What's this flower?

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On the old path up by the tunnel.

Jellys fight back!

After years of tyranny at the cruel net of evil Vico dictator, Dr. Death, the jellys have finally initiated a retaliatory suicide stinging campaign, that would strike fear in the hearts of Mossad!
The Jelly Jihad became manifest last night, when a precisely orchestrated land-based attack was executed to effect maximum injury upon Dr. Death, in the supposed safety of his bullet proof armoured car.
The plan involves what we must assume to be but the first of many jellys pulsing towards the callous murderer's net of martyrdom.
The aspiring martyr castrates his tentacles upon entering the glorious net and smears them around the tool of terror, in the hope that they will enter the dastardly doctor's secure vehicle.
As the dying lion lies listlessly in the lush vico vegetation - fertilized by the death of his ancestors - he unleashes his coup de grâce, exploiting the little understood phenomenon of quantum entanglement, which allows him to control his severed tentacles from a distance.
The scheme was executed with near perfection last night, when the evil doctor's eyes were subjected to a torturous attack by the remote controlled tentacles, with near fatal consequences on the tyrant! Will he change his ways???

Sea Data

Some good Irish sea swell wave and temperature data (here):

My previous S##T post refers...

Well as sort of suspected, those lovely sleek yachts belonging to the rich and aimless, that are often found occupying our little bay on a sunny day, may also be contributing to the water pollution. Have a look at section 3.3 of the Dun Laoghaire marina booklet (here);

Craft not fitted with holding tanks shall not discharge sewage directly into the marina or harbour.

The inference being it's OK to discharge anywhere else?

Craft fitted with holding tanks may discharge sewage at the sewage discharge facility ... There will be a charge associated with such discharge.

The pollution in our water, after these boats have paid us a visit, suggests to this blogger that the greed culture, which endowed many of these sailors with their yachts, may dominate their thinking when their "tanks are full" - to our detriment!

Dalkey Island swim

In aid of the Kisiizi Hospital Fund (Uganda), the weather was cold and windy, but everyone made it. Later in the afternoon we had a beautiful sunny day.
Photos here.

So the s*#t isn't just from coliemore...

An extract from chapter 12 of the development plan says that;

Shanganagh Sea Outfall Works
• Construction of an upgraded sewage treatment plant to
eliminate the discharge of untreated municipal sewage
from the Shanganagh and Bray sea outfalls to meet the
E.U. Urban Wastewater Directive, 1991... This scheme is at preliminary design stage and is due to open in 2006.

Consulting the project website (here), they say that;

A new wastewater Treatment Works ... will provide secondary treatment and biosolids treatment. Currently only basic preliminary treatment is carried out at the Works and untreated effluent is discharged to Dublin Bay by a long sea outfall. Secondary treatment removes over 90% of organic pollution and suspended solids from the wastewater, greatly improving the quality of effluent being discharged to the Bay.

Unfortunately when asked when this 2.5 year project will commence, they can only say: sometime in 2008! However, considering that for the Coliemore pumping station it was: "anticipated that the contract works will commence in late Spring 2002, for a period of one year" according to council meeting minutes (here), we should expect to be swimming in s##t till 2012 at the earliest!


Also, ever wondered just how bad Coliemore is???
Well check out this extract from page 35 of the Clean Seas Project, Harbour Survey Report (Ireland), from December 2001 where they say;

Comments:
Coliemore is a scenically stunning, historic harbour. Sewage is bubbling out of the pier wall and there are real water quality problems. A bleaching substance was also observed to be running from a small pipe down the slipway on two visits.

They also make the following;
Recommendations:
1. The area needs sewage treatment badly.
2. In the interim a warning sign not to swim or touch water in the harbour should be installed to protect public health.

Ah the beauty of Eire - the land of saints & scholars ... and seas full of s*#t

Distances as the cormorant flies

From	To	metres
The Steps	Pink House	285
The Steps	The Point	400
The Steps	White Rock Pier	640
The Steps	The Old Tea Rooms	1200
Forty Foot	Bullock	600
Forty Foot	East Pier	1040
The Point	Dalkey Island Beach	615
Coliemore	Dalkey Island Beach	420
Coliemore	Howth Head	10000
The Steps	The Kish	13.7km
The Steps	Holy Island (Caergybi)	95km
The Steps	Shanganagh S**T Pipe	2431
The Steps	Bray S**T Pipe	5532