08/10/13 - SNORKELING Old Head, Co. Mayo

Weather

Today it was dry throughout with a lower temperature of about 12 degrees celsius. Visibility was only 3 - 4 meters but murky. 

Goals for Today

Today my goal was to get back into doing the basic skills of snorkeling such as surface dives, finning, and correct entries. Another goal of mine was to learn more about some marine life.

Session Evaluation

Today Mark O Connor (Weeman) brought us to Old Head to go snorkeling. He began by doing a pre snorkel brief on the pier with us which included telling us about some of the possible sea life that we might come across, the area to stay within while snorkeling, make sure we have a buddy who we stay with and look out for at all times and some potential hazards that we have to look out for such as shallow water, hypothermia, and Jellyfish. This was a really good, interesting way of starting the session as it was exciting to hear about some of the possible things we might see as well as it being serious telling us about what hazards to look out for.

Mark then decided to bring us down to the slip way and enter the water there. We were then told to stick with our buddies and meet at a point that he chose beside the pier. After this he showed us a small hermit crab that he found in the shallow water. He then told us to stay around this area and find 5 of our own hermit crabs. I felt that this was a really good, responsible way of beginning the session as Mark really concentrated on sticking together and beginning with an activity in the shallow water due to the bad visibility. After this he brought us out to a buoy and showed us some of the marine life living on it such as tube worms and limpets. I felt that this made the session really interesting due to it being a hands on approach to learning. After this we snorkeled for another half an hour and then finished with a snorkel de-brief on the pier.

Evaluation of Goals

Today I felt that I got to brush up on my skills as it was a quiet relaxed session therefore giving me loads of time to refresh my basic snorkel skills. I also got to learn a lot about the marine life we saw such as hermit crabs, jellyfish, tube worms and limpets.

Environmental Interest

Today I saw a species of Jellyfish that I had never seen before called the 'Mauve Stinger' Jellyfish. This species of jellyfish is commonly found in the Mediterranean, the Red sea, and the Pacific Ocean. In 2007 there was a massive invasion of these in Northern Ireland and the ended up wiping out massive fish farms.