Episode 5 Monty Halls' Great Irish Escape


Episode 5

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This is the coast of Connemara in the West of Ireland.

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It's my home for six months working for an Irish whale and dolphin conservation group.

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As well as photographing animals for identification

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I've been dealing with strandings and tagging sharks as part of a worldwide migration survey.

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It's the most rewarding job I've ever had.

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That is great fun, did I mention it was great fun?!

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Fantastic.

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This week, when Hookers go bad.

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Watch your heads, watch your heads!

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A close shave racing traditional boats in Galway bay.

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If we send two vehicles up here the most likely place is here.

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And a midnight mission to find a basking shark beached somewhere in the dark.

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Up ahead of me I've got mysterious shadowy figures.

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'Last week, my boss, Simon Berrow,

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'and I were called to move a dead dolphin from a beach.'

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It presents a bit of a riddle for you, Simon.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's an adult, so...you know, why is it stranded.

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When Simon and I got to that striped dolphin in the Shannon estuary, it was dead.

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It was just this stranded animal that had just died on shore.

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It was very poignant for me because it made me realise that with

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the right bit of kit, potentially if we'd got to that animal in time it could have been returned to the sea.

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And in the whole vast area of Ireland

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there's only two whale and dolphin rescue pontoons

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and that's the bit of kit you need to return these animals to the water.

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The Irish whale and dolphin group are desperate to raise money for a third rescue pontoon

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and after all the work I've been doing this summer, I'd love to see it based here in Connemara.

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So they've come to me and said would I organise a festival on their behalf,

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so I'm going to organise a Roundstone Wildlife and Diving Festival.

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I've got a couple of months to do it, which would be fine if it wasn't for all my other duties.

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I've been monitoring whales, dolphins and basking sharks,

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but as summer comes to an end, the sea is cooling and the animals are moving further off shore.

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I could really use a bit of help.

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This is Casement Aerodrome in Dublin and today I'm off to look for

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whales and dolphins, but with a bit of a difference.

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Right, maritime patrol today, we go out high level to north of zone seven send out the low level...

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'We're going whale watching with the Irish Air Corps.'

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We have a few extra people with us, Simon Berrow from the Whale and Dolphin group

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and Monty and his crew, so they'll be filming.

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The crew's main job is policing fishing fleets in European Union waters.

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But the Irish government is obliged to do an audit of marine wildlife

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every seven years and Simon's whale and dolphin group has the contract to do the work.

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Our five-hour trip will cover a huge area of sea.

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We're just crossing the coast into Galway Bay.

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The way this works is, you have one observer up the front which will be me for the first half hour or so,

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recording the time, the location, core speed, cos what you need is

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a very accurate record of where the aircraft's going.

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Meanwhile, the second observer - Simon at the back - is actually there with a camera.

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There's a Perspex sort of bubble window, so you've got to hang it out over the sea,

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and he's ready to actually take photographs of any animal we go over the top of.

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Now, we're at about 5,000 feet at the moment. You're not going to see anything from 5,000 feet.

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But they drop down to about 1,000 feet if they see something

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or something comes up on the radar and they'll even drop down to 100 feet or so

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if it looks particularly interesting and they want to take a photo.

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The crew routinely photograph whales and dolphins

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which you just wouldn't spot any other way.

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So I'm off to the cockpit. Always wanted to go into the cockpit

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of an aircraft in flight - bit of a childhood ambition.

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'The plane's radar is so sensitive it can pick up everything from

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'fishing boats to pods of dolphins and even individual animals.'

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But the great thing is that a lot of the contacts particularly on a day like today when it's quite calm

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could be whales.

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The first thing we'll know is on the radar, then we'll drop down

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and actually investigate and see if it's a big cetacean.

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Simon's just said he had a whale on his side on the left-hand side, it's kind of...

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It's probably why we're going like that, everyone's rushed over to the left-hand side!

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On the off chance that I actually see something - I haven't seen anything yet...

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I'll push that button there

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and that means a mark is placed for the pilot that he can return to.

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It's incredibly hard to spot anything...

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even something as big as a whale...

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but when the light hits in a certain way...

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your patience is rewarded.

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I've just seen my first whale in Ireland.

