The Ring Whale

Here are some images I took last week (Sunday 21st August) near Ring, Co. Waterford of the remains of a 10 metre long Sperm Whale which live-stranded on the previous Friday.

The animal had tracked close to the South East coast of Ireland for a number of days prior to stranding, leading experts to believe that he was sick.

The whale is now gone - removed and incinerated by Waterford County Council. The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) had earlier called for the remains to be used constructively:

"This is a wasted opportunity", according to the group. "The specimen, could have made a fantastic educational resource, not to mention the tourism potential that would flow from such a unique local attraction. The lack of vision from the powers that be is disappointing, especially when one considers that Youghal, in East Cork is only 15 miles away, and is where the original masterpiece "Moby Dick" was filmed with Gregory Peck back in 1955."

I have to say, it was disturbing to see that the carcass had already been poorly treated by the time I reached Ring on Sunday- two days after the stranding. Names and slogans had been carved into the dead animal's blubber and people had obviously attempted (successfully in some cases) to remove teeth from the whale.

According to the IWDG, by the 23rd, "human scavengers had already sawed off the lower jaw bones over-night, so the specimen was no longer intact and the initiative was lost".

Science Snapshot 9: Geological Time

For the next few weeks, along with some of our usual posts, we'll be posting a 'Science Snapshot' every day.
Science Snapshot was really popular when we ran it last year for Science Week and this will be a continuation along the same theme - that's why this is number nine already!

You can see all of the snapshots so far by clicking here.

Today's image is of some of the geology of the West Cork coast taken in April of this year.

Lunar Eclipse Photo Special

Pictures hot off the press of tonight's total lunar eclipse. Taken at Rosscarbery in West Cork. Click on each for a larger version.

 

Science Snapshot One: Copper Coast Geopark

Science Week kicks off today in Ireland and runs until the 14th. For more details of events taking place around the country, you can visit here.

Here on Communicate Science, for the duration of Science Week, along with our usual posts, we'll be posting a 'Science Snapshot' every day. If you have a Science Snapshot you'd like to share, you can email here and we'll post the best later in the week.

The first shot is an image of Colette O'Brien's sculpture along Waterford's Copper Coast in the Copper Coast Geopark.
The sculpture, entitled Ice, Fire and Water, is designed to represent the common forces that shaped the Copper Coast and the other European Geoparks in north west Europe.

It is a massive piece of limestone, carved and shaped by the artisit in various places with mosaic areas attached.
Collete O'Brien is based in Co. Kilkenny and her work in the Copper Coast Geopark overlooks Dunabrattin Head near Boatstrand.

The Copper Coast Geopark is located between Tramore and Gungarvan and comprises of 25 kilometres of spectacular coastline consisting of scalloped beaches and dramatic, rocky headlands.