Sesame, three months old, at Seal Rescue Irleand. Screenshot / Seal Rescue Ireland Instagram
On Friday, Seal Rescue Ireland released Sesame the seal into the ocean after five months of rehabilitation at the Seal Rescue Ireland facility. Watch the release on EcoWatch's Facebook.
Ireland's
landmark Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill passed the Seanad, or upper house, on Thursday, putting the Emerald Isle on track to become the first country in the world to divest from fossil fuel-related funds.
The
bill—which requires the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to sell off about €318 million ($361 million) investments in coal, oil, gas and peat assets over a five year period—now heads to President Michael D. Higgins for signature, where it will likely become law by the end of the year, according to the
Irish Times.
Marine scientists discovered a very rare
shark nursery about 200 miles west of Ireland and shared a mesmerizing video of the find.
Back in July, the government-supported
Marine Institute's SeaRover survey found a large school of blackmouth catsharks and what appears to be thousands of their egg cases, also known a "mermaids purses," at depths up to 750 meters (2,500 feet).
An ambulance crashed into a fallen tree from Storm Ali in Newcastle on Sept. 19. Owen Humphreys / PA Images via Getty Images
Storm Ali, the first named storm of the UK storm season, killed two and sent several to the hospital as winds of more than 100 miles per hour walloped Ireland, Scotland and Northern England Wednesday, The Guardian reported.
More than 250,000 homes and businesses in Ireland lost power and 30,000 lost power in southwest Scotland.
A seal being treated at Seal Rescue Ireland. The blue coloring is a result of the antiseptic used to help heal the deep wounds caused by monofilament fishing line entanglement.Seal Rescue Ireland
Tackling plastic pollution is the theme of 2018. Stories of animals dying from ingesting plastic are all around the web. Did you ever think that the plastic packaging used for your groceries might be the cause of death for an animal species you love?
A message to the Irish government to divest from fossil fuels is spelled out in lights in front of the lower house of parliament. Sasko Lazarov / 350.org
Ireland took a major step Thursday towards becoming the first country in the world to divest from fossil fuels, NPR reported.
March certainly came in like a lion in the UK and Ireland, as "the Beast from the East" brought freezing temperatures, up to 20 inches of snowfall and travel disruptions to the British Isles.
But what was disruptive for the region's human inhabitants was deadly for its marine life. Hundreds of thousands of lobsters, starfish, crabs and other creatures washed up dead or dying on beaches on the UK's eastern coast, Buzzfeed News reported Monday.
Fungie the dolphin in Ireland, where 250,000 bottlenose dolphins visit every summer. Belinda Wicks
Ireland's Dáil Éireann, the country's lower house of parliament, voted 78-48 Thursday to advance a bill to stop the government from issuing new contracts for both on and offshore
oil and gas exploration.
Despite
strong opposition from the Irish government, the legislation was backed by thousands of activists, campaigners, parliamentarians as well as a surprising supporter who believes in life after oil: Cher.
Ex-Hurricane Ophelia hit Ireland hard with full hurricane-like fury on Monday, bringing powerful winds that caused widespread damage and power outages. At least two deaths have been reported from trees falling on cars, and The Irish Times said at least 360,000 ESB Networks customers lost power in Ireland because of the storm.
Ireland is set to ban onshore fracking after its Senate passed legislation on Wednesday that outlawed the controversial drilling technique.
The Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Prohibition of Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing) Bill 2016 now awaits Irish President Michael D. Higgins' signature. The president is expected to sign it into law "in the coming days."
In a world's first, the Irish Parliament voted 90 to 53 on Thursday in favor of a groundbreaking bill that would fully divest public money from coal, oil and gas.
