Underwater marvels at Oceanworld

SINCE 1996 DINGLE OCEANWORLD HAS BEEN GIVING VISITORS TO WEST KERRY A STUNNING GLIMPSE INTO LIFE BELOW THE WAVES. HERE PHOTOGRAPHER DOMNICK WALSH TAKES YOU BEHIND THE SCENES

SINCE it opened in 1996 Dingle Oceanworld has grown rapidly to become one of the most popular wildlife attractions in the entire country.

An enormously popular attraction the aquarium – one of the unquestioned highlights on the Wild Atlantic Way – attracts thousands of visitors every year.

Visitors from across the globe descend on Dingle every summer to enjoy west Kerry’s stunning coastline and famed hospitality and in the hope of seeing the harbour’s most famous resident Funghi.

Given the area’s focus on marine and coastal eco-tourism Dingle is the ideal location for a facility like Oceanworld, which provides its visitors with a stunning glimpse into the teeming, colourful world that exists beneath the waves of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Though it’s a modestly sized aquarium – in international terms – Dingle Oceanworld is packed with an enormous variety of marine life and a visit to the facility is not something anyone will forget in a hurry.

Around every corner there is something to see from the minute, brightly coloured clown-fish of ‘Finding Nemo’ fame to the huge, terrifying but graceful Sandtiger sharks that will remind many of Speilberg’s most famous monster.

The aquarium – which features three huge main tanks and about 20 smaller ones – is a kaleidoscope of life and colour with each one reinforcing the astonishing diversity to be found off our shores.

Oceanworld is dominated by its enormous shark tank which is home to Ireland’s largest collection of sharks (one of which is pictured inset) and several sea turtles.

Next door is the aquarium’s most popular attraction, the Gentoo Penguin display.

Here, every day, hundreds of captivated adults locate their inner child as they watch the clumsy little birds waddle about on dryland before diving off and flying through the water below.

It’s a stunning sight and anyone who hasn’t seen it already should do so as soon as humanly possible.

Other new additions have arrived at Oceanworld in recent years too such as a group of Asian Sea Otters and the aquarium’s extensive new collection of lizards, snakes and reptiles.

Of course the centre is far more than just a simple tourist attraction.

Dingle Oceanworld is also a busy research and conservation centre.

Among their work the centre’s biologists breed, protect and tag threatened and depleted species; rescue and rehabilitate lost and injured animals and monitor conditions and species levels in Irish coastal waters.

All these programmes are essential in the restoration of marine life that has been depleting not only in Ireland but throughout the world. To learn more about the facility log onto www.dingle-oceanworld.ie

Biologist Louise Overy looks at some of Dingle Oceanworld’s smallest inhabitants, a trio of tiny seahorses.

Biologist Katie Christie checks water samples in the lab. Every evening each water tank has its water sampled, tested and logged to ensure its quality.

A rarely seen view from above the vast shark tank that dominates Dingle Oceanworld.

Biologists Louise Overy; Amanda Watters and Katie Christie in the Oceanworld lab office.