- (10.7%), South Africa (6.5%) and nous skeleton, and reproduce using Australia (1.5%). Five individual internal fertilization, the males bear- species of rabbitfish accounted for ing clasper organs (males of some Chimaera monstrosa – male Hydrolagus affinis Harriotta haeckeli almost 87% of total landings during species, e.g. Chimaera monstrosa, 2009 (Table 3): Plownose Chimaera also have an additional frontal ten- (C. callorynchus) [39.8%], Dark taculum on the head that is used to Ghost Shark (H. novaezealandiae) grasp the posterior edge of the [20.8%], Ghost Elephant Shark (C.

female’s pectoral fin during copula- Photo: Dr Elna Luchetti Photo: Dr Samuel Iglesias Photo: Dr Elena Luchetti Leaute Photo: Dr Jean-Pierre milli) [17.3%], Cape Elephantfish tion). However unlike sharks, Photo: Dr Elena Luchetti (C. capensis) [6.5%] and Rabbit Fish Holocephalans have a single opercu- Hydrolagus pallidus (C. monstrosa) [2.3%]. lum covering the gill arches and Hydrolagus mirabilis Rhinochimaera atlantica their upper jaw is fused to the brain- case (Holocephali = “whole heads”). water species, inhabiting benthic water habitats, particularly the Considering their high vulnerability Declan T. Quigley, Dingle The first dorsal fin, with its poison- regions from continental slopes newly discovered extensive areas of of over-exploitation, there is clearly Oceanworld (Mara Beo Teo), The laden spine, is erectable, not fixed down to abyssal depths cold-water corals. Furthermore, con- a strong case for introducing robust Wood, Dingle, Co Kerry. Mobile: and the body lacks scales or denti- (80–3000m), relatively little is tinuing EU reductions on Total management plans to specifically 087-6458485 Email: cles. Chimaeras have three pairs of known about their general biology Allowable Catches (TACs) and indi- protect all Holocephalan species in [email protected] hypermineralised tooth-plates in the and natural history. Young rabbit- vidual member state quotas for some European waters. upper jaw and a large pair of fishes often occupy deeper water deep-water species, along with rela- mandibular tooth-plates on the bot- than adults, the latter partaking in tively low fish prices and increasing tom (hence the name “Rabbitfish”). seasonal, inshore breeding migra- fuel costs have made deep-water The anterior plates are blade-like, tions. Adults range in size from 60 fishing increasingly uneconomic. whereas the posterior plates are flat- to 200cm, with females often Consequently, European landings of tened for crushing hard-bodied larger than males. Rabbitfishes are rabbitfish species (mainly C. mon- benthic invertebrates on which they oviparous, laying only a few egg strosa & H. mirabilis) declined by mostly feed (e.g. molluscs, crus- cases mainly during spring and 50%, from a peak of 1170 tonnes taceans, echinoderms and summer which take 5–10 months during 2004 to 575 tonnes during anemones). The body generally to hatch, so the species are highly 2009. French (63%), Norwegian tapers posteriorly to a pointed tail, vulnerable to over-exploitation. (27%) and Spanish (10%) vessels hence the alternative common name Following a number of accounted for almost all European “Ratfish”. In Greek mythology a exploratory research surveys of landings during 2009. Although the Chimaera was an imaginary monster deep-water fish resources off the exploitation of several species of constructed of incongruous parts. west coast of Ireland and Scotland deep-water sharks is currently sub- Extant Holocephalan species rep- during the 1990s, there was a brief, ject to EU TAC & Quota restrictions, resent a small fraction of a albeit intensive period of commer- there are none for Holocephalans. previously successful and diverse cial fishing effort directed towards group. Although only 43 living exploiting a number of deep-water species (including 3 families) are fish species (including rabbitfishes) currently known worldwide, several during the early 2000s. However, it others remain to be described. The soon became clear that exploitation increasing commercial exploitation levels were both biologically and of deep-water fishes and scientific economically unsustainable. Many surveys of deep-sea biodiversity, species were found to be highly vul- aided by improved knowledge about nerable to over-exploitation due to the taxonomy of the group supported their slow growth rate, late maturity, by recent DNA barcoding tech- low fecundity and longevity. There niques, has facilitated the were also growing concern about the description of several new species. damage caused by commercial Indeed, since 1990, at least 17 new trawls to these highly sensitive deep- species have been described, includ- ing three from the NE Atlantic: Pale Rabbitfish (Hydrolagus pallidus), Lusitanian Chimaera (H. lusitanicus) and Opaline Chimaera (Chimaera opalescens). At least 9 species (including 2 families) are currently known to occur in the NE Atlantic; 8 of these from Irish waters (Table 1). Although rabbitfishes are found in all oceans and are mostly deep- SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______19 Sheep-eating plants at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin

But a remarkable (but far By Matthew Jebb from silent!) revolution has IF I told you that there is, in taken place in the last few Ireland, a living plant that can years, which means that the catch, kill and eat a sheep you majority of the Irish popula- might well be sceptical – but tion now possess their own none the less you would prob- audio players – ipods and ably be more than curious to iphones are everywhere (or know what the ploy is in this Images courtesy of National Botanic Gardens MP3 players and smartphones claim. But let me assure you if you want to escape the it is perfectly true, and if you hegemony of Apple Inc.). By come to Glasnevin, and better last summer it was reckoned still download one of our free there were in excess of audio tours to bring with you, 500,000 smartphones and you can see and hear about it over 2.5 million MP3 players at first hand… in the country. The sheep-eating plant is There are three tours in the collection, each with 40 min- At each listening stop on the tour, just one of 30 short stories The collection of three audio tours – the Green,Yellow and Red tours – there is a prominent label help to share the importance of the plants with visitors. utes of audio commentary. The featured in three new audio matching the tour colour. tours and a smartphone ‘app’ Green tour explores the famous Every plant in our collec- in a way that doesn’t intrude glasshouse and palm house, for the National Botanic Gar- In order to bring the tours to tion has a story to tell, and at all on the plants or the his- and is suitable for cold or wet dens. They include some of as many people as possible audio tours present us with an toric gardens. The beauty of days; the Yellow tour is an easy the gardens’ hidden treasures, they were packaged in a num- excellent way to bring these our audio tours is that you stroll around the gardens his- its oldest plants, famous ber of ways. Firstly, and most stories to every visitor without don’t even have to be in toric highlights; and the Red glasshouses, and one of the simply, they can be down- cluttering up the collections Dublin– you can enjoy these tour is an extended walk to the world’s great plant hunters, loaded as podcasts from one with panels of text. Mary from the comfort of your own river, for wildlife, roses and iTunes – simply search for and come complete with a of the two websites or, if you Mulvihill of Ingenious Ire- home, wherever you are.” even some philosophy. At each Botanic Gardens. recording of ‘The Last Rose have a smartphone, you can land, a science writer and The tours were made possible listening stop on the tour, there The National Botanic Gar- of Summer’. Some of the sto- download the app, which broadcaster conceived the with a grant from the Depart- is a prominent label matching dens were established at ries we tell in the guides are includes extra images, directly audio tours idea. Mary is a ment of Tourism, Culture & the tour colour. Each stop is Glasnevin in 1795 by the unashamedly provocative and to your phone. But Mary broadcaster, a writer and a sto- Sport under its Cultural Tech- only about 2 minutes or so of Royal Dublin Society, on the bizarre – who on earth has recognised that not everyone ryteller, and is passionate nology Grant Scheme in 2009. audio allowing the visitor a site of a Georgian estate and heard of a tree with no leaves, owns these new-fangled gadg- about sharing Ireland’s hidden Best of all, this has enabled us chance to hear the story and villa, the gardens have been a plant that grows inside out, ets and was therefore anxious heritage, especially its scien- to make the audio tours avail- admire the plant or building. run by the State since 1878. to say nothing of the sheep- to ‘past-proof’ the tours also. tific brilliance and industrial able for free. The stories were written and Since 2003 the Gardens have eating plant! – but they’re all To achieve this we have com- archaeology. Mary had made Until a few years ago, such narrated by Matthew Jebb and been managed and run by the here – plants that have bined a selection of 16 stories a radio series about the work tours were complicated and Mary Mulvihill, as well as the Office of Public Works. They changed history, cured cancer from the green, yellow and red of the herbarium for RTE in expensive, involving renting gardens’ orchid expert Brendan cover nearly 20 hectares, with and beautified the world and tours on a delightful little sou- 2007, and as she says “I knew large and cumbersome play- Sayers, and wildlife guide over 17,000 different species these stories are packaged so venir player. David Norris there were lots of great stories ers, the payment of hefty Glynn Anderson. and cultivars, including many as to bring the visitor to the described the souvenir players in the gardens, and an audio deposits, not to mention the The tours were launched in rare and endangered speci- plant or building, and bring its as ‘cute as a button’ at the tour is the perfect way to tell major financial investment April this year by Presidential mens, along with thousands of history to life. launch. And they are indeed them to a wider audience, but required by the institution. hopeful Senator David Norris. dried and pressed plants in the enchanting little pieces of tech- ‘herbarium’. nology – they are essentially Ingenious Ireland: a new small audio players with the company specialising in audio files hard-wired into unusual audio tours and hidden them. They have sufficient bat- heritage, its next project is a tery power to give 4 or more ‘blood and guts’ walking tour tours, and are for sale at just €5 of Dublin’s medical history. at the visitor centre, with a Other tours include a look nicely designed box and map. inside the Royal Irish Acad- For an extra €2 you can even emy and its hidden history on buy a dual adaptor, allowing Dawson Street; a geology you and a friend to hear the walking tour of Dublin city; tour together. And when the and the history, landscape and batteries do die they can heritage of the Hill of Tara, all always be replaced – a great available to download at little souvenir for a visitor. www.ingeniousireland.ie It is central to our mission to share the importance of plants with our visitors, both Matthew Jebb, Herbarium, local and international, and I National Botanic Gardens, hope that this is just the start Glasnevin, Dublin 9, of many more interactive Ireland. ww.botanicgardens.ie ways to highlight the value of QR code plants to humanity, and for QR code for iPhone remind everyone just how Android Users users remarkable the plant world is. Visitors can access the tours on www.ingeniousireland.ie & www.botanicgardens.ie/audio The app was designed by ZiggiApps and is now avail- QR codes – you can photograph these codes with your mobile phone and the able for free download from app will automatically be downloaded. the Android app store or You will require the appropriate QR soft- ware to be loaded on your mobile first. 20 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 STOP Food Waste