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Minke whale.

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'As the flight continues, we tick off an impressive list of species

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'along with their precise locations, all adding to our knowledge of whales and dolphins in Irish water.'

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I've never filled two sheets, look at that.

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'From a boat Simon would only ever spot a handful of animals in any given day.

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'Today we've notched up eleven dolphin species and six types of whales between us.'

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Wow, fantastic.

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I came good at the end.

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It's ten minutes to landing, so I'm going to sit between the lads just as we come in,

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cos it's something I've always wanted to do.

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Been a great day and it just makes you realise what is out there off the coast of Ireland.

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I have got deep vein thrombosis from sitting in that seat with my face

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pressed against the thing for four hours but, yeah, great, great stuff.

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Oh!

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Connor, thank you very much.

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-No problem, Monty, glad to have you.

-Really great experience.

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I've seen more probably in that four hours than I've seen in the last four months.

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Yeah, I do want to be a pilot. Brilliant.

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-Brilliant.

-Another tick off the list.

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Another tick off the list.

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'Back on the ground, I'm getting very excited by the Dive Festival.'

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I've got eight weeks to organise this diving festival and this is one of the things I can really do

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during my time here, is raise the profile of the work the Irish Whale and Dolphin group are doing.

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And my best conduit to that is the Irish diving community.

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I think Roundstone and Clifden and the whole Connemara coast here just...some stunning diving here

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and it's not just the big animals going past, it's the smaller stuff on the reefs as well.

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And this is me saying, I can do this for the IWDG

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and create something that no-one else can create on this one weekend.

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This is Gurteen and it's a beautiful bay

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and it's part of an isthmus, cos the other side you have Dog's Bay.

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It's like an hour glass of two beautiful white beaches.

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This is where Dive Fest is going to take place.

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There'll be photography competitions, there's going to be a big marquee just there.

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Where we're going to have a Ceilidh we're going to have diving, trivia quizzes, bands, lectures

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from all sorts of learned people and a marine mammal medic course about how to look after a whale

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or dolphin if it strands, how to get back into the sea.

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So, all in all, the complete day for the Irish Diving fraternity.

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The festival will take place on the caravan site owned by Pat Mullen.

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We first met because he keeps Connemara ponies in the fields immediately in front of my cottage.

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Hello, Pat, how are you? Lovely day.

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'He's a top breeder of traditional ponies and today's a hugely important day.

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'He's invited me to help show his ponies at the local show, and it's no ordinary event.'

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The show we're just heading off to Pat, this is a big affair, is this.

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This is the biggest Connemara pony show in the world. This is a big day.

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Well, look, I know you're incredibly busy. Don't let me hold you up, and I'll see you at the show.

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-Good luck. Bye.

-Good to see you Pat, see you, Brian. Cheers.

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This is the Clifden Connemara Pony Show,

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an international event that's the biggest of its kind in the world.

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Everyone, including the ponies, is in best bib and tucker

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for an event that's one of the highlights of the local summer.

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Clifden has ground to a complete halt, that's the ring just there,

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but I think it's a great event, isn't it, wonderful colour,

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and a celebration of this unique animal in its home.

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Another neighbour, Caillin Conneely, has entered a pony in the show and I'm keen to see how he's done.

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-It's a huge show this, isn't it?

-It's the biggest Connemara ponies in the world.

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-Right.

-Everyone's here.

-You've had a great day, haven't you?

-Super day.

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Absolutely super, we won three-year-old mare class and we were reserve junior champions.

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-I imagine you'll have a beer to celebrate.

-Several or two!

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As you're my near neighbour I feel kind of cool by association, the fact I'm even talking to you.

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Showtime is approaching for Pat's class.

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My job is to walk the foal behind its mum.

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Close enough to stave off separation anxiety, but not so close it decides to suckle.

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It sounds like a doddle, but watching the earlier classes I'm starting to get butterflies.

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Right, my big moment has arrived, which is leading the foal around the ring.

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Everyone I've spoken to has given me slightly different advice.

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Long rein, short rein, whatever.

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All I know is I do not want to die in a freak incident with a foal, that's very uncool.

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But I'll meet Pat down here, he'll give me a last few top tips

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and then off we go, into the ring.

