Irish Basking Shark Group

Nollaig Shona Daoibh!
Merry Christmas!

We took advantage of our large gathering of basking shark experts to ask the most pressing question of all: How would you describe a basking shark?

#baskingshark #sharkscience

GNÉ-ALT FÓGRAÍOCHTA: Basking – The Nursery (‘Liamhán Gréine – an Iasclann’) — eispéireas ealaíne tumthach i mBaile Thiobraid Árann Tugann an t-ealaíontóir Tom Meskell a shuiteáil Basking ar camchuairt go At 6s & 7s Gallery i mBaile Thiobraid Árann le Basking – The Nursery, ar suiteáil solais thumthach é lena ndéantar ceiliúradh…

Tá sceitimíní orainn taispeántas ealaíne seo!

tuairisc.ie/gne-alt-fogr...

Thank for everyone who attended and made the conference and Gala so memorable! And special shoutout to Simon Berrow for the hats!

Friday 29th of August we hosted our conference gala dinner at the Connacht Hotel, Galway. We ate good food, got to know our wonderful attendees better and were entertained by the incredible musical talents of Phronsias, Brendain and Marcus Hernon!

Basking - The Nursery | Tipperary Artist Directory Basking – The Nursery is a continuation of Tom Meskell’s acclaimed Basking series, exploring the majestic presence and gentle mystery of the basking shark through illuminated sculpture and…

Find out more here: www.tipperaryarts.ie/basking

Photos (c) Caleb Barrett

The show runs until the 19th December, Tuesdays to Saturdays, at the 6s & 7s gallery, Davis Street, Tipperary Town.

This Project takes place as part of Tipperary County Council’s Arts Programme with the support of the Arts Council and in cooperation with Creative Places Tipperary Town.

It was great to see so many brave the elements on Friday to attend the opening, and to see Tom's work inspiring wonder and curiosity about basking sharks, beyond Ireland's coastal communities.

Ruth Leeney, IBSG researcher, spoke at the exhibition's opening on Friday and the artist's talk on Saturday, providing information on the conservation status of basking sharks and highlighting them as a unique part of Ireland's marine wildlife.

Basking - The Nursery | Tipperary Artist Directory Basking – The Nursery is a continuation of Tom Meskell’s acclaimed Basking series, exploring the majestic presence and gentle mystery of the basking shark through illuminated sculpture and…

Basking sharks visit Tipperary!

A new exhibition by Irish artist Tom Meskell opened last weekend in Tipperary Town. In 'Basking - the Nursery', the focal points are two juvenile sharks, each about 2.5 metres in length, suspended in blue-green light amidst the sounds of the ocean.

Basking - The Nursery | Tipperary Artist Directory Project Overview

Read more here: www.tipperaryarts.ie/basking

Our own Dr. Ruth Leeney, will give a short talk at the opening of the exhibit (Friday 14th November) and again on the 15th November. The IBSG also provided support in developing an educational worksheet for the school workshops Tom will be running this week.

...an underwater environment populated by illuminated basking shark pups, moon jellies, and planktonic lights, inviting audiences into a serene, immersive world of light, sound, and collective creativity. "

"This new installation, The Nursery, draws inspiration from the early life of the basking shark — a rarely witnessed stage of one of the ocean’s most graceful giants. The work transforms the exhibition space into...

Incredible sneak peak for Tom Meskell’s upcoming exhibit "Basking, The Nursery" in Tipperary: www.tipperaryarts.ie/baskingout

and our sponsors:
@atu-ie.bsky.social, Customized Animal Tracking Solutions (CATS), Wildlife Computers, @lotektelemetry.bsky.social, @innovasea.com,
@fairseas.ie, @heritagecouncil.ie and Mayo County Council.

We’d like to thank our co-hosts:
@npwsireland.bsky.social and The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group...

Many thanks to Terry Flanagan from @rte.ie Mooney Goes Wild programme for joining us at the International Basking Shark Conference ATU Galway City in August this year to capture the meeting, talk to some of the participants and share the excitement.

www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

Our magnificent basking shark sculpture was created by Tommy Casby. Commissioned by IBSG and Fair seas, part funded by The heritage council and with support from Galway City Council. On behalf of us all at IBSG we want to extend our thanks to Tommy for creating such an incredible sculpture.

What did people take away from our International Conference on Basking Sharks?

We spoke with attendees from around the Atlantic to hear their biggest insights, inspirations, and hopes for the future of #baskingshark #conservation. 🦈💬

Check out their stories and reflections from the event!

Postcards from Achill:

On the Sunday 30th of August after our conference we headed out to Achill Island to host our Ocean Literacy Day.

Postcards from Achill:

On the Sunday 30th of August after our conference we headed out to Achill Island to host our Ocean Literacy Day.

There was no better or more authentic way to close out the whole weekend than by toe tapping along to The Achill Sound and listening to accounts of life on Achill.

To close off the day we had a very special performance by The Achill Sound that brought the experiences of the people of Achill together with music and stunning visuals to form a unique storytelling experience.

Of course it wasn't all for the adults, Gerry Daly hosted a read and draw along for all the young budding marine biologists. We had a great turn out to Gerrys event, with some incredible art work.

Throughout the day Tom Meskal had his art installation up in Gieltys cafe, alongside this we had screenings of “Secrets of the basking shark” by Swimming heads productions and Toms “Basking”.

This was an incredible opportunity to take in the stunning views of the island while giving our guests the chance to see these key locations of the basking shark fishery for themselves.

Island bus tours hosted jointly by Achill island seascapes and outdoor achill brought us to the heart of the action, Keem bay and then onto Purteen harbour.

The second talk of the day was hosted by the Ocean Literacy Network, bringing us all back to our “why”. After a weekend of hearing about all the research being done on this incredible species it was very fitting talk reminding us that our connection to the ocean runs deeply.

The day started with an incredible talk from Brian McNeil “The last basking shark fisherman”, where he recounted his role in the basking shark fishery up until its end in 1984 and how the fishery shaped Achill.