Campaign the website of Stop Food Waste supporter Donal Ske- han, www.donalskehan.com. You can shop successfully with children in tow! The STOP Food Waste pro- gramme is funded under the involved it can be more diffi- tummy is a sure way to build a EPA National Waste Preven- cult as food waste and kids mountain of nutrient deficient, tion Programme (NWPP). often go hand in hand. sugary snacks that we don't Waste Prevention is the pre- The Stop Food Waste Pro- need. Shopping hungry means ferred waste management gramme funded under the EPA you and especially the kids are option in Ireland. By not gen- National Waste Prevention Pro- looking for a sugary quick fix, erating waste, we can eliminate gramme is advising that a little short-term energy boost and the need to handle, transport, planning can go a long way to those sweet treats look too treat and dispose of waste. We making the family shop a appetising to resist and just leap can also avoid having to pay

reduced waste, cost-saving and magically into the trolley. Not Images courtesy of EPA for these services. In light of more enjoyable experience. feeling hungry when you shop A little planning can go a long way to making the family shop a the significant issues arising Children love helping with will mean not picking up snacks reduced waste, cost-saving and more enjoyable experience. from the disposal of food the shopping especially by you don't need in the house. won't be cleaning food off each day in advance and stick to waste, and the realisation of throwing things into the trol- Make a list – check it plates later. Children are more it. This will reduce the guess the costs associated with this, ley. It is worth spending 5 twice: Following a list is a likely to eat a healthy meal if work at the supermarket and the NWPP Prevention Plan By Odile Le Bolloch minutes before the shopping sure way to stay on track. they have prepared it – dili- allows you to cook more than 2009–2012 set out to promote trip to let the children assist Have the children make their gently mixing ingredients and one meal from the ingredients food waste prevention and THE term 'family shop' can you in making your shopping own list and let them pick the using the right amounts will you have. Then you can freeze home composting. lead to a series of violent list or let them make a short items from the shelves. reduce food waste enor- some for another day, instead of For more information for expletives from even the most one of their own – they can Choosing items and explain- mously. Children can become the usual scenario of using half a parents on avoiding food waste, placid of parents. The very then get a small trolley for ing how they fit in to the top class smoothie makers tray of mince, leaving the rest sit visit the ‘tips for parents’ sec- suggestion can bring up themselves. You will save family meals will keep chil- with slightly overripe fruit that on the shelf until you find an tion on www.stopfoodwaste.ie. visions of children nagging for money and cut down on food dren interested and aware of would ordinarily disappear opportunity to make another sweets, temper tantrums, nosey waste this way. the importance of a balanced into the rubbish. Bolognese and then that nor- Odile Le Bolloch, Resource Use onlookers peering from other Feed 'em up – never shop diet in family cooking. Prep School: Take your mally ends up in the bin during Unit, Office of Climate, Licensing aisles and the trolley filling up hungry: When it comes to food Bulk buying makes cents: planning to the next level by a busy week as you never and Resource Use, Environmental with all sorts of food that will our eyes are definitely bigger Don't buy expensive individ- actually putting a meal planner found the time. For a full range Protection Agency, Johnstown end up in the bin within a few than our stomachs. Hitting the ual packs of children's items, in place – know what you intend of recipes that will help you Castle Estate, Co. Wexford. days. When there are children supermarket with a rumbling such as yogurts, when you can to cook for lunch and dinner create a weekly meal plan see www.epa.ie buy a large container and share the spoils. This reduces over buying, over eating and over packaging! It's a winner in Short listed by every sense of the word. But The Maritime do watch for bulking up on Foundation for the Maritime some perishable items that Sherkin Island Marine Station Media Awards will never be eaten before they 2011 go off – 20 apples at a knock- Publications down price with an immediate best before date is not a bar- gain but a recipe for disaster as you'll have to discard at least 50% of them in a few days. Small but mighty: Kids get Ireland’s Hidden Depths turned off food if they feel overwhelmed by the amount Just in front of them. Smaller por- €17.99 tions on a plate or correctly + €2.00 p+p sized lunches with smaller fruit mean they do not feel threatened or frightened they are going to miss playtime by having to work through the mountain on their plate. Let them ask for more if they are hungry – and wallow in your success as you dish out more vegetables to the masses. You'll soon see the kitchen Explore, with nature photographer and author Paul Kay, the beautiful, shelves emptying instead of intriguing and fascinating creatures that can be found in the shallow scooping the remains of left waters around Ireland's coast. over dinners into the bin.