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So, Pat, what would be the best way of doing this then.

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You roll up this and don't put your hand, don't get yourself tied up in it.

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-No problem, sir.

-Don't let go, Monty!

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Right, whatever happens, I won't let go.

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-Yes.

-If I'm towed on my face across the car park, I won't let go.

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With Pat's son Brian leading the mare things get off to a good start.

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But I must be doing something wrong because without a word being said, Pat substitutes me before I can do

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any more damage to the mare's chances.

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I did two rounds and was immediately sacked.

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The trigger was cocked a couple of times, I saw one leg

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go like that, but lovely and it's a big deal for Pat, it's really nice of him to give me a chance to lead

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the animal round a couple of times, because there's a lot of pride wrapped up in this.

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Sadly, it's all for naught. The best they can manage is sixth place

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and, despite my heroic contribution, I don't even get a look in, let alone a rosette.

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I think the judges are trying to tell me something.

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I don't even get a handshake.

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It's been a lovely day, I still have my teeth, which I'm delighted about,

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having led the foal around, but it's a celebration obviously of the Connemara pony.

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It's a bit more than that, I think. Everywhere I go in Connemara,

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the people are very proud of who they are and where they come from.

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So in a way it's been a celebration of the whole Connemara identity, I think, today.

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Been grand, been grand.

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'One of my jobs over the summer has been monitoring a pod of dolphins in my bay.'

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Ahhh, look at that!

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'I'm pretty convinced they live here year round, which would make them

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'one of only four resident pods in the whole of Britain and Ireland.

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'It's been too rough recently to get out on the boat

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'but a couple of months ago, I put out an acoustic pod to record their movements when I can't.

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'It's the first to be deployed in Connemara and since it's worth

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'4,000 euros, I'm anxious to check it's survived the storms.'

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It's so important that we check this pod.

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This pod will reveal the riddle of the resident dolphin population.

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So it's a pod confirming the movements of a pod, in effect.

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The acoustic pod records the clicking noises dolphins use to communicate with each other.

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It's a relief to see it still here, but I'll leave it for another month

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or so before we haul it up and analyse the data.

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It's very good.

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It's down doing its thing.

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Just suspended beautifully off the bottom

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in a perfect upright position.

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The constant scientist.

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They're listening to this big body of water around me, for passing

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dolphins, cetaceans, you know, good stuff, the guys did really well.

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All is well with the world, very nice.

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Things are moving on apace, for the organisation of the Diving and Wildlife Festival.

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But it's a big old job this, there's marquees, there's food,

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there's auctions, there's all sorts of stuff going on.

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But, by one of those happy little coincidences, my girlfriend's coming out which is brilliant.

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What's even more brilliant is she specialises as an event organiser.

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What's the chances of that? Really looking forward to

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her coming out, but, I'm going to throw my arms round her when I see her, cos it'll be a great moment

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and whisper romantically in her ear, "Can you help me organise the Diving and Wildlife Festival, please?"

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When Tam turns up, I'm keen to show off where I live.

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Before she can get a word in, I've turned into an excited schoolboy

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wanting to show her everything at once.

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You know I said it was kind of south Devon, it was sort of Salcombe.

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I go up there and you run up and over and you come to this lovely little old harbour.

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But you can sit out of an evening and just listen to the kind of noises of the village.

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And this pony here, he's a funny one because he never moves.

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It's really nice to sort of show you where I am, as it were.

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-I know, it's great to see it.

-Lovely, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Really lovely.

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Come and look round. It won't take an enormous amount of time, it's not the biggest cottage.

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Oh, Reuben, hello.

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Who's that, Reubs?

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Who's that? Who's that?

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Hello.

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Hello, hello,

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hello, hello.

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'As Tam's part Irish, I've prepared a traditional Connemara welcome.

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'Everywhere you go locally you seem to get offered scones, so I've baked a batch in time honoured fashion.'

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That's delicious. That's an absolutely triumph.

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The Dive Festival is rapidly approaching and I'm keen for Tam

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to make local contacts who can help make it a success.

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So her arrival is a great excuse for a party, and the best party food I know is a homemade chilli.

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A little bit of paprika, an eye-wateringly intense chilli.

