SKERRIES SEASHORE SAFARI

It was a perfect day for Skerries first ever Seashore Safari. This community exploration of our seashore was organised by Skerries Community Association (SCA) and Skerries Sailing Club. SuperValu were kind enough to sponsor both the Safari and the SandArt event the previous day.

Families filed into the large marquee in the Sailing Club car part at 12 noon on Sunday 17th June. They were greeted by local biologists Ciaran O’Keefe and his wife Jane Woodlock. Ciaran and Jane had been up early collecting a magnificent selection of jellyfish and other seashore life which were on display in containers of water for all to inspect.

Soon the other marine experts for the day arrived: John Joyce from the Marine Institute with his wife Jane, Frank Prendergast from Birdwatch Ireland and Kevin O’Hare and his team from the Irish Seal Sanctuary.

John introduced the young audience to the wonders of marine biology by means of a cartoon drawing session. He managed to get everyone drawing away producing their own cartoons of crazy crabs, beligerent boats and manic molluscs ...

Ciaran then led the audience (of well over a hundred) around to the shore at the back of the harbour. It was a wonderful sight to see so many people of all ages equipped with buckets, bowls, sieves and nets, marching purposefully along the Harbour Road.

The weather was sunny and warm. Boats sailed in the distance. The tide was out and everyone spread out along the sand and over to the rocks. Lugworms under the sand were brilliantly located by Jane and carefully handled by small boys and girls. John explained the different habitats that lie between the low-water and high-water marks. Over an hour was spent searching, collecting and examining marine life in the sand and rockpools. Crabs, prawns, shrimps, limpets and starfish were thoroughly investigated. Frank and Kevin a were on hand to tell people about the birds and seals.

By 2 pm everyone was back in the marquee and all specimens (apart from the humans) had been safely returned to their homes. The Sailing Club provided refreshments and goodie bags with a seashore theme were dispensed to everyone. Our thanks to SuperValu and ENFO for making this possible.

After a talk on seals by Kevin O’Hare, the event concluded. We want to say a huge thank you to Ciaran O’Keefe, Jane Woodlock, John and Jane Joyce, Kevin O’Hare and Frank Prendergast for creating such an unforgettable, Skerries summer-time experience.

CHECK THESE WEB-SITES:

www.marine.ie
www.irishsealsanctuary.ie