Know your children... ISBN: 978-1-870492-53-9 • Softback (with french folds) • 277 x 227 mm • 160 pp • 200 colour photographs know your trolley: Experi- ence goes a long way to removing excess and saving money in your shop. Get to know the quantities you and the children eat comfortably and use measuring implements in the kitchen to ensure you Available from: Sherkin Island Marine Station, Sherkin Island, Co Cork cook the right amount. Get the Tel: 028-20187 Fax: 028-20407 [email protected] www.sherkinmarine.ie children involved in the cook- Books can now be purchased online using Paypal. ing – it may be messy but you SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______21

canoes on an ancient ocean margin, Northern Ireland and the results will all of 450 million years ago. be important for mineral exploration, But new horizons beckoned to me groundwater resources and regional with my appointment as Director of planning. My Life as a GSI in 1992. My purpose now was to These surveys are just one dimen- lead a dedicated team of scientists, sion of an expanding range of technical and administrative staff in geoscience initiatives which GSI is producing suitable information prod- undertaking, thanks to funding under ucts required by our diverse range of the National Development Plan, and customers. These extended beyond which are addressing issues such as Geologist mining to include regional planning, landslide susceptibility, aggregates Peadar McArdle water supplies, environmental protec- potential mapping, carbon-capture- tion, heritage, tourism, education, and-storage and the quality of our Many geologists start their careers tecture and geological controls, as construction and quarrying. The digi- urban environment. In parallel, GSI By Peadar McArdle overseas and I was to be no exception. well as introducing me to the engi- tal revolution meant we also had to has funded a range of high-priority Funded by the UK Ministry of Over- neering skills involved in extracting develop new ways of providing access research projects designed to under- I RECEIVED my training in geol- seas Development, I was assigned to and processing them. to our maps and databases. An impor- pin sustained research at universities ogy during the 1960s in the then the Geological Survey Department of Such mineral resources formed the tant event was Government’s decision in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and relatively small Geology Department the newly-independent Republic of basis for the first half of my career at that GSI undertake the National very interesting results are emerging of University College Dublin, which Malawi. The country straddles the the Geological Survey of Ireland Seabed Survey, a major initiative that already. I have been fortunate in my provided a balanced and comprehen- East African Rift System, a fundamen- (GSI). My role was to advise our par- demonstrated the power of geoscience career to see an expansion of the sive foundation on which to build a tal split in the Earth’s crust which ent Department on technical aspects to deliver value to the maritime sector range of applications where geo- professional career. It particularly displays a spectacular range of carbon- of mineral exploration and mining, – fisheries, engineering, environmen- science can make a valuable emphasised the value of field work in atites (unusual igneous rocks which brought me into contact with tal concerns, shipping and coastal contribution, and to have worked evaluating geological problems and composed of carbonate). My work all dimension of the industry through- zone management. The second phase with so many dedicated and gifted this was something that held a special involved evaluating the mineral out the country. I remain deeply of seabed mapping, the Infomar Pro- scientists in delivering those applica- appeal for me. The Head of Depart- resource potential of the extensive impressed by the skill and dedication gramme, is currently underway and I tions for the benefit of our country ment, Professor James Brindley, was Precambrian schists, gneisses, and of the spectrum of professionals and am delighted that it is being jointly and communities. an acknowledged granite expert, hav- their intrusions. Although its mineral workers involved, not least by the undertaken with our colleagues in the ing honed his skills on the nearby resources are limited, my targets resourceful and self-reliant coal min- Marine Institute. Dr Peadar McArdle retired as Leinster Granite, the largest in this included uranium, nickel, copper, ers of the 1970s and 1980s. These Cooperation with the Geological Director of the Geological Survey of part of Europe. So it will come as no gemstones, industrial minerals and extracted coal of varied quality from Survey of Northern Ireland has long Ireland in November 2010. surprise that my postgraduate urban brickfields. I considered myself a series of small operations based on been an important activity for GSI, research was based on a segment of fortunate to experience field work narrow seams and often in difficult starting with collaboration on com- this batholith, a linear strip running under safari conditions that are rarely working conditions. The Avoca mines pleting the various cross-Border Gold Frenzy – along the eastern margin of the Tul- available nowadays. also took on a special significance for bedrock map sheets. This evolved to The Story of Wicklow's Gold low Lowlands Pluton. This was a Back in Ireland once more, I spent me and this was partly because of its joint projects concerned with tourism, very satisfying study not only of a couple of years at the Silvermines nail-biting struggle for survival (it mineral exploration and offshore sur- by Peadar McArdle, has just been granite and its newly–discovered zinc-lead mine in the mid-seventies. had 225 interested geologists on its veys, and has culminated in the recent published & is lithium-tantalum pegmatite veins, but One of a number extracting base met- payroll whenever new exploration Tellus Border Programme. This will, available from of the surrounding sedimentary and als from limestone-hosted deposits, it drilling took place!). But it was also on a cooperative basis, complete www.gsi.ie. Price €20.00. volcanic rocks in which it was provided me with an unrivalled because of its fascinating geology important geophysical and geochemi- ISBN: 0-906002-08-7 emplaced. opportunity to understand their archi- which evolved along a chain of vol- cal surveys in the counties bordering 22 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52

I’m not at all sure anyway that those who challenge the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli- mate Change (the IPCC) and the many climate scientists who say the threat is real can claim much credit (or blame) for the lethal inertia of If not Now, so many of the rest of us. A recent study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford looked at climate doubt (to try to use a neutral term for the deniers/sceptics), and among its findings was one that struck me. Doubt about WHEN? the mainstream (IPCC) case is much stronger in the Anglo-Saxon countries of the UK and the US than in the other four countries studied – drive investment in clean energy, the ‘lock-in’ avoid the criticisms the earlier versions have France, China, India and Brazil. So I think the of high-carbon infrastructure is making it attracted, that smart grids could cut electricity doubters may have local rather than universal harder and more expensive to meet our energy distribution losses, and that there is a practical factors to thank for their apparent success in security and climate goals. possibility of generating renewable electricity persuading electorates that far greater uncer- “The door is closing. I am very worried – if from space. tainty exists than the facts bear out. we don’t change direction now on how we use Perhaps Dr Werbos is on the further edge of I think probably most of us go on as we energy, we will end up beyond what scientists belief in what’s possible. Perhaps he leaves too always have done for two reasons: because tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door many questions unanswered – like how we we don’t think change is possible, and will be closed forever.” could hope to generate the electricity that will because we’re too afraid to try anything dif- It doesn’t come much plainer than that, nor be needed. ferent anyway. from many sources with greater credibility. But contrast his can-do approach (he even That may possibly make some sense in a sit- But, of course, the possibility of actually being thinks new batteries will make electrically-pro- uation where you can hope that persistence able to make the sort of changes he suggests is pelled aircraft feasible) with the IEA’s warning may eventually pay off, that a dogged refusal to unimaginably remote, isn’t it? And the cost of where we shall be within a decade if we go change offers some prospect of survival. But it would be absolutely prohibitive, surely. on in the same old way. makes no sense at all when the stakes are as Well, no and no, actually. According to one So why are we all set to go on exactly as we scientist I met recently, the changes are practi- are? What is stopping us from starting on the clear as they are now. cally possible, and the cost is entirely changes we know we have to make? Neither Fatih Birol nor Paul Werbos is a By Alex Kirby affordable – we would quite likely save money. An easy target for blame is the big battalions headline-seeker. Neither of them says things That word “scientist” is a notoriously useful of climate sceptics, or deniers, or whatever word for effect: apart from anything else, they would one for journalists, of course. You can stick a both have far too much to lose to risk doing CLIMATE CHANGE has gone off the boil, you use for them (I don’t like calling them scep- white coat on anyone, credit them with bogus tics, because it seems to me that it is scientists that. If they say things are as stark as they are, stopped being sexy, disappeared from the head- and if they also say really radical change is lines and the TV screens. It’s hard to realise qualifications and outrageous opinions, and and journalists who are professional sceptics, claim that they have divined the truth that has and who wear the label happily as it describes within our grasp, we should listen to them. And that just a couple of years ago the world was then act. agog to learn the latest science, to see the most escaped all their peers. the only way they know how to work. Those up-to-date footage from the Arctic and to grill But my scientist was worth listening to. He’s who question the climatologists don’t like being government ministers about how they were Dr Paul Werbos, who works for the US called deniers, because they say it’s a name that Alex Kirby is a former BBC News planning to confront the threat. Threat? Cli- National Science Foundation as a program puts them on a par with Holocaust deniers.) environment correspondent. mate change is soooooo yesterday. Get real. director in its Office of Emerging Frontiers in Except that it isn’t yesterday’s story at all. Research & Innovation. He draws a careful dis- It’s today’s, and even more tomorrow’s (though tinction between his work for the NSF and his what we do and don’t do today will decide the private interests, and has his own website shape of tomorrow for our children and grand- (http://www.werbos.com/). children). If reality is what you want, look at Dr Werbos – speaking for himself, not for the November bombshell from the normally the NSF – lists energy, growing dependency on staid and not at all sensational International oil and gas imports, and nuclear proliferation Energy Agency (IEA), the 2011 edition of its into unstable areas as together one of the three World Energy Outlook. big challenges threatening human survival. In Primary energy demand will increase (on his view, a witches’ brew of import depend- present trends) by a third between 2010 and ency, a Middle East conflict, and the spread of 2035, it says. Fossil fuels (which enjoyed $409 nuclear weapons really could constitute a billion in subsidies in 2010) will still account human extinction risk. for 75% of consumption, a drop of 6% from But – and this is the arresting part – he insists today. But oil demand rises from 87 million that the future does not have to be like that. barrels a day to 99 million, and the use of coal Instead, he says, the technology exists to allow – the most polluting fossil fuel – is set to go up the US to become entirely independent of fos- by 65%. sil fuels within 20 or 25 years. And if the US And here’s the real humdinger. The world, should do that, could the rest of the world according to the IEA, has until 2020 to act to afford to be far behind? keep atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions ris- Dr Werbos’recipe for foreign fuel freedom is ing beyond 450 parts per million (ppm), the based on converting road transport to reliance threshold after which climatologists expect the on plug-in hybrid vehicles able to recharge changes will become unpredictable and there their batteries as quickly as we take to fill our will be no chance of moderating the human cars’ tanks, and three-way fuel flexibility – the influence on the climate. use of the GEM fuels, gasoline plus ethanol Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist, said: plus methanol. “As each year passes without clear signals to He believes new-generation biofuels would

