Dolphins

Azatadine

I've seen a pod of dolphins between the bridge and the Bilberry Greenway entrance for the last week or so. You can see them by the old Stanley site. Amazing to see. Not sure how many but looks like about 5 or 6. Wonder why they are there and how long they will stay. You can see lots of people taking photos when they appear.

Dunmoreroader

I spotted Dolphins on the Maypark River walk yesterday by Kings Channel.

Azatadine

Passed over the bridge there now and loads of people taking photos.

Fishy1

Apparently they’re feeding on herring shoals. Fantastic to watch them!

Cabaal

Saw them a few weeks back while coming in on the train, never seen any in the river before

GandhiwasfromBallyfermot

Not sure if its the same pod but I also spotted 3 dolphins in the river off the Greenway by Mount Congreve a few days ago.

Azatadine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121560226#Comment_121560226

Same pod I'd say alright. Apparently there are about 15 to 18 of them.

jimbojazz

Fair few of them down around the Castle Ferry on Saturday, 15-20, jumping about having a great time lol

Quigs Snr

Regular-ish visitors in recent years. A mate got some nice drone footage of them jumping around out near Checkpoint about 2 or 3 years ago.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121589089#Comment_121589089

looks like i ll have a drone myself soon, so hopefully they ll still be around then...

i assume this is a good sign for water quality in the area, are they sensitive to such?

Quigs Snr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121590894#Comment_121590894

As a general rule, yes this could indicate reasonable water quality. On the other hand.. they we are very close to the sea and they could just be chasing fish in, in which case maybe they will tolerate a lower quality of water for the duration of their fishing raids. Overall, I have to think it's a good sign. I remember rowing through slicks of what looked like blood - from the meat factory maybe ? - in the river in the early nineties, it could be better since then. I wonder if there is any data out there on that.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121592457#Comment_121592457

was thinking food sources also, thank you, ive been told some sh1te was pumped in there over the years, some seriously dangerous stuff to....

Quigs Snr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121592487#Comment_121592487

Found a 10 year old EPA report:

https://www.epa.ie/publications/monitoring--assessment/freshwater--marine/Waterford-2013.pdf

The Suir itself seems to be pretty ok (See Page 10), whilst the St Johns Pill appears to be a bit of a horror show. Which to be fair is pretty easy to discern by just looking at it !

azimuth17

St John's River is recovering significantly as far as I can see. Lots of wildlife beginning to emerge and plant life starting to grow on river bottom. I'm not an expert and these are just personal observations.

feckwunker

There's more than likely a mix of dolphins and harbour porpoises in the river. They're rounding up and feeding on shoals of spratt -herring wouldn't end to be found up near the bridge in town.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121594473#Comment_121594473

theres been a lot of work done on the river, a lot by volunteers, theyve done a great job

Finnbar01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121595974#Comment_121595974

You'll find them here: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofStJohnsriver

Dunmoreroader

Maybe they're Fungi's' extended family and he reported back how over-priced and over-commercialised Kerry had become and how Waterford is the new cool holiday destination according to The New York Times, Conde Nast, The Irish Times and the like. Yid never know. 😉