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The plan this evening, there's a few local people coming round.

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I'm going to show them some photos of my life here so far and just

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share a bit of the magic of Connemara and Roundstone.

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Lynne, who always looks after Reubs, she's bringing her bodhran along.

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I will, of course, insist on playing my guitar all evening for a grateful crowd and I'm making

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a chilli here that's so hot - a chilli has to actually make your whole face,

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indeed your whole head hurt when you eat it - or it's not proper chilli.

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It should be a very, very enjoyable evening, I think.

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Oh.

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'But it seems I might have let the housework slip a bit

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'so while Tam tidies up, I get the slide show organised.

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'With a beautiful sunset to welcome them, the guests start arriving.

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'There's Finn, an Irish mate from the UK with the beer.

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'Ronan, my fishing buddy, and Paddy McDonagh, my currach rowing trainer.

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'The party's off to a great start with everyone enjoying the highlights of the summer so far.

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'And it's great to have someone to share the organisation with.'

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It's going well, I've assumed the crucial host with the most role, such as drinking beer,

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telling tall stories to everyone while Tam has seamlessly moved to the cooker and is taking charge.

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It's lovely, nice mixture of sort of friends and local people here and all that.

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Yeah, nice, brings the cottage to life really.

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I think evenings like this are really important because it's local people coming round, basically,

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coming to visit me in the cottage and it's just very important personally to know that

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people have accepted me and, so it's lovely to have a house-full,

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the kids running outside, playing football with the dog. Perfect.

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But just as everything is as mellow as it can be,

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a late-night phone call from Simon at the Whale and Dolphin group gets everyone buzzing with excitement.

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A basking shark's been washed up. I think ten minutes down the coast,

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and obviously it's the dead of night, pitch black.

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Everyone's just gone with enormous gusto, and is sweeping the beach looking for this monster.

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I have some huge lights back in the house if they're going to be of any use,

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some of the big Dewalt torches and metal sub torches.

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So I'm going to follow them all, try and get a skin sample.

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Great, fantastic, let's go.

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Never known a party break up for a reason like this before, it's quite unique.

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We're going to head off, that way, yep, there's a convoy of highly enthusiastic people following us.

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Now, I hasten to add that Rob, driving, hasn't had a drop to drink.

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-Yep.

-Um, I, I try and finish all my parties with a large dead animal theme so we're just going to sweep

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the beach, sweep the area, and see if we can find the animal and I can get a skin sample.

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We need to hurry because the next tide could wash the shark back out to sea.

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Right, the first thing I would like to say is I am lost in admiration

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for your tremendous enthusiasm for this mission.

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This is Mannin Bay, 13 kilometres of rocky coastline.

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And somewhere on there, we don't know where.

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We're looking for a jet black body on a dark night on black rocks.

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So, here's the plan. If we send two vehicles up here, the most likely place is here,

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and one vehicle up here, and then basically just

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jump out and have a quick look along the beach whoever goes up here and we'll do the same here.

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-If you find it gives us a call and if not shall we just meet back here in?

-One hour.

-One hour.

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Surreal way to spend an evening.

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Good.

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Oh, God, very, very strong smell of ammonia, decomposing sharks,

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that's what they smell, basically it's incredibly strong.

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Could just be this stuff, let's have a little whiff.

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Yeah, I think that,

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that's more sulphurous,

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it's the gas I think, that sort of rotten eggs smell.

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Up ahead of me, I've got mysterious shadowy figures and the mysterious shadowy figures are cows,

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a very baffled herd of cows.

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I'm wondering what they're doing up so late, but they're probably thinking the same thing about us...

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with some justification.

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-Any joy?

-We did find a big herd of cows, which was a bit odd.

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-Kind of surreal, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-What a beautiful night for a walk(!)

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Yeah, wasn't it?! Right, shall we go home?

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Shall we go home. Long day tomorrow.

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Well, done, chaps, well done indeed.

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It's now...

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quarter to one,

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and it was a truly heroic effort by everyone,

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having stumbled around out there in the dark,

0:23:110:23:14

no sign of a basking shark, so I'm going to come back tomorrow.