Check out Sherkin Island Marine Station’s publications at: www.sherkinmarine.ie You can now pay for books using Paypal. SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______23 with my colleague David leave. There has been an Williams at the Natural His- increase in the industrial tory Museum London where I growth within the Baikal was based) we noticed that catchment which has lead to these species were quite localised contamination of Courtesy of Geraldine Reid unique and belonged in a new the water. There is increasing genus of their own, Amphoro- run off from mining activi- Life in a tia. Examining more ties and changes in the specimens we found 6 new population around the Lake species which we felt with increasing in pressure belonged in Amphorotia. As from tourism which pose a we examined the distribution threat with untreated sewage of these unusual specimens entering the water. Russian Lake we found the species in the Diatoms being single cells genus are both fossil (extinct) are very fast to respond to as well as living; previously environmental changes and as having had a much wider dis- such are used to monitor tribution. Those that we found changes within Baikal’s in deep lakes being living rep- ecosystem. Diatoms can also resentatives and have been be used to show how the Lake called ‘living fossils’, relics has changed over the years as from the past still thriving in they preserve in the sediments this unique and ancient habitat extremely well as they are but extinct elsewhere. made out of silica. By taking This precious habitat, sediment cores from the bot- which has World Heritage tom of the Lake you are able to status, is being closely look at slices through these watched because there are cores and map any changes concerns about its future within the Lakes populations. environmental quality. The These can be use to reconstruct Baikalsk paper and pulp mill past environmental change in View of Lake Baikal, which is situated south of Russian region of Siberia. (Inset: The Research Boat Titov.) has recently reopened in the Lake and build up a history 2010, it previously closed of its previous environments. down in 2008, and has been species to live at great depths. (Phoca sibirica). The land- of which were endemic – only responsible for pumping its By Geraldine Reid The number of endemic scape as you go around the being found in the Lake. Geraldine Reid is Head of waste products into the Lake. I HAVE been working on species (those only found in lake is amazingly diverse As part of this study I Botany at National Museums Here the concern is real as Lake Baikal for the past 14 Baikal) of all groups recorded resulting in the great variety became interested in a couple Liverpool, William Brown the retention time of water in years, studying and docu- for Lake Baikal continues to of plants in the lake basin. of very unusual looking Street, L3 8EN, UK. the Lake is high a staggering menting the benthic diatom rise; usually estimated at over The northern part of the Lake species of diatom called, at the 400 years, this means that She was formerly a volunteer diversity of the lake. 1,500, increasing with each is covered by deciduous time, Eunotia clevei and pollutants entering the lake at Sherkin Island Marine Lake Baikal is a special biodiversity survey. The high forests; the eastern part is pre- Eunotia hispida. Investigating now will take 400 years to Station. place; in fact it is a truly biodiversity of Lake Baikal is dominately pine forests and these species further (together amazing place full of spectac- often explained by the fact the western part is occupied ular scenery and a vast array that at around 30 million years by coniferous forests and of wildlife which you will mountain steppes. It has only be able to find at Baikal. extreme weather conditions It has around 1,900 species with an average of -25°C in living there. The description January rising to a mean of of the lake always makes +19°C in July. The Lake Eli Lilly S.A. – Irish Branch impressive reading as it is the freezes every winter with a deepest lake in the world at thickness of between Pharmaceutical Manufacturers 1,642 m (5,387 ft), it has an 80–120cm. Depending on area of 31,500 km2 and is 636 Baikal Diatoms: Amphorotia which part of the Lake you km long. It holds nearly 20% hispida, Didymosphenia dentate, are in it is frozen from late Amphorotia lacusbaikali December until June in the north basin and January until May in the South basin. The group of organisms I am interested in are called Eli Lilly wishes “Sherkin Comment” diatoms. Diatoms (Bacillario- phyta) are a diverse and large continued success. group of photosynthetic sin-

