An Atlantic wildlife haven…
Bird colonies, friendly dolphins, basking sharks and seals
Skellig Michael, Little Skellig and the surrounding waters are an important wildlife sanctuary and home to a large variety of seabirds as well as visiting dolphins, seals, porpoises, basking sharks, minke whales, sunfish and leatherback turtles.
Birds
Gannets Little Skellig is home to over 50,000 gannets (Ireland’s largest seabird) making it the second largest gannet colony in the world. The gannet population is so dense it makes the island look pure white from a distance.
Gannets are an awesome sight diving from some 30metres and hitting the water at 100km/hour to feed on the mackerel and sprat below. Other birds that have made the Skelligs their home include:
Storm Petrels They skim the top of the water to feed and only come ashore after dark. After summer breeding they migrate as far as 10,000kms south to warmer climes
Fulmars These gull-like birds can live up to 35 years and take 8 years to reach maturity. Their legs are so far back on their bodies they must nest and take off from cliffs
Puffins Ireland’s most colourful seabirds, 4,000 pairs nest and breed on the Skelligs from March until August
Other birds readily visible on the Skelligs and surrounding waters are Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Guillemots and Manx Shearwaters
Watch out for the sharks…
The warm Gulf Stream waters, which give this part of Kerry its unusually warm micro-climate, also attract an impressive variety of sea mammals and exotic fish close to our shores.
Common Dolphins travel in pods of five to 100s and driven by their curiosity, sometimes join the boat and play in its bow stream
The larger and somewhat shyer Harbour Porpoise can be seen chasing its prey (mostly mackerel), through the clear blue waters
The Grey Seal calls Little Skellig home and can also be seen swimming in the harbour at Skellig Michael or even basking in the sunshine on the rocks of Little Skellig.
Minke Whales are spotted on occasion and Basking Sharks, the world’s second largest shark, can sometimes be seen grazing along the top of the waters around the Skelligs. Basking sharks grow to a massive 9 metres in length and weigh more than an African Elephant.
In recent years there has been an increase in the enormous Sunfish spotted basking atop the Skellig Islands’ waters. The rarest sighting is the Leatherback Turtle but these are sometimes carried off their normal migratory path by the northerly push of the Gulf Stream towards the Skelligs.