0:23:140:23:18

Which probably would have been the sensible thing to do

0:23:180:23:21

in the first place, I hasten to add, but not as much fun.

0:23:210:23:24

Next morning, I get a bit more info about the shark's location and the hunt is on again.

0:23:360:23:42

I'm leading a team by sea in the hope of spotting some wildlife

0:23:420:23:45

along the way and a second group is going on overland.

0:23:450:23:50

We've got two big advantages now - it's daylight and we're sober,

0:23:500:23:53

which always helps with these things, I think.

0:23:530:23:56

Some of the lads have gone round via land so they're going to have a look from the land side.

0:23:560:24:01

We're coming in from the sea side, it's a beautiful flat calm day, to run all the way to Slyne Head

0:24:010:24:07

and round into Mannin Bay, but we've also got a good intelligence

0:24:070:24:10

as to where the shark is now, so I'm pretty confident we're going to find it. So off we go.

0:24:100:24:16

Two friends from the UK, Andy and Becks, are along for the ride,

0:24:160:24:20

but, more importantly, they're two extra pairs of eyes.

0:24:200:24:24

We might be out looking for a dead basking shark, but the first one we spot is very much alive.

0:24:240:24:30

It's a basker, 50 metres, 100 metres, small one, but we'll get

0:24:300:24:36

a tag into it. Fantastic, fantastic.

0:24:360:24:41

Look at that, he's right on the surface as well. Let's get the tag.

0:24:410:24:46

This will be, if we get a tag in, the third basking shark ever to be tagged in Connemara.

0:24:460:24:53

There he is.

0:24:560:24:58

This is a huge bonus.

0:24:580:25:01

So little is known about these animals, and tagging them helps scientists build up a picture of

0:25:010:25:06

their movements up and down the coast.

0:25:060:25:08

He's really motoring, this is called ram filter feeding.

0:25:080:25:12

When he's shoving himself through the water, mouth agape,

0:25:120:25:16

and I, I haven't seen one move this fast before so I don't know, maybe the plankton isn't as dense, or,

0:25:160:25:22

he's a young animal.

0:25:220:25:24

He's going to be a really tricky one to tag.

0:25:240:25:27

OK, mate, give it a little burst now, just a little burst.

0:25:270:25:30

The tagging pole broke.

0:25:430:25:45

Right, we'll forget the tag, we'll forget the tag, the tagging pole's pretty knackered really.

0:25:450:25:51

What a shame, what a shame, I didn't get a tag in him, but we did get a slime sample

0:25:510:25:58

and that black slime, smell it, just smells like fish cos it's a big fish.

0:25:580:26:03

Simon is really keen to gather that slime so I'll take that particular sample

0:26:030:26:08

and I'll stick it in a little tube of formaldehyde because they can get genetic information from the slime.

0:26:080:26:14

So there we are.

0:26:160:26:19

Basking shark slime.

0:26:190:26:20

The shore team have just radioed to say they've found the basking shark.

0:26:230:26:28

But the route to get there involves going through a treacherous gap

0:26:280:26:31

in the rocks that I've only ever done with a guide who knows what he's doing.

0:26:310:26:36

Beautiful.

0:26:440:26:45

Made it.

0:26:450:26:48

The shore team are guiding us in.

0:26:490:26:53

Becks thinks she's seen the Landy there, the white roof.

0:26:530:26:57

Going to go into that beach,

0:27:000:27:02

those were the cattle we saw the other night.

0:27:020:27:05

Well, done, mate.

0:27:100:27:12

-Hello.

-Sober and in daylight.

0:27:160:27:21

-That's a much better way to look at basking sharks!

-Much better.

0:27:210:27:25

And I think we stood on this rock here. No, no.

0:27:270:27:31

It's obviously long dead, but we didn't know that last night

0:27:310:27:34

when we must have been within a few feet of it.

0:27:340:27:37

You can see why you'd miss it, can't you?

0:27:370:27:39

Wow, that's pretty decomposed.

0:27:390:27:41

We've walked up with that, yeah, yeah.

0:27:410:27:43

Wow.

0:27:450:27:47

These used to cause huge consternation

0:27:470:27:49

amongst people of old the Victorians, people like that,

0:27:490:27:53

because, when a basking shark would wash ashore,

0:27:530:27:56

the lower jaw and the gill rakers here would

0:27:560:28:00

rot first, would decompose first, so it looked very much like a sea serpent.

