Robert’s Ramblings

These two beautiful gannets flying overhead, alongside the famous Bull Rock, showcase their reputation of Ireland’s most majestic seabird.

Watching gannets feeding is amazing. After a period of circling, a gannet will hover about 6m above the water and then suddenly drop into a vertical plummet, diving into the sea. What is especially spectacular is when a group of them all hit the water at the same time.

Having gannets fly above us was not so amazing. After a short while our boat had scored several hits of a different kind and I noticed at least one direct strike on Johns shoulder.

Majestic they may be but it was now a good thing that we were all about to get into the water.


#adventure #birds #freedom #gannets #gainead #morusbassana #ireland #kerry #bullrock #ocean #bunavalla #bealtra #seabirds

An interesting part of every deep dive is that shallow last third where physics and biology enforce coming up to a shallow depth to avoid decompression issues. Here the freedom of exploring the depths is taken from us and safely of the shallows presents new and interesting things to explore and see.

Here among the swaying kelp I found this small garden of plumrose anenome (Metridium senile). In a strange way it was easy to imagine these as a head of cauliflower wrapped in the green leaves of kelp. I’m sure there must be a good a recipe for ocean cauliflower soup, and somewhere it is probably a delicacy.

I’ll stick with cauliflower from the garden for now but happy to see more of these beautiful anemones on future dives.


#anemone #scuba #diving #ireland #portmagee #kelp #garden #cauliflower #plumroseanenome # metridiumsenile

This tiny little village on this tiny little planet is Portmagee and is located in the very south western corner of the Ireland.

We stumbled upon on Portmagee seven years ago when touring Ireland with friends. We enjoyed its beauty and remoteness, but never imaged coming back to this very same place considering all the other beautiful places we have yet to visit.

… little did we know!

In the last three months I’ve been to Portmagee many times now. Some day trips and some weekend stays and it’s all thanks to my getting serious about scuba diving again.

Thanks to the Inbhear Sceine Kerry Sub Aqua Club, Portmagee could become my third home.


#ireland #portmagee #kerry #tinyplanet #aerial #abstract

Unlike some stone cast into a still pond, these ripples in the cafe window were frozen in time from the moment of their creation.

Perhaps they wanted to subdue the view of the street. Perhaps they wanted privacy for their clientele. Perhaps they were just being arty. Regardless, this was our rippled view out to the world.

Sitting here with Jennifer we debated cleaning the window for a better image. Pragmatism was the outcome this time, that rippled view remained just as it was, and we went back to enjoying our coffee.


#abstract #window #patterns #ripples #ennistymon #oohlalacreperie

For almost ten years my wife has been patiently waiting to have ‘Grace Notes’, the creative part of her PhD thesis, published. Without compromise there was only one publisher acceptable to her: Salmon Poetry, based in Ennistymon, in the west of Ireland.

When she first cast her line we were living in Australia. It was a particularly long cast to be sure, but this was a fish she was determined to catch by hook or by crook. It took a few years but eventually she got ‘the rise’ she’d been angling for, the salmon took the lure, and the long play to where we are now began.

Nearly ten years on and we are living in Ireland, have entered the hallowed abode, and Jessie Lendennie will publish Jennifer’s work later this year.

They say that nothing teaches patience like fishing, especially when fishing for salmon.

#irish #literature #salmonpoetry #salmonbookshop #ennistymon #books #poetry #JessieLendennie

This view above Lamb Island tells almost everything you need to know about the conditions, …almost everything.

Wall to wall blue sky, check. No swell or current, check. The iconic Skellig Islands clear on the horizon, check. Incredible coastal rock formations above water, check. Fun dive crew on cool RIB, check. A hint of the crystal clear water as Lamb Island descends down 30m below the warter-line, almost check!

See my previous image ‘Below Lamb Island’ to complete the picture and you can see that we had the perfect Irish diving day.


#boating #diving #kerry #ireland #lambisland #portmagee #aerial #seascape

The diving out of Cahersiveen and Portmagee this last weekend was simply amazing. I’m blessed to have this kind of diving on my door step and to be diving with the Inbhear Sceine Kerry SAC crew who live and breathe (via regulator obviously) this beautiful region of Irish coast.

At a depth of around 25 meters my dive buddy Richie is revelling in the 20+ meter visibility, the perfect conditions for wide angle underwater photography. The visibility was so good, and the terrain so spectacular, I often found myself just floating out in mid water taking in the view.

My introduction to Irish diving has been wonderful with perfect conditions 6 out of the last 7 weekends and with the water finally getting warmer it can only get better.

Finally, apologies for the un-imaginative title but it’s one of a two part theme to be completed later.


#scuba #diving #kerry #ireland #lambisland #portmagee #diver #underwater #seascape

My moment with this gentle giant was fleeting, no more than 30 seconds, but wow what a wonderful moment it was.

When finally it swam into the distance, visibility, light and turbidity were not kind to the camera. All colour and definition were gone, but still the grace with which it swam was mesmerising.

This was my last glimpse before it disappeared into the depths below but not before it showed that unmistakable shark profile that evolution has not changed in millions of years.


#scuba #diving #baskingshark #sharks #Cetorhinusmaximus #Kerry #ValentiaIsland #BrayHead #megafauna #ancient #creatures #ireland #blackandwhite #monochrome

All of the diving I have done so far here in Ireland has been on the exposed Kerry coastline and the one common theme of every dive has been kelp!

The kelp line begins around 6m below the surface where it is just out of range of all but the most severe seas and extends down to around 12m where the failing light is no longer sufficient for the photosynthesis the algae needs to survive.

This species called Cuvie (Laminaria hyperborea) has become a landmark of depth for me, greeting me on my way back up to the surface and keeping me company on my safety stops.


#kelp #scuba #diving #cuvie #Laminariahyperborea #algae #seascape

We were nearing the end of a fabulous dive just off Bray Head on Valentia Island and were hovering around 5m sandwiched between the surface and the kelp bed below.

I turned to locate my dive buddy and instead was greeted by a massive grey form coming up from below and swimming directly for me. It is hard to describe and give justice to the experience which followed.

At first I thought it was the biggest and strangest looking dolphin that ever existed. I was stupefied until it gracefully dived under me and the expanse of this giant shark was revealed.

Basking sharks are the second largest shark or fish after the whale shark and typically will reach 8m in length. This one was on the smaller size, perhaps 4-5m, but still possessed incredible presence.

After swimming beneath me, this beautiful creature performed a graceful turn, revealed its ancient profile, then doubled back for a moment before reaching the edge of the kelp and diving back down into the depths.

This was my first encounter with these gentle giants and left us both basking in the beauty of the encounter.


#scuba #diving #baskingshark #sharks #Cetorhinusmaximus #Kerry #ValentiaIsland #BrayHead #megafauna #ancient #creatures