Skates, more commonly known as rays, are a demersal fish that lay eggs on the seabed in shallow waters. Each species of skate is believed to have different nursery habitats; their behaviour and specific environment are still lacking in understanding. Over 70% of Irish native skates are classed as Near Threatened, Endangered or Critically Endangered ... Read more
Course content: Find out about the Seasearch project Gain a basic grounding in marine recording Learn how to recognise and classify marine habitats Learn how to complete the Seasearch Observation Form by watching a ‘video dive’ Complete two dives (or snorkels) with a Seasearch tutor This is an introductory course aimed at giving divers and ... Read more
Dr Maria Vittoria Marra will be presenting this introduction to sponge identification. Though sponges are one of the most commonly seen species by divers they are extremely under recorded and make up only 8% of Seasearch records in Ireland. This in depth course will cover the range of sponges in Irish waters and some of ... Read more
This talk will give an introduction to Seasearch, which is a citizen-science project around Britain and Ireland for divers and snorkellers. Angus Jackson, the Seasearch data officer will provide some background to the project and describe what it does. He will then explain the complex journey between collection and application of the data, and then ... Read more
Online talk by Lin Baldock, Seasearch co-ordinator and fish ID expert this talk will be about pointers to identifying some common, small Irish fishes. This talk is aimed at those already relatively comfortable with identifying small fish to genus in the water and assumes that participants are able to recognise these three groups. Session will ... Read more
Talk by Dr. Jose Maria Farinas-Franco of ATU Habitats created by shellfish are complex biogenic structures rich in marine life and integral to the ecological functioning of our seas. These habitats, truly hotspots of biodiversity, are highly sensitive to human impacts, especially from overfishing and the use of mobile fishing gears, and recover poorly without ... Read more
Ireland is lagging behind neighbouring and European Union (EU) countries in terms of the quantity and quality of its Marine Protected Area (MPA) network. Despite a Government commitment to delivering 10% of Irish waters as protected by 2020, increasing to 30% by 2030, Ireland’s MPAs currently extend to only 8.3% of our seas, with little ... Read more
The first step in any budding recorders journey on the road to the fame and respect of your peers that the Seasearch Surveyor moniker brings. This is a short course aimed at giving divers new to the project and new to marine recording a basic grounding. At the end of the course you should be ... Read more
Ed Sheldon of the Fenit Coast Conservation group will be giving a talk on their work studying seagrass in Kerry. Ed has been snorkelling and surveying for a number of years now with a team of dedicated volunteers. You can register for this free online talk here.
The first of a series of 2 talks on adding photo identification to your tool kit for identifying species while diving. Some extremely knowledgeable photographers (award winning even) will guide you through taking the perfect snap to capture your record. We can’t promise you’ll find fame on Instagram but you’ll be able to get the ... Read more