0:28:000:28:06

The base of the tail would rot away, so it just looks like a sea serpent.

0:28:060:28:09

You've got this big eye here and the nose has gone and,

0:28:090:28:14

if you didn't know your stuff that's a, that's a sea serpent.

0:28:140:28:18

And these are the gill rakers here, and, as the water comes through it

0:28:180:28:23

sweeps over the gills, goes out the sides like a jet engine going out the sides, and as it goes out

0:28:230:28:28

the side it's caught on these sort of stiffened hairs here.

0:28:280:28:32

Every 30 seconds every 40 seconds or so, you'll see it close its mouth, essentially cleaning the gill rake,

0:28:320:28:38

getting the food off, then it opens again and it's very efficient.

0:28:380:28:43

These have been found with half a tonne of food inside them. Look at that, isn't that amazing.

0:28:430:28:50

'The pictures will help Simon to work out how long ago it died

0:28:500:28:54

'but the real treasure is locked inside its DNA, so I need to send him a tissue sample for analysis.'

0:28:540:29:01

This could be quite a useful sample to take, because one of the snags the researchers have had so far

0:29:010:29:06

is that not knowing the sex of the animals that have been

0:29:060:29:10

slimed, we've got the slime off them, but we don't know the sex.

0:29:100:29:13

I know from the reproductive organs that this is a male.

0:29:130:29:17

Even this decomposed, it's incredibly tough.

0:29:190:29:22

That's a very, very sharp scalpel.

0:29:220:29:25

If you think when I was trying to tag the one an hour ago

0:29:250:29:29

that the tag just wouldn't go in, and it was bent up,

0:29:290:29:34

this stuff this keeps the shark safe.

0:29:340:29:36

We're gonna need a bigger knife.

0:29:390:29:42

-Bigger knife.

-We're gonna need a bigger knife.

0:29:420:29:44

I think I badly underestimated the job with that one.

0:29:480:29:52

Cos that's a good old plug of flesh there.

0:29:560:29:59

OK, I'll pop that in there.

0:30:030:30:04

-Mate, thank you for that.

-No worries.

0:30:060:30:08

Sorry to hand it back sort of covered in basking shark gravy.

0:30:080:30:13

Chaps, thank you so much

0:30:130:30:15

for your sterling efforts over the last couple of days.

0:30:150:30:19

On the way home our luck's really in as the dolphins I've been monitoring put in an appearance.

0:30:220:30:28

What d'you know, here are the dolphins.

0:30:310:30:33

You only get that face when someone sees a dolphin.

0:30:440:30:48

Oh.

0:30:500:30:51

Back on dry land, my vision for the Dive Festival is running into trouble.

0:30:550:30:59

It's time for Tam to spell out a few financial home truths.

0:31:010:31:07

The hog roast is confirmed at 800 euros.

0:31:070:31:10

-Right.

-We need to talk about finance and getting people paid.

0:31:100:31:14

-Right.

-And taking money out.

0:31:140:31:17

I spoke to Philip yesterday, he's our marquee man and he will

0:31:170:31:21

set up the marquee and he'll need his money paid on the day as well.

0:31:210:31:26

So that's something else we need to have on the check list.

0:31:260:31:29

We need to think about sort of a registration desk, cos I think it's the only way

0:31:290:31:33

of managing people coming and going, they'll be on the beach, then the marquee, in and out.

0:31:330:31:37

-Very true.

-So we need something really easy.

0:31:370:31:40

Posters of pets, money to be withdrawn, so if you're happy with that?

0:31:400:31:44

If her plan was to shock me, it's worked.

0:31:440:31:48

The costs are piling up, and I'm staring at a massive loss for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.

0:31:480:31:53

There's only one solution.

0:31:530:31:57

Right, we need to sell about another 100 tickets.

0:31:570:32:00

You need just sheer volume of people.

0:32:000:32:02

And there's only one way to get them.

0:32:020:32:06

-Morning, how are you today?

-I'm very well.

0:32:060:32:09

You're basing yourself in Roundstone, what are you doing?

