Our Programs
Sea Synergy has not only instigated, but been involved with many different environmental projects and organisations locally and internationally. Throughout the year, Sea Synergy co-hosts a number of training programmes aimed at promoting public participation in scientific research. Through collaboration with professional scientists and scientific institutions, you can become a Citizen Scientist and carry out independent data collection, research, rescue, and more. The information collected by Citizen Scientists is invaluable to the scientific community and to top it all off, it’s really fun to do! To learn more about the programmes on offer, click the links below! Follow us on social media for training days and new programmes.
Citizen Scientist
Throughout the year, Sea Synergy co-hosts a number of training programmes aimed at promoting public participation in scientific research. Through collaboration with professional scientists and scientific institutions, you can become a Citizen Scientist and carry out independent data collection, research, rescue, and more. The information collected by Citizen Scientists is invaluable to the scientific community and to top it all off, it’s really fun to do! To learn more about the programmes on offer, click the links below! Follow us on social media for training days and new programmes.
SeaSearch is a project for divers and snorkelers who have an interest in what they’re seeing underwater and want to learn more and want to help protect the marine environment around the coasts of Ireland and the UK.
For more information please visit https://seasearchireland.ie/training/
Officially launched in 2015 and incorporated in 2017, the Oiled Wildlife Response Network Ltd. works as an umbrella group whose primary objective is to bring together stakeholders to provide a response for wildlife in the event of a serious pollution incident. The aim is to coordinate and effectively utilize resources and expertise from relevant associated organizations.
To learn more, please visit http://www.oiledwildliferesponse.ie/
Seal Rescue Ireland (SRI) is a charity organisation that works around the clock to rescue, rehabilitate and release native seals found sick, injured or orphaned from across the coast of Ireland. As the only seal rescue centre within the Republic of Ireland, we respond to reports nationwide and aim to rehabilitate the pups back to full health so that they can be returned to the wild.
To learn more, please visit https://www.sealrescueireland.org/
IWDG was founded in 1990 to establish an All-Ireland sighting and stranding scheme and to campaign for the declaration of Irish territorial waters as a whale and dolphin sanctuary. Since then, the group has grown in numbers to become what it is today, a diverse group of people from varying backgrounds with one thing in common, a passion for whales and dolphins and the marine environment.
For more information, please visit https://iwdg.ie/
The Irish Basking Shark Group (IBSG) is an amalgamation of research studies based on the island of Ireland. Our team is international, comprised of researchers, citizen scientists, educators and conservationists in Ireland, the UK, and the United States. Our aim is to educate the public on the unique marine life that occupies Irish waters. In particular, we center our research and education efforts on the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus).
Sea Synergy’s Lucy Hunt helped initiate the IBSG. She was the first female scientist in Ireland to tag a basking shark!
For more information, please visit: https://www.baskingshark.ie/
Leave No Trace Ireland provides research, education and outreach so every person who ventures outside can protect and enjoy the outdoors responsibly.
For more information, please visit: https://marinedimensions.ie/purse-search-ireland/
Purse Search Ireland is an exciting fisheries conservation project that involves public participation, so that means you can take part! The project is basically a massive nationwide search for mermaids’ purses, the eggcases of sharks, skates and rays. We’re hunting for these eggcases because they can provide valuable information on the location of nursery areas for Ireland’s egglaying sharks, skates and rays.
For more information, please visit: https://marinedimensions.ie/purse-search-ireland/
Explore Your Shore is a Citizen Science project funded by the Environmental Protection Agency focused on increasing our knowledge of the distribution of our intertidal species, exploring their potential as bio-indicators of water quality and climate change, and highlighting actions we can all take to tackle water pollution and climate change.
For more information, please visit: https://exploreyourshore.ie/
Seasearch is a project for divers and snorkelers, who have an interest in what they’re seeing under water, want to learn more and want to help protect the marine environment around the coasts of Ireland and the UK. Marine conservation is a topic that is garnering more and more attention in recent years and divers are uniquely placed to be the eyes and ears for tracking changes in our inshore marine environment.
For more information, please visit: https://seasearchireland.ie/
The National Biodiversity Data Centre is a national centre for the collection, collation, management, analysis and dissemination of data on Ireland’s biological diversity. Biodiversity data are a key requirement for understanding our natural surroundings, for tracking change in our environment and for gaining a greater insight on how we benefit from, and impact upon, the ecosystem goods and services provided by biological diversity.
For more information, please visit:https://www.biodiversityireland.ie/
Iveragh Learning Landscapes is a weekend of talks, walks and workshops encompassing local natural and built heritage, outdoor education, land stewardship, and well-being. Based in the beautiful Iveragh peninsula between the villages of Waterville and Caherdaniel, workshops will take place both indoors in various venues and outdoors in some of the most spectacular locations in the area, including Derrynane National Park and Lough Currane in Waterville. Workshop topics range from, sand dune ecology, herbal medicine and identifying and cooking edible seaweeds to Leave No Trace outdoor ethics, Forest Schools, ocean literacy and how to use the outdoors as an educational tool. Guided walks include visits to local rock art sites, a trip to church island on lough Currane and a Dark skies evening event.
Organizing beach cleans on local Waterville beaches and raising awareness of local marine heritage and wildlife and the importance of the ocean through signage and workshops. Also started the two-minute beach clean initiative locally and provide resources for public beach cleans. Helped with the plans and application for the Green Coast Award for Waterville beach. Waterville beach was awarded a Green Flag in June 2017.
RESEARCH PROJECTS: LOCAL MARINE BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEMS
SEAGRASS Research
Seagrass meadows can be a powerful nature-based climate solution and help sustain communities reliant on healthy marine ecosystems. Such plants which grow in marine environments are 35 times more efficient at capturing and storing carbon than tropical forests. According to a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report an estimated 7% of seagrass habitat is being lost worldwide each year.
NATIVE OYSTER Research
The native European Oyster has been depleted throughout native sites and now European waters are estimated to contain only around 20 productive native sites. Oysters are not only commercially valuable but contribute significantly as a source of income for local fishing communities and provide a range of ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. They help maintain water quality and support high biodiversity structural habitat. There are many site-specific pressures that are affecting these species from fishing pressures, competition with introduced species to declining quality of freshwater inputs.
Sea Synergy is currently researching seagrass, kelp and native oysters along the Iveragh coastline, Co. Kerry. Contact us for more information, or if you would like to get involved.
Sea Synergy also promotes campaigns & projects such as: