×
Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Seals - the mammalian variety that is?

More
18 Aug 2015 22:55 #1 by Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
Hi All,
Quick one for you. I've recently got a place in Brittas Bay and have been swimming parts of the bay in recent times (smim about 1.5k at a time). Anyway, I was in the water a few days back and got the fright of my life - out of the blue a big F off seals head popped up about 10 feet from me - it freaked me out as was not expecting that at all. I got out of the water pronto. I've noticed in the last few days that there are a family of three of them - well, as much as I can make out - huge parents and a cub or juvenile. I'm now fairly reticent to do my swim as they are quite close into the shoreline and seem to traverse the entire length of the beaches I swim across. My fear is inadvertently getting close to the juvenile as I'm sure the parents would react badly if they perceived their offspring to be in danger. (Well bad for me anyway :). Am I right here or am I being overly cautious? They seem very curious and almost follow you while walking the shore....
I don't mind that at all, it's just one of them popping up and having a bite while I'm swimming is what worries me lol
Views? Sorry, I know this is a little off piste....thanks...

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Aug 2015 00:24 - 19 Aug 2015 00:24 #2 by alan 64 (alan)
I don't think u have anything to worry about but I would imagine being beside such a large animal in the water would scare the s**t out of most people
Last edit: 19 Aug 2015 00:24 by alan 64 (alan). Reason: spelling

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Aug 2015 06:56 #3 by Q_Comets (Declan Chambers)
Seals can be aggressive during mating season and if they have young pups around but it is unlikely your going to startle them, a person swimming makes a fair amount of noise. I believe seals get vocal when they sense a threat so your likely to know if they are pissed off with you. Caution is probably wise though as they are bigger than you and a lot better at holding their breath.

Maybe someone here knows when mating season is and can chime in.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Aug 2015 12:56 #4 by carlowchris (chris)
Isnt there a guy on here that feeds the seals at dublin zoo??he may have more info

but id be more worried about if the seals are ok....is therre any chance of another preditor comming for a snack..

There must be local wildlife organisation that moniors these animals....could be worth checking out before you take your next dip

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Aug 2015 15:05 #5 by Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
Thanks guys...much appreciated. Been doing some reading about these grey seals here in Ireland. Lots of issues in the 40 foot last year with people getting bitten, scraped and in some instances being pulled under by young bulls (looking for a relationship and more :)
Probably rare occurrences but I'll be very wary of them from now on...certainly will stay well in my depth :) they are big mammals!

Please Log in to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.041 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum