Coastal communities understand that reading the sea requires great precision and difficult calls
Boats in the port at Inishturk Island, off the coast of Mayo. Those most familiar with the sea have always feared it, and rightly so, as you cannot beat it if it turns fiercely against you. Photo: Chris MaddaloniDublin swimmers are well used to red flags. A regular indicator of our waste disposal shortcomings is that the water treatment system struggles to cope with heavy rain and gets overloaded. Persistent downfalls and land run-off can mean plentiful sewage in the water for days afterwards.
So are rough seas; high waves and strong currents rightly set alarm bells ringing and red flags hoisted. There have been consistent warnings in recent years that more severe storms are likely to hit Ireland due to record ocean temperatures driven by, fuelling the formation of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, they are likely to become the new normal.
Again, some will ignore the resultant warnings and if surfing, will even welcome the tumult, and there will always be clowns willing to leap off Salthill’s diving plank during an Atlantic storm, blithely ignoring the hazardous risks those involved in coastal rescue have to face. Given the gravity of decisions about water safety, the footage of the Youghal Ironman sea swim last weekend was shocking and distressing. There are still many unanswered questions about whether the tragic deaths of two participants, Brendan Wall and Ivan Chittenden, could have been avoided.
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