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Oceanworld Aquarium
is committed to conservation and preservation of all marine
and freshwater systems and their unique flora and fauna through
education and research support.
One of the central activities of Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium
is breeding of species which are depleting in numbers. These
programmes are essential in the restoration of marine life
that has been depleting not only in Ireland but throughout
the world.
Conservation Projects Undertaken:
• Loggerhead Turtle Caretta caretta rehabilitation and release
• Leatherback Turtle Dermochelys coriacea satellite tagging
in conjunction with UCC and the University of Wales, Swansea
• Angel SharkSquatina squatina Tagging and Release, rearing
and campaigning
• Crayfish Palinurus elephas Tagging and Release
• Triggerfish Balistes capriscus tagging
• European Lobster Homarus gammarus hatchery
• Dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula hatchery
• Thornback Ray Raja clavata hatchery
• Annual white fish survey
• Phytoplankton – monitoring of samples
• Monitoring of deep water species and unusual species , the
scientific evaluation in the Irish Naturalist Journal.
• Coastcare, we here at Oceanworld Aquarium are a member of Coastcare
Ireland in conjunction
with An Taisce.
Angel Shark Conservation and
Dingle Oceanworld
Angel Shark - Squatina Squatina
 The World Conservation Unions (IUCN) Red List of Threatened
Species first described this shark species as Vulnerable in
2000. In 2006 this was further upgraded to Critically Endangered.
The next step in the classification being extinction in the
wild and complete extinction.
• We have contacted the Heritage Council to highlight the plight
of these animals, in the hope that a conservation programme
will be put in place
• Tagged and Released adult
angel sharks to monitor movements
• Angel sharks grow very slowly and mature only at a large
size. The result is that very few angel sharks reach maturity
and breed resulting in an ever declining population. At Dingle
Oceanworld we have reared juveniles from birth to increase
the likelihood of survival to adulthood.
Lobster conservation and Dingle
Oceanworld
European Lobster Homarus gammarus
In Ireland alone 800 tonnes of European Lobster are landed
annually. Making them the main income of the fishing fleet.
The European Lobster is territorial, solitary and nocturnal,
they favour living in holes and crevices in the seabed during
the day. During the summer months they seek mates and it is
during this migration that lobster fishing is at its peak.
The females carry the eggs for around eleven months before
they hatch as plankonic larvae. After a couple of weeks they
burrow into the seabed where they remain for 2 years. When
the carapace reaches around 15mm in length they leave their
burrows in exchange for crevices in rocky substrate
Lobster protection
The ‘V’ Notch Programme was introduced in 1995
to help protect the lobster population from overfishing. It
is mostly female lobsters that are V notched to allow them
to reproduce.
There is by law a minimum landing size of 87mm. On average
it takes nine years for a Lobster to reach this size. Female
European lobsters mature between 5 and 8 years of age depending
on water temperature.
Homarus gammarus and Dingle Oceanworld
In May of 2006, we at Dingle Oceanworld set up a Lobster hatchery
to rear the eggs. The juvenile lobsters are then released
in a variety of locations around the Kerry coast. This is
done on a yearly basis.
Turtle Conservation and Dingle Oceanworld
Loggerhead Turtle - Caretta caretta
The loggerhead turtle is listed by the
IUCN (World Conservation Union) as endangered.
They have lived on the earth for over 110million
years, that’s long before the dinosaurs
were around. They are found in nearly all
the worlds temperate seas, Irish waters
being too cold for this species of turtle
to survive. Any loggerhead turtle being
found here is in need of specialist care
and attention before it can be re-released
back into the wild.
ONLY 1 IN 1000 TURTLE EGGS SURVIVE INTO
ADULTHOOD.
Turtles and Dingle Oceanworld
At Dingle Oceanworld we have successfully
rehabilitated 6 Loggerhead turtles, Spike,
Peig, Omey, Dylan, Blink and most recently
Molly. The process is often slow
due to the poor health of the animals when
they arrive with us. They have all been
washed up on beaches and brought to us
to rehabilitated. Firstly the turtle’s
blood is analysed and the animal examined
to determine if she requires any particular
medical attention or vitamins. We gradually
increase the turtle’s body temperature
before we can introduce it to our large
tropical display at 24¾c.
The turtles are
fed on a diet of mackerel, herring, sprat
and squid with additional vitamins.
Once the turtles are have regained body
weight and any injuries healed they can
be reintroduced into the wild. Molly had
incurred severe damage to her front flippers,
most probably from an attack by a shark.
In 2005 staff at Oceanworld aquarium assisted
University College Cork and the University
of Wales in Swansea with the first satellite
tagging of a Leatherback Turtle in Ireland.
The progress of the animal was followed
for almost a year which gave an all important
insight into the behavioural patterns of
these, the largest species of marine turtle.
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