Atlas of Cork City - Section VI - the Challenge of Change
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Atlas of Cork City - Section VI - The Challenge of Change The Challenge of Change - Contemporary Marine Geography of Cork Harbour Valerie Cummins and Vicki O Donnell Looking East from White Point Strand Where dawn’s emerging sun lights up the bay, Where murmuring waters join the ocean wide, Where moon on high zeniths she has found, Where yonder lies a spot called “Holy Ground”. by Mary Hill. The Great Island Writers - Harbour Horizons. The Marine Geography of Cork Harbour As one of the finest natural Harbours in the world, Cork Harbour (Figure 1) has shaped the history and lives of the people of Cork City and surrounding towns and villages such as Blackrock, Cobh, Monkstown, Passage West, Whitegate and Aghada, amongst others. The topography of the landscape is gently undulating, with a mixed coastline consisting of built infrastructure, shallow cliffs, intertidal mudflats, reedbeds, shingle and rocky foreshores, which are exposed by the tide. The bathymetry of the Harbour reflects the morphology of the coastline, with gentle slopes dropping to a depth of 28m near the mouth of the harbour (11m in the channel which is maintained at that depth for navigation). Figure 1. An aerial view of the Cork Harbour showing the city centre (top left), Haulbowline and Spike Islands (centre) and Roches Point at the east entrance to the Harbour (bottom) (OSi). It’s sheltered environment and deep-water channels make Cork Harbour an ideal location for shipping and boating activities. The physical geography of the Harbour on the south coast of Ireland provides a strategic location for the Port of Cork situated in close proximity to the main shipping line to Northern Europe. The Port of Cork, the second most important port in the Republic of Ireland, provides significant economic contribution to the southern half of Ireland, handling just under 10 million tonnes of traffic in 2002 (Moloney, 2003a). More recently, Cork Harbour has become a primary destination for cruise liners, which berth in the heritage town of Cobh with its poignant history linked with the Great Famine and the Titanic. Cruise liner facilities at Cobh can provide berthage for ships up to 280 metres in overall length (Figure 2). 2003 saw a 25% increase in vessel numbers to 33 cruise ships between May and October, with cruise traffic at the Port of Cork providing €14 million per annum to the regional economy (Moloney, 2003b). Figure 2. A visiting cruise liner to Cobh. The scale of the ship highlighted by comparison to Cobh’s Cathedral, normally the most imposing sight in the town (Valerie Cummins). From a contemporary industrial perspective, Cork Harbour offers employment for people from all areas of the city through the chemical and pharmaceutical industries that are concentrated mainly in the Little Island and Ringaskiddy regions. The Harbour also contains Ireland’s only oil refinery situated at Whitegate. The presence of the Kinsale gas fields, almost 50km off the Old Head of Kinsale, have resulted in the location of many exploration companies in the Harbour over the last 30 years, including Conocco Philips, Shell and Marathon among others. More recently the Port of Cork has been servicing the new Seven Heads Gas Field located in the Celtic Sea. Gas from the Seven Heads, to be brought ashore at Inch Terminal near the entrance to Cork Harbour, has the potential to supply in excess of 10% of Ireland’s current gas demand. While contemporary use of large tracts of the Harbour is marked by concentrations of urban populations and widespread chemical and pharmaceutical industries, much of the coast remains unspoilt and characterised by rural agricultural land use or protected habitats, which remain uninfluenced by human activities. Thus, a tour around Cork Harbour will reveal a whole suite of interesting man made and natural features, influenced by history and the Harbour’s link to the sea. Landmarks include Camden Fort (renamed Fort Meagher, 1938) on the west side of the Harbour entrance, flanked by Carlisle Fort (renamed Fort Davis, 1838) on the east side. These forts, along with installations on Haulbowline Island, Spike Island, Rocky Island and Fort Templebreedy present an insight into the British military presence that shaped the Harbour until the British Royal Navy finally withdrew from in 1938. Haulbowline Island is now the home of the Irish Naval Service (Figure 3), while Spike Island contained a detention facility. Cork Harbour is steeped in local history, much of which has been documented in published format (Barry, 1999a; Barry, 1999b; Barry,1895; Broderick, 1994; Brunicardi, 1982; Brunt, 1980; Dennehy, 1990; O Mahony, 1986 ). There is also a plethora of unpublished anecdotal stories and folklore material, including audio and visual archives relating to the Harbour, which provide a sense of its maritime heritage and culture. Such resources range from material relating to the city dockers to the Cobh liner trade of the earlier 20th century. Figure 3. A Naval Service Guard of Honour on Haulbowline Naval Base. (Mick Mackey). For natural history enthusiasts, the entire Cork Harbour is of major international importance for waders (20,000) and wildfowl (5,000), particularly winter migrants, which are supported by its extensive mudflat areas around Lough Mahon, the Douglas Estuary and the North Channel, Lough Beg, Saleen, Rostellan and Whitegate. Cork Harbour hosts the largest number of wintering birds in any area on the east and south east coasts of Ireland. It is designated as both a Special Protection Area for birds and a Ramsar site of international importance for this reason (Figure 4). Other designations within the Harbour protect important habitats of salt marsh, reedbed and intertidal mudflat. They include proposed Natural Heritage Areas (Douglas Estuary, Great Island Channel, Lough Beg, Rostellan Lough/Aghada Shore/Poulnabibe inlet, Whitegate Bay, Cuskinny Marsh), and candidate Special Areas of Conservation (Great Island Channel). The River Lee is also designated as a salmonoid river under the EU Freshwater Fish Directive. This implies there is an obligation to maintain specific water quality standards and to control pollution in this area. Protected fauna include the otter (Lutra lutra), the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) and the common seal (Phoca vitulina). Cetaceans such as common dolphins (Delphinus delphina) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are occasionally sighted in the Harbour. In Summer 2001, the arrival of a pod of three Orca whales (Orcinus orca) in Cork Harbour attracted great attention from local spectators and national media. Figure 4. EU designated areas in Cork Harbour. The darker areas show population hotspots in relation the areas that are protected (Vicki O’Donnell). The main fishing resources within the Harbour include angling for salmon, trout, coarse fish and sea fish, oyster and commercial salmon and eel fisheries. The Harbour waters supply important spawning and nursery areas for sea fish species. Draft netting operations occur in the Harbour, and are located in areas traditionally known for their salmon movement. The main salmon and trout bearing rivers are the Owenacurra, the Glashboy, the Lee and the Owenabue. The coastal scenery around much of Great Island, including Fota, provides scope for many other recreational activities centred in the Lower Harbour such as sailing, walking and golfing. The general trend towards increased expenditure on leisure activities within Europe can be seen in the significant growth in the number of recreational boats located in Cork Harbour, with increases in the numbers of moorings at popular havens such as Crosshaven (Figure 5), Monkstown and Aghada. Cork Week, which is held in Crosshaven every second summer, generates significant revenue for the local economy, is one of the most significant sailing regattas in European waters and has a reputation as a world class sailing event (Shields et al, 1997). Figure 5. Crosshaven, Home of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest sailing club in the world, which was founded in 1720 (Vicki O’Donnell, OSi) Table 1. Seasonal visitors to Cork Harbour Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Ramsar sites. Annex 1 bird species are highlighted in blue. SEASON BIRD SPECIES All year Mute Swan, mallard, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Kingfisher Winter Slavonian Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Little Eggret, Berwick’s Swan, Whooper Swan, Canada Goose (feral), Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Pintail, Shoveler, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Scaup, Goldeneye, Red-brested Merganser, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Mediterranean Gull, possible Glaucous Gull. Spring Whimbrel, terns. Summer Breeding Ringed Plover, Common Tern. Autumn Passage waders including possible Little Stint, Curlew, Sandpiper, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Green sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common sandpiper. Migrating terns. Anthropogenic influences Pressures which influence the condition of Cork Harbour stem largely from human activities including coastal development; waste disposal; coastal agricultural; increasing recreational use of the Harbour, transport and over exploitation of natural resources including fisheries. Changes in key indicators such as the extent of loss of natural habitat over time can be evaluated to determine the level of degradation of harbour resources from these influences. Loss of natural habitat to development can be identified utilising satellite imagery, such as the Landsat image of Cork Harbour in Figure 2 which highlights urban versus rural land uses around the Harbour. Figure 6 shows the results of a shoreline inventory of Cork Harbour carried out in 2003 where over two thirds of the shoreline is dominated by man made structures such as sea walls and rock reinforcements (O Donnell & Cummins, 2004). This shows a significant impact on the nature and shape of the shoreline of Cork Harbour. Many of these defence infrastructures are in a state of disrepair and are inadequate for current coastal defence needs. Figure 6. A Satellite image of Cork Harbour. Areas in bright green show concentrations of residential building and industry including quarries and Cork Airport, with the runway visible (left centre).