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… if you happen to come across a Basking Shark in your travels, get on to these people: http://www.baskingshark.ie/ they’re eager to gather data. They’re also hosting the very first Irish Basking Shark Seminar at the end of the month. Here’s a video of Basking Shark filmed by some kayakers. Tricky work to use a camera over the side of a kayak – but some good shots nonetheless. Most of which leave me hoping I never see one of these creatures head-on… …you may not like this video. A few years ago a friend loaned me his “Blue Planet” DVD set – an amazing watch – and I believe this clip comes from it. Quite amazing photography of various underwater hunting styles. Plus some remarkable free-diving from a bird familiar to us on Irish shores. Perhaps one day I’ll be lucky enough to swim beside one (although not in the midst of a melee like this!). Easing winds finally allowed decent dive conditions near the end of August. So one evening Feargus and I followed two scoobies paddling out toward Thumb Rock. But they weren’t showing any signs of going down. Strange. Because normally when scoobies reach that shelf they dive promptly.. Turned out they couldn’t find it. Nor could we! Because the buoy marking it had disappeared. Wondering what had become of it we fanned out. Eventually I found the edge, the scoobies were over and down in seconds and we started exploring the cliff face. Then we noticed the dozens and dozens of jellyfish browsing a few metres out from the rock. An amazing sight. Seemed to be one every 5-6m in every direction. Some oozing tentacles for maybe 2m or more. Yes, in a full body suit a sting was not a major concern. But there’s no point barging through their gentility and it was an interesting exercise in flexibility (particularly when en route to the surface!).  Me and Thumb buoy A few minutes later, watching Feargus gliding between jellies below, I nearly cannoned into the buoy! Still on it’s rope, still marking Thumb but about a foot below the surface. Feargus soon established something had moved and snarled the rope on the sea floor, making it too short to let the buoy reach the surface. Mystery solved. But now with a dive rope to work with, we started taking turns. During which I surpassed my own expectations. And dealt with a near fatal mishap surprisingly calmly. Since my brother helped me get into free-diving I’ve never experienced so much fun, growth – and frustration! Frustration? Yep. Because the Irish weather makes it very hard to get regular ocean time. For about four weeks now there’s been wind almost every day. Wind that makes the water too choppy for restful breathing up before diving. Wind that generates movements in the ocean that stirs up sand and silt reducing visibility to only a metre or two at times. Low viz which hampers enjoyment of underwater sights, but also increases the danger. Because you can’t watch your buddy to see if they’re okay down there – and they can’t see you when you’re down either! So these days I’m resorting to watching other freedivers online and reliving memories of my best dives. Like the one where my body took the chance to give itself a T4/T5 spinal adjustment (I’ve never heard a louder clunk). Or gently swimming in at 5m to say hello to my brother as he instructed a new scuba diver (who got a bit of a shock to see someone without aqualung beside him). Or my first time to break through what felt like an invisible skin and enter that magic zone where all is peace. And that’s what freediving is about for me. That zone. That peace. That inner stillness. When a friend from Gort rang the other evening, I never thought our call would see me walking the road oozing energy to try and help the grieving. But it happened. Triggered by something very unexpected. A paradigm shift. About sheep. Hard to credit really. Read more of “Sheep in paradigm-shift shocker! (Honestly. I swear.)“ I submitted my concerns about the Draft River Basin Management plan on June 22nd. Then on June 24th I emailed copies to:
Within a week, alongside those of both Dr. McNally and Roisin McDaid (on behalf of the body submitted to), I received acknowledgements from the following:
Agus sin an méid! Not a peep from the others. It’s good to know that others share similar concerns regarding the EU Water Framework Directive. Judith Hoad, Donegal-based author and herbalist, also feels the Draft River Basin Management Plan mightn’t be going far enough in some areas. She noted the low emphasis in the Draft given to rainwater harvesting and outlines some central benefits that would come of doing so. Including reduced pressure on storm water systems when Nature delivers unexpected downpours (a very relevant benefit given the flooding experienced in Dublin last night!). The addition of fluoride to public drinking water is also of concern to her. She also suggests the introduction of municipal composting – something which could go a long way to reducing the hazards posed to water by both industrial and domestic oils. You can read Judith’s submission in full here (pdf 84kb) Sorry about the bad pun, but last week I was submitting to the Draft River Basin Management Plan (an aspect of the EU Water Framework Directive). Given the strength of my feelings it was challenging to confine myself to something less than a thesis or book. But finally got it down to 4 pages (pdf 140kb) discussing four key topics: - sewage While the DRBMP is a step in the right direction and good will come of it, I doubt it’s a very big step forward. Because it seems to be coloured by – and reinforces, the same kind of thinking that has led us to view and treat water as we have done to date. Many members of Freecycle(TM) groups have problems formatting subject lines. Especially if in two or more Freecycle groups which have different subject line requirements. The Freecycle Member Plugin resolves the subject line issue as well as making it easier to a Freecycle group in general – by hiding completed posts, auto-completing follow-up posts etc. But despite being free to install and use, the uptake to date has been slow. So I hit upon the idea of doing screencasts to promote it. Some people have told me I should write a book. They reckon I’ve a way with words. A literary talent. An ability to paint well with words. They’ve also said they like the way I get them thinking about how they think. As I’ve not the discipline to sit down and write a book, and others praised blogging, I figured this might be a good idea. If you disagree, blame them. And while you’re off trying to find them I’ll be trying to figure out how to use this blog thing. A whole new learning curve ahead. <sigh> |
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