Sea life washed up along the Murrough
TWO local ecologists were stunned at the sheer amount of deep-sea life that was thrown on to land during recent stormy weather.
Aoife O’Rourke and Miles Newman went on their usual walk up the Murrough on Saturday and came across the destructive aftermath of Storm Emma, offering a glimpse of its sheer power and ferocity.
‘I am 33 years of age and was born and bred in Wicklow town but I have never seen anything like this before. It wasn’t nice to see but it was interesting,’ said Aoife.
‘Hundreds of stunning sea creatures had been thrown over the coastal defence boulders and onto the green itself – tompot blennies, octopuses, sunstars, hermit crabs, sea mice, and hundreds of sea anemones were strewn high and low. With such vivid colours, it was amazing to see them up close. What a rich diversity of sea life we have, even in our cold Irish seas.’
The waves were so strong that heavy sea defence boulders used for protection were lifted off the slope and onto the path. Another five metres of the Murrough was also lost to the sea.
However, Aoife and Miles were more disturbed by the amount of plastic waste washed up along the coast.
‘Intermingled with the stones and sea creatures were washing up detergent bottles, drinks bottles and bits of toys and shoes,’ said Aoife.
‘These plastics, like the sea creatures, were likely on the sea floor or floating offshore before being brought to our attention on the Murrough. A quick look at the bottles and it was easy to see that many of them were over ten years old, dated by their design and logo. The clean-up is well under way, however much of the plastic will have washed back into the sea before it has had a chance to be collected. Hopefully the sight of the debris will act as a reminder to all of us that now is the time to turn the tide on single-use plastics.’