Courtesy of Sergey Gabdurakhmanov Courtesy of Sergey gle-celled eukaryotes, with their cells encased in a silica shell. Diatoms live in both marine and freshwater and are Eli Lilly S.A. – Irish Branch extremely important for all Dunderrow, other animals as they form the Kinsale, basis of the food chain on our planet. Viewed under the Co. Cork Baikal Seal microscope they appear in a Telephone: 021-4772699 wide variety of shapes, the sil- Fax: 021-4775152 of the world’s unfrozen sur- it is easily the oldest lake in ica shells forming many Email: [email protected] face fresh water. It contains the world coupled with the interesting and beautiful pat- Website: www.lilly.ie the largest volume of freshwa- fact its water is oxygenated to terns. ter in the world, 23,615 km3. great depths has allowed and The aim of the project is to It is situated in southeast offered plenty of time for evo- study, document and explain Siberia and was formed within lutionary diversification of the benthic diatom diversity of a series of rift zones some 30 many plants and animals. Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal has million years ago. It is unique One of the amazing things one of the most diverse amongst deep lakes in that the is its vast diversity of wildlife diatom floras in the world. water is fully oxygenated both within the lake and in the This remarkable flora has owing to regular replacement surrounding landscape. It is received little attention since of the deep water every spring home to the exclusively fresh- the 1930s, when almost 200 Answers That Matter and autumn which allows water seal – the Baikal seal taxa were recorded, two thirds 24 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 Between Rocks and Hard Places: Discovering Ireland’s Northern Landscapes By Paul Lyle Geological Survey of Northern Ireland/TSO Ireland UBLICATIONS OF NTEREST www.tsoshop.co.uk P I ISBN: 978-0-337-09587-0 we read of its natural and human history, BirdWatch Ireland text, showing how their collections are no issues of conservation..… We need to find of the landscape and of the towns and vil- mere objects of curiosity – but have edu- in our lives a place for nature.” Price: €16.99/2010 Price: €14.00 (inc p&p)/2011 lages it passes through. The industrial cational, cultural and economic impact far The description on “The 9000km At the growth of the city of Belfast is described Yet again an- beyond the ‘museum space’. She writes egg” of the flight of the Cuckoo from heart of this from its early beginnings to the present other wonderful about buildings, personalities, collections, South Africa to Ireland is a beautiful beautifully il- day, all the while referring to the influence Bird Report for presentation, the arts and sciences, includ- story. The author carries us along as the lustrated from the river systems. Ship-building the Dingle Penin- ing botanic gardens and, centre stage, Ire- cuckoo crosses of the Kalahari Desert, book is the once gave employment to 25,000 people sula, from the land’s rich archaeological heritage. The over the Congo River and Lake Chad, spectacular and the importance of the linen and cotton Corca Dhuibhne book is beautifully illustrated (including on to the Bay of Biscay and then as she landscape of industries on the Belfast rivers receives (West Kerry) many paintings), and there are 95 pages of crashes exhausted down into a soft field Northern Ire- special mention. In 1838, cotton weaving Branch of Bird- notes and bibliography. in sweet grass in Ireland. The book is land. Not alone had up to 15,000 workers. Watch Ireland. John Akeroyd. filled with wonderful stories of nature only does Dr. Lyle show the regional pic- Progress was not always positive and This is the 4th told in a way that would give the reader ture – Ulster, with digressions into Cos. pollution from the various industries and Bird Report from a new perspective. In all there are over Sligo and Leitrim – but also he takes the from sewage on the rivers in the 19th and a dedicated group of BirdWatch members, Wild Mayo 30 stories, each showing us the magnif- reader on an exciting journey into Earth’s 20th centuries was very severe. In places whose activities focus on raising aware- icence of nature, many enticing us to structures and processes. At University, By Michael Viney the pollution had a very serious effect on ness and pride in the area’s natural her- embrace a number of unusual conserva- one of my geology lecturers (himself with the flora and fauna of the rivers. Thank- itage. This report includes a systematic list Mayo County Council tion ideas. A lovely present for someone links to Northern Ireland) queried why so fully today the rejuvenation of the rivers of the birds of the Dingle Peninsula [email protected] with an interest in nature. few of my fellow botanists studied geol- of Belfast and their valleys has helped to 2008–10 and what a list it is, with over ogy. So I welcome this book, with its ISBN: 978-0-9555429-0-9 shape the physical and human landscape 270 species. There is a brief description on unashamedly popular presentation of ge- of the City of Belfast and it surroundings. each bird, whether it is common, scarce or Price: €15.00/2009 The River Shannon ology, demonstrating why this field-based Over 250 photographs and illustrations rare, together with the sightings in the “Wild Mayo” is A Journey Down Ireland’s science is so important to us all. are beautiful and help to bring this book peninsula over the three years. For the a celebration of Northern Ireland is blessed with great Longest River alive. The history of the rivers of Belfast is non-birders with a love of nature these de- Mayo’s natural her- diversity of rocks and scenery. Some of worthy of a place on our bookshelves and scriptions are written to hold the reader’s itage. It takes the By Aiveen Cooper the landscapes are spectacular and famous the ideal introduction for those of us who interest. reader on a wonder- worldwide: the fantastical hexagonal The Collins Press may be less familiar with the city of There is a very interesting article on the ful journey of dis- basalt columns of the giant’s Causeway, Belfast. Co. Kerry Barn Owl Survey. One learns covery through the www.collinspress.ie the noble granite Mourne Mountains, and 17 Irish counties are without any con- county. It explores the Glens and Coast of Antrim, where [email protected] firmed nests – Kerry does have them, how Mayo’s land- dark basalt overlies baked chalk, a far cry ISBN: 978-0-9555429-0-9 Woodland creation for wildlife being the highest in Ireland with 32 nest scape came to be from the chalk Downs of southern Eng- 978-1-8488910-7-4 and people in a changing sightings. Now to the special wine, what and why it is so special. The diverse flora land. The author tells how the Donegal beautiful colour photographs of birds dot- and fauna of the various habitats are de- Price: €24.99/2011 Highlands and Sperrin Mountains are an- climate – Principles and ted throughout the report. Birdwatchers scribed in 14 chapters. In ‘The Peatlands’ This is a journey cient fragments, in places up to 1800 mil- practices and anyone interested in nature will love we get a wonderful explanation of how down the longest lion years old, of the Caledonian this beautifully produced report and if a By David Blakesley and Peter peat has evolved over the centuries. One river in Ireland and Mountains of Scotland. He describes the Christmas present is needed, this is ideal. Buckley has to be surprised at the range of animals Britain. Its catch- glacial events that created the hummocks The Dingle Peninsula Bird Report and birds that use the bogs. The plant life ment area is 15,000 and lakes of the drumlin county of south Pisces Publications 2008-10 is on sale at €12.00 in Ventry Post there is special too, and it includes the sq km, which makes Ulster and Strangford Lough; he explains Office; The Dingle Bookshop, Green www.naturebureau.co.uk/pisces- beautiful flowering Bogbean and the rare up one fifth of Ire- the origin of the elegant hard porcellanite Street, Dingle; and the Castlegregory In- publications Pipewort. And there are over 40 kinds of land's land mass. The tools of ancient Ireland; and he shows how formation Centre. Dingle Pensinsula Bird spiders! Mayo has a myriad of lakes, such author brings us from later generations built up this geological ISBN: 978-1-874357-44-5 Reports are available by post from Lucie as Corrib, Conn, Mask and Carra, which where it rises in the legacy to mine coal, iron, chalk, gypsum Hankey, Monaree, Dingle, Tralee, Kerry, Price: £24.95/2010 are rich in plant aquatic life. In the chapter Cuilcagh Mountains, Co. Cavan to the At- and salt. He notes how always ‘the present Ireland. Email [email protected] This guide con- about the lakes we learn how the feral lantic Ocean. We learn of the wonderful is the key to the past’, comparing for ex- Cheques made payable to The West siders the many en- mink had a severe effect on native water- natural history throughout its length – the ample the active volcanic landscape of Kerry Branch of BirdWatch Ireland. vironmental issues birds, gulls and terns which were long es- otters of Lough Allen, the bird life listed Ireland with similar events in Co. Antrim €14.00 includes p&p Europe and world- of the day, which tablished on the islands in the lake from for special protection, such as Greenland some 60 million years ago. Above all, he wide or via PayPal to Lucie’s email. contribute to the suc- the Corrib to Carrowmore. Other chapters White-fronted Goose, Corncrake, Teal, illustrates how people and the heritage of cess of woodland include ‘The Rivers’, ‘Woodlands and Wigeon, and the rare plants, such as Bird's buildings and monuments they leave be- creation initiatives in Forestry’, ‘Rocky Shores’, all of which Nest Orchid, Tootwort, Alder Buckthorn hind are an integral part of the landscape, The Story of Irish Museums Britain and how they describe the rich wildlife and flora of a re- and Bird Cherry. Islands are in abundance its rocks and physical structures. He dis- 1790-2000: Culture, Identity and might feature in for- markable range of habitats, from the on Lough Ree, over 50, which include cusses the dilemmas involved in protect- ward planning. Education mountains to the Atlantic shore. This Goat, Bush, Little, Inchenagh, Claninch ing cultural landscape while making wise The book is divided into two main sec- book, with the help of over 100 colour and Inchcleaurn – the latter with its vari- use of their natural geological riches and By Marie Bourke tions. The first part "General Principles" photographs, brings to life a county with ous ecclesiastical buildings dating from resources. looks at the issues underlying woodland Cork University Press very special natural heritage. the Early Christian period. Religious com- John Akeroyd. creation and the different woodland com- www.corkuniversitypress.com munities inhabited many of the other is- munity types. It looks at climate change, Planet Dancing lands in the Lough. Rivers of Belfast – A History biodiversity, planning and planting strate- ISBN: 978-185918-475-2 There is a special chapter on the gies for woodlands. Price: €49.00/2011 By Patrick McCusker monastic city of Clonmacnoise, estab- By Des O’Reilly Part two give practical information on lished by St. Ciaran around AD544. We Ireland can be Open Gate Press ISBN: 978-1-906578-75-6 planning a woodland creation project. The proud of her contri- get a wonderful history of this unique various issues that need to be addressed [email protected] place. The discovery of the remains of Colourpoint Books bution to the origin are covered, such as grants, soil and habi- and growth of muse- ISBN: 978-1-871871-70-8 a wooden bridge spanning the river www.colourpoint.co.uk tat surveys, designing and planting new ums. Co. Down dated to AD804 and also nine dug-out Price: £7.99/2011 Price: £20.00/2010 woodland and selecting the trees and physician and natu- boats from the 8th and 9th centuries shrubs. There is excellent advice for post Planet Dancing is were precious finds. The Shannon Cal- This book opens ralist Sir Hans establishment management, including an unusual book on lows of 3500 hectares, along a 40km with a chapter on Sloane (1660-1753) pruning, thinning, coppicing and provid- nature conservation, stretch of river, are very special with its the geological his- left his ‘cabinet’ of ing additional resources for wildlife. as it gives sugges- plant life and bird directive lists of pro- tory of the Belfast extensive collec- As many of the issues would be the tions on how we can tected species. Rivers. It goes on tions to establish the same in Ireland, this book would be of become directly in- Further downstream is Lough Derg, the to look at the River British Museum, and by the end of that great interest to anyone involved in man- volved. Through sto- largest lake on the river, and the author's Lagan, the main century the Royal Irish Academy and aging woodlands – from planners, who ries, largely based on journey in and around it, would make one river to flow other Dublin institutions had founded mu- advise farmers under EU grant aid, to the author’s experi- want to spend many days exploring its is- through Belfast, seums. This great public legacy from the foresters to conservation and community ences of time spent lands, landscapes, towns and villages, and its many tribu- Enlightenment was too often neglected in groups. Above all it is a guide for the be- in national parks and such as Portumna, Mountshannon and taries that today have been diverted and the 20th century, and the remarkable re- ginner, interested in creating a new wood- nature reserves, the author shows us how Killaloe. This book has nearly 200 won- hidden away – running silently beneath vival and development of Irish museums land, however small. we can re-acquaint ourselves with nature. derful photographs, which bring the river the city. Each of the 12 minor rivers has a we see today again faces economic con- The story “Meeting again with old alive – indeed within the book the photo- chapter devoted to its river system. It also straints. friends” is a gem. The author tells us “But graphs tell their own story of the river. I looks at the Lagan Navigation, which The Dingle Peninsula This wide-ranging, comprehensive nar- before we can begin to attempt to make have enjoyed reading this book as it has once linked Lough Neagh to Belfast via a rative overview of Ireland’s museums em- Bird Report things better we need to rethink our rela- brought back many memories for me, canal. phasises how much they matter, to people, tionship to nature. We must approach this from nearly 60 years ago, when a friend The River Lagan rises in the hills of 2008–2010 to the economy and society, and to Irish calmly. There is too much hysteria and and I canoed from Bellantra Bridge, near mid-Down. As it flows towards Belfast, identity. The author roots museums firmly Corca Dhuibhne (West Kerry) Branch, in their historical, political and global con- there are too many doomsayers around the Drumshambo to Clonmacnoise. SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______25 New species of Fucus Arklow Coastcare’s honours Prof. Michael Guiry Annual Exhibition of Photographs

