The Harbour Porpoise.

Met Nic, Raheny_Eye this evening for a diving lesson down the West Pier. He says I have to keep my arms and legs straight and improve my angle entry.

I showed him the book I am reading. An Irish Nature Year by Jane Powers (it is in the extra).  It is set out each day of the year, with a paragraph about a different aspect of Irish nature that would concern the day that you are reading it. Today’s entry 26th June coincidently was about the harbour porpoise. It says it is Ireland’s smallest cetacean (the group of animals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises) averaging about 1.5 Metres in length. They are present all along the coastline, with the highest counts between Howth and Dalkey. There are several of them in the harbour here in Dun Laoghaire. At one time an muc mhara – The sea pig- as it is known in Irish, was eaten, but now it, and all cetaceans are protected in Irish waters. Special areas of Conservation have been designated for the harbour porpoise: the Blasket Islands, Roaring Water Bay and the Rockabill to Dalkey Island SAC.