Snow Swimming Today A NEW species of Fucus, that most common of intertidal brown algae in the North Atlantic by Paul Burke and North Pacific, has been named by Portuguese researchers from the University of the Algarve, Fucus guiryi “... in honour of Emeritus Prof. Michael Guiry, Ryan Institute, NUI Galway (see Sherkin Comment No 46), in recognition of his great contribution to phycology by creating AlgaeBase.” (see Sherkin Comment No 51). This most surprising of new species is a common intertidal species ranging from Scotland in the north to the Canary Islands in the south. It is zone forming over much of its range, and it has long being confused with Fucus spiralis, Spiralled Wrack. This is not the first time that Michael Guiry had been recognised in this way: Guiryella repens is a red alga described by two eminent Australian botanists from the Abrolhos Islands, and now known from from Western Australia and South Australia; Cordylecladia guiryi was described by scientists from the Universita di Messina from the subtidal of Sicily; and Gloiocladia guiryi is a rare subtidal species in Pacific Russia, described by a botanist from the prestigious Russian Academy of Sciences at Petropavlovsk – Kamchatski. Last year, Michael was given the Phycological Society of America’s annual Award of Excellence, was made an ARKLOW Coastcare hold an annual Honorary Life Member of photographic competition and exhibition to Prowling Around by Ian McCann the British Phycological encourage people to explore the wonder and Society and an Honorary beauty of their local coastline. The competition is Lifetime Member of the open to everyone and each year the organisation is International Phycological amazed by the imagination and inspiration shown Society. This level of in the pictures. international recognition is This year’s exhibition of photographs was a reflection of the opened in August, in conjunction with National incredibe international Heritage Week. Photographer Brian McIlvenny, impact of the on-line who judged the competition, found it difficult to database “AlgaeBase”, of choose winners and was forced to split first prize which we wrote in the last between 'Snow Swimming Today' a stunning issue, and the value placed study of the beach by Paul Burke under last on it by the international year's snow and 'Prowling Around' a dramatic community. close up shot of a sea gull in flight by Ian Mc Matt Murphy Cann. Arklow Coastcare is grateful to everyone who took the time to enter and is especially Fucus guiryi grateful to the friendly people at the Phone Booth in Arklow who donated the very appropriate prizes – camera phones. Check out Arklow Coastcare’s new website for Ideal Gifts more pictures at www.arklowcoastcare.com.

A Beginner’s Guide to Ireland’s Wild Flowers Have you ever wanted to put a name to the wild flowers you see about you every day, or while on a walk, or on holiday? With the help of this pocket-sized guide, you will be able to do just that. Beginners of all ages will be introduced to the many common wild flowers found around Ireland. Published by Sherkin Island Marine Station

Price: €7.50 plus €1.00 p&p ISBN-13: 978-1-870492-23-2 Softback: size 140mm x 100mm 208pp A Beginner’s Guide to Ireland’s Seashore A pocket-sized guide, suitable for beginners of all ages.With the help of this book you will be able to explore the wonders of marine life on the shores around Ireland. Published by Sherkin Island Marine Station

Price: €7.00 plus €1.00 p&p ISBN-10: 1-870492-96-X ISBN-13: 978-1-870492-96-6 Softback: size 140mm x 100mm 208pp

The Natural History of Sherkin Island, West Cork – An Introduction Perhaps you haven’t been to Sherkin Island before, or maybe you’re coming back again, as many people do.This book will introduce you to some of the wonderful wildlife and flowers on this beautiful and peaceful island, which lies just 10 minutes by ferry across the busy little harbour of Baltimore,West Cork. Published by Sherkin Island Marine Station Price: €4.95 plus €1.00 p&p ISBN-13: 978-1-870492-38-6 Softback: size 208 mm x 98 mm - 72 pp

Ireland’s Bird Life. A World of Beauty Ireland’s Bird Life - A World of Beauty contains photographs from the vast collection of Richard Mills, who is recognised as one of Europe’s finest photographers. The book We need your support contains 200 colour photographs from his vast collection which show the great talent of a man who is a craftsman with his camera. Published by Sherkin Island Marine Station Subscribe to Sherkin Comment € € Price: 12.00 plus 1.00 p&p. ISBN-10: 1 870492 80 3 ISBN-13: 978-1-870492-80-5 Softback A4 160pp See page 2 for details. (you can now subscribe using Paypal) Available from: Sherkin Island Marine Station, Sherkin Island, Co Cork Tel: 028-20187 Fax: 028-20407 [email protected] www.sherkinmarine.ie Books can now be purchased using Paypal. 26 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 JUNIOR PAGES Sticking Around – The Wonderful World of Barnacles

Barnacles – Upside Down Crabs? Barnacles, like many insects, belong to that vast group of animals, the phylum Arthropoda. Within this, they are members of the same sub-phylum as crabs and lobsters. Indeed, a barnacle may be considered to be a crab that, instead of using its legs to run around and hunt for things to eat, has chosen the easier option of lying on its back and waving its legs in the water to trap passing morsels of food. To protect themselves, barnacles have developed external shells made of six calcareous plates and two moveable plates, which protect the animal inside when it is not feeding.

Barnacles – the Curse of Pirates Everywhere! Barnacles – A Subject of Study for As well as bad food, scurvy and the risk of sudden death in bloodthirsty battles, pirates Charles Darwin everywhere had to deal with the threat of barnacles. Like seaweed, tube worms and other encrusting marine life, barnacles cling to the bottoms of ships and slow them down, making The first person to fully study and classify barnacles was the them easier for the authorities to catch. To keep barnacles at bay, pirates would regularly run world-famous biologist Charles Darwin, who published a series of their ships aground and scrape the bottoms clean. Richer navies would go to more elaborate scientific papers on them in 1851 and 1854, before he published his measures, like sheathing the bottoms of their ships in copper, which is toxic to marine life. groundbreaking book – ‘On the Origin of Species’. Some historians have suggested that Darwin studied barnacles as a way of putting off work on his great study of evolution. But it has been shown more recently that he studied barnacles at the recommendation of Barnacles – A Medical Breakthrough? his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker so that he could understand at least one species of animal in depth. This was in order to test his A series of experiments by the Zoology Departmental NUI theories about natural selection and the natural world in general. Galway are looking at the natural super glues used by barnacles to attach themselves to rocks or floating objects. If these experiments are successful, then we'll know a lot more about creating a natural superglue that can be used to mend bones in human surgery or, on the other hand, how to create ways of preventing barnacles clinging to ships and lowering their fuel efficiency.

Captain Cockle’s Log

Copyright John Joyce 2011 Log onto www.captaincockle.com SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______27 Learn about birds with MAKE A BIRD HIDE BirdWatch Ireland

in the Classroom or at Home Feeding Wild Birds Leaflet Download this leaflet from the Learn about Birds section on BirdWatch Ireland’s website at www.birdwatchireland.ie

Why a hide is useful... Learn how to identify the birds in your garden It may help your work to watch birds from with our Free Garden Bird Charts. Send a SAE your home or the classroom, but the birds to: BirdWatch Ireland, P.O. Box 12, Greystones, can be frightened by people moving around. Co. Wicklow. The challenge is to make a place for watching that hides you from the birds. BirdWatch Ireland has That is why it is called a 'hide'. over 10,000 members and has branches throughout Designing a hide the country which Before you begin, think about the area outside your house or the classroom that you organise events and will be watching. outings in your area. Why • Do birds already visit the place you will be watching? If not, can you attract them not get your school to in? You may need to do this first. join? Write to us or visit • Are there trees, bushes or other safe perches nearby? Will birds be disturbed by our website for details: other activities around the school? www.birdwatchireland.ie • Will it be possible to provide a bird table, feeder or bird bath?

BirdWatch Ireland has two educational web A place for people sites, catering for learning about birds in schools. Next, think about the space inside the house or the classroom. To work well your hide must: 0 Visit the Working with Birds web site to • Let you see the birds without them seeing you. learn about watching and feeding birds • Have room for more than one person. • Have space for people to write down what they can see. Simply go to www.birdwatchireland.ie and go to • Allow everyone in the house or class to use it (although not all at once!) the ‘learn about birds’ section • Include a place to pin up notes or bird pictures. It may need to be screened from the rest of the house or classroom, to stop other BirdWatch Ireland, P.O. Box 12, Greystones, activities disturbing the birds. Co. Wicklow. Tel: 01-2819878 Fax: 01-2819763 Planning and making the hide Email: [email protected] Decide with the help of Using the Hide your parents or Website: www.birdwatchireland.ie teachers: Trial run • Which part of the Try out the hide. Watch for about fifteen minutes. house or classroom • Which birds come to the area you are can be used as a watching? hide. • How large is the hide to be. Here are some things to try and • How to screen off part of the house or find out by using the hide: classroom (if necessary). • Do birds come any closer to the classroom • The best way of screening the window. than they did before you made the hide? • What material to use for • Do birds stay longer? screening. • Are birds close enough for you to see their • How much space is needed. bills clearly? • The best place to pin up your • Which birds come most often? observations and art work.

Evaluating your work Other observations you could make • Does the time of day affect the birds that • Did you have enough space and materials to come to the place you watch? make the hide? • Is there a link between this and what people • Was there enough room? are doing around school? • Has the hide made it more difficult to use the rest of the house or classroom? Evaluating the hide • Were you hidden from the birds? The above information is from • Did you see birds either more “Working with Birds around your closely or for a longer time? • School” on the BirdWatch Ireland Will your observations help you in website. For more tips and ideas, science or other classes? • visit the Kids’ Zone at Have you been able to pin up some of your work? www.birdwatchireland.ie. 28 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52

• • • • Who could Puzzle pages Puzzle pages Puzzle pages Puzzle pages live in a rockpool? Rockpool Chase

Freddy the Fish is finding it Colour the blue background of all 1 2 3 4 5 hard to swim through the the creatures that might be found debris on the shore, to reach in a rockpool. Colour the rest in the rockpool at the edge of lovely bright colours. the beach. Can you follow the A instructions to bring him safely to the pool, where he can find shelter from the crashing waves? Help him to collect food, squeeze through Anemone rocks, avoid rubbish and meet B other creatures as he goes along the way.

Column 1, row B&C = bits of rope are thrown overboard and are eaten by marine animals. Colour the squares C orange. Shrimp Column 2–4, Row C = a tree falls off a cliff and breaks up in the sea. Colour the squares brown. Column 3–5, Row A = plastic D bottles and plastic bags are left on the beach and mix into Shark the food chain. Colour the squares grey. Column 2–4, Row E = a fish box and fishing net are E washed overboard in a storm. Colour the squares green. Column 5, Row E–F = a buoy lifts fromits mooring. Colour Winkle the squares pink.

F When you have coloured in all the obstacles, draw a path to the rockpool.

RZDSKCXT I GMI J I E W BUOY XOBHS I F L I AOECES Barnacle CUTTLEFISH BONE O TMGIWTZWSNLLLPR FISH BOX DBAVZNZTVLCTMLU FLOTSAM R GLASS BOTTLE EUUSEPE JYTTAPAP JELLYFISH EOMCT J JFMOVKNSS D JETSAM WYTPAOI OBMEERTD LOG Limpet S AJXRYSLCQFMHWI I MERMAID'S PURSE E ENOBHS I FE L TTUCA NET SPBVPTLGDHGI SBM PLASTIC BAG A PLASTIC BOTTLE ELKHSUKBRSSDZAR ROPE R RGLASSBOTTLEKGE SEAWEED RXLSHELLSKUTZQM Squid C SHELLS GP L T J JKGE I MEDDW TIN CAN

FJMUOFMJHTZNWIM TWIG

(4,13,E); TIN CAN (8,1,SE); TWIG (6,3,W). TWIG (8,1,SE); CAN TIN (4,13,E); SHELLS (1,10,N); SEAWEED (4,8,SW); ROPE (2,14,NE); BOTTLE PLASTIC (14,3,S); BAG PLASTIC (12,15,N); NET (15,13,N); PURSE MERMAIDS

ISH (13,1,SW); JETSAM (6,6,NE); LOG (12,3,NW); LOG (6,6,NE); JETSAM (13,1,SW); ISH JELLYF (2,12,E); BOTTLE GLASS (8,9,NW); FLOTSAM (7,2,W); BOX FISH (14,9,W); BONE CUTTLEFISH (2,4,S); BUOY (Over,Down,Direction):

: The shark and squid are too big to live in a rockpool. a in live to big too are squid and shark The : Answer SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______29

A Selection of Winning Entries Sherkin Island Marine Station’s Environmental Competition for Primary School Children in Munster 2011

Sponsors: Bord Iascaigh Mhara; City Print; Cork City Council; Cork County Council; Dept. of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government; Evening Echo; Inland Fisheries Ireland; Nature’s Web (www.naturesweb.ie); Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd; Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals; Sherkin Comment. 30 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 Gaisce – the President’s Awards Images courtesy of An Gaisce Images courtesy of

By John T. Murphy

WHAT an amazingly busy year it was for Gaisce – The President's Award. It was President McAleese’s final year as President of Ireland and patron of Gaisce. Events ranged from a Gold Award ceremony, to the visit of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, to the annual Defence Forces Adventure Training event, to FAI soccer Gaisce Awards, to Silver Award ceremonies to the ending of the three year term of the Council of Gaisce. All of these events are captured here as a special montage of Gaisce’s incredible year. Look out for Gaisce’s new website over the coming weeks at www.gaisce.ie.

CAPTIONS (clockwise from top): • President McAleese bidding farewell to Gaisce staff at their headquarters in Ratra House, Phoenix Park. L/R Barney Callaghan, Hugh MacConville, Majella Killeen, Marion Irwin-Gowran, Ann Moore, President McAleese, Margaret Murtagh, Stephen Peers, Michael Collins and John T. Murphy. • Barney Callaghan, Chief Executive of Gaisce, Orla Hughes, Natasha Smyth and Claire Turner from Coláiste Bríde, Carnew Co Wicklow, having been presented with their Silver Awards by radio presenter Ray Darcy of Today FM. • Patrick Clarke, Stephen Cull, Rachel Rosney, Lyndsey Rankin, Mary Kenny and Miriam O’Gorman having received their Gold Gaisce Awards at Dublin Castle. • Gaisce Bronze Awardees from St. Ita’s Soccer Club Donabate at the AVIVA stadium with FAI officials and Gaisce staff. • Gold Awardee and world Frisbee champion, Sandra Murphy from Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. • Collette Farrell from Rathmines assisting soldiers from the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment, McKee Barracks with a 25 gun salute. • Gaisce participants under abseiling instruction at Dalkey Quarries overlooking Dublin Bay on the Defence Forces Training event (why don’t you apply now to be selected for this incredible 4-day event next summer?) . • Gaisce Board: Dr Laurence Crowley, outgoing Chairman of Gaisce receiving a gift of thanks as the Council of Gaisce finishes its term of office at Ratra House. L/R Ann Dunne, Barney Callaghan, Niamh Clarke MacMahon, Pat Larkin, Brian Collinge, John McCormick, Gerry Costigan, Laurence Crowley, Séan Rogers, Catherine Sweeney, Philip Jones, and John Hurley. • HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip in conversation with Gaisce participants from St Dominic’s College Cabra at a reception in Farmleigh House. • Danielle Boyle, Cork, receiving her Gold Gaisce Award from President McAleese in Dublin Castle.

If you are interested in entering for a Gaisce Award please contact: Gaisce – The President’s Award, Ratra House, North Road, Phoenix Park, Dublin 8. Tel: 01-6171999 / 01-670 7063. Email: [email protected] Website: www.gaisce.ie SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 ______31

The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea Visit the RNLI website at www.rnli.co.uk to read amazing stories of Download a free and exciting newsletter for children, courage around the Irish and UK coastlines. In Ireland, read about: featuring interesting and informative news on nature and • Galway lifeboat rescues man from sinking boat. the environment. • Baltimore RNLI in major rescue operation off the Cork coast after Fastnet yacht capsizes. Produced by Sherkin Island Marine Station • Wicklow RNLI lifeboat launched to assist beam trawler involved in Irish Sea collision. • One week, two calls out and a Visit www.naturesweb.ie little bit of science for Sligo Bay lifeboat crew. • Photo: Robbie Murphy Portrush RNLI rescue four from Baltimore Lifeboats on manoeuvres. upturned dive boat. • Crosshaven RNLI save dog from drowning. • Three Calls in 18 hours for Crosshaven RNLI. • And much more....!

There are over 230 RNLI lifeboat stations around Ireland and the UK. Find your nearest station by navigating the map on the website, and learn about each station and their most recent call-outs. 32 ______SHERKIN COMMENT 2011 Issue No 52 rise, rainfall amount changes, per- sistent droughts, and more severe weather events are occurring. But, as the tides wash a little higher, and Sustaining the Past some storms get more or less severe, the earth's surface is being altered and not for a couple of generations By Mike Ludwig (Sustaining [adj]: To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for) but potentially for centuries. And, yet the majority of us do not seem inter- Brothers "Flyer" and within the shell WHILE giving a paper on the ested let alone willing to slow our of a British Airways "Concord." That environmental consequences of the consumption of energy. Why? is "change." Many changes are regu- new Panama Canal Locks, I missed The most frequently given excuses larly racing into public awareness the East Coast's first significant among the "no action needed" set is and general use but the slow ones do earthquake in almost a century and that the changes will happen in the not draw much attention. Climate the passage of Hurricane/ Tropical future and we'll have technologies to Storm Irene. Then, Matt Murphy and change is creeping rather than racing. save the day by then. This is the I spoke about what we know and But, even the rapid changes have belief that things will become diffi- how we know and use it. These var- consequences. For instance, change cult on some Wednesday a hundred ied threads led me to this depressing often needs energy to sustain it. Why years from now so why worry? In article. What do we know about sus- is that important? Energy use is one what has to be the best statement taining our environment and how do of the causes of climate change. The ever made we hear "I don't worry we use it? I have been explaining US uses more energy than any other about that stuff, God would never let country; about twice as much as the me suffer." Why argue with that environmental impacts associated “Are the changes the fault of sunspot cycles, a slight wobble of the earth, or the gases with human activity for most of my being discharged from your car's tailpipe? Who cares? It is the change that will influence European Union and four times as logic? Because doing nothing is not a career. Global Climate Change and subsequent generations and it appears unlikely to make life easier.” much as China. In 2008, every per- good option. son living in the US used the energy Weather is changing and becom- its impacts are components of those change have not been clearly defined global climate change is not happen- in about seven gallons of gasoline, ing more unusual. In the last decade discussions. Carbon dioxide and as such a societal event. As a result, ing, is not a big deal and/or we have lived through heat and cold freshwater availability are changing sadly, we are not moving toward a unfortunately, the tools currently every day. waves in Western and Eastern my earth. Many species are leaving better future but rather one that is available are not suited for address- The climate we are creeping Europe, protracted drought across a their traditional habitats and others deteriorating around us. And, we are ing it. But without some action to towards is not likely to make our wider band of latitudes than usual are adapting to new conditions. And, discovering the inaccuracy of the slow or stop the changes now, the lives easier or be one we have ever and torrential rainfalls that washed I see that humans are not particularly belief that we, as a species, wish to evidence supported, likelihood is that experienced. Almost everyone is out the infrastructure of civilization interested unless they are experienc- act decisively and coherently to deal the climate we take for granted will aware of Global Climate Change. around the world. If for no other rea- ing the consequences of the changes with undesirable change. It is not that not be the future norm. Accepting what is driving it is of lit- son than the waste of tax dollars, first hand. we lack the capacity to address the Do you remember how our forefa- tle importance to most people. Are when do we accept that we know The earth's human population was challenge but rather it appears that thers lived without the modern the changes the fault of sunspot things are not getting better? assumed to be willing to sustain the perceived seriousness of the "basics" of life? Most of the technol- cycles, a slight wobble of the earth, themselves by fighting against com- future lifestyle is unimaginable, ogy evolution changes they saw or the gases being discharged from mon threats on our march toward a unacceptable, and therefore unwor- came about quickly, in less than a your car's tailpipe? Who cares? It is Mike Ludwig, Ocean & Coastal better life (a common theme in "alien thy of action. Part of this thinking generation. My wife's grandmother the change that will influence subse- Consultants, Inc. 35 Corporate dr. invasion" movies). Apparently the can be laid to the political and eco- lived to be almost 103. She flew on a quent generations and it appears Suite 1200, Trumbull CT 06611 consequences of global climate nomic conditions and assertions that, seat attached to the wing of a Wright unlikely to make life easier. Sea level USA.