0:32:090:32:12

We'll be raising money for a rescue pontoon, they're 5,000 euro, these rescue pontoons,

0:32:120:32:17

but crucial for getting a whale or dolphin into the water and there's two in Ireland.

0:32:170:32:21

If you want further details on the Roundstone Diving and Wildlife Festival just call us here.

0:32:210:32:27

At 11:22 we're back.

0:32:270:32:29

Thanks for joining us today and well done.

0:32:290:32:32

-Thank you so much, thank.

-Enjoy.

-Really appreciated.

0:32:320:32:34

I'm desperately trying to get the word out

0:32:340:32:37

about the Dive Festival. People through the door will make all the difference,

0:32:370:32:41

don't get people through the door, I'll actually make a loss at the festival, which is not a good thing.

0:32:410:32:46

So with that in mind, I'm doing talks in pubs.

0:32:460:32:48

This is the Vinnie Jones of dolphins, they are tough, these animals.

0:32:480:32:54

In hotels...

0:32:540:32:56

We're trying to raise money for a rescue pontoon. It's tarpaulin with two flotation tubes either side.

0:32:560:33:02

Done a talk in a school.

0:33:020:33:04

Radio station, plastering the place with posters.

0:33:040:33:07

I was just wondering if I could stick one of those posters up.

0:33:070:33:11

And just doing anything basically to get the word out.

0:33:110:33:16

Thank you very much for turning out, cheers.

0:33:160:33:20

APPLAUSE

0:33:200:33:22

It's 7:30 in the morning, and I'm just driving down to Rossaveal

0:33:300:33:35

to spend my first ever day in a Galway hooker,

0:33:350:33:39

which is a traditional Irish sailing boat.

0:33:390:33:43

I've been invited to take part in a special race that's staged

0:33:430:33:46

every year to celebrate the community's seafaring heritage.

0:33:460:33:50

And I've never done it before, I've never ever, I'm not really much of a sailor to be honest,

0:33:500:33:55

it's specialised, so looking forward to it, should be interesting.

0:33:550:33:58

In the old days the hookers used to transport turf, or peat, across

0:34:010:34:05

Galway Bay to be used as fuel in the treeless area known as the Burren.

0:34:050:34:10

The turf run is commemorated every year by the Kinvara Regatta

0:34:100:34:13

and I've been invited to race on The Volunteer tomorrow.

0:34:130:34:17

Just heading out of Rossaveal in the capable hands of Joe and Ronan here and heading out to the open sea,

0:34:250:34:31

and in fact can see one of the hookers there just sort of leaning right over,

0:34:310:34:37

just rounding the headland.

0:34:370:34:39

One of my crewmates is Donal Green, a hooker builder steeped in the traditions of this beautiful craft.

0:34:390:34:46

It's a very significant vessel in terms of the history of Galway.

0:34:460:34:49

It is, and especially the history of Connemara,

0:34:490:34:52

this would have been a tradition long ago when boats were trading turf to Kinvara to sell it.

0:34:520:34:59

If you go back to after the famine, there was hardly any of the roads we take for granted now,

0:34:590:35:04

small roads into the villages would be tracks, so you had no infrastructure,

0:35:040:35:08

-so everything was done by boat.

-And Irish is the language you'd speak on board.

0:35:080:35:13

-Oh, yes, all the time.

-Yeah, because so many of the things

0:35:130:35:16

I guess around the boat, you're obviously going to use Irish terms to describe them.

0:35:160:35:21

Well, exactly. Irish is what we always speak.

0:35:210:35:24

THEY SPEAK IRISH GAELIC

0:35:240:35:30

Although certain things on board still have English names but most of it, most of it's in Irish.

0:35:300:35:35

Yeah.

0:35:350:35:37

That's going to crack me round the head, it's simply a question of when it's going to.

0:35:390:35:45

It's a bit like being in a kitchen, you're always in the wrong place.

0:35:500:35:54

The regular crew race this boat in regattas throughout the summer,

0:35:590:36:05

but for helmsman Joe Joyce this is a special weekend commemorating, as it does, his forefathers.

0:36:050:36:12

These routes we're going along at the moment, your grandfather used to do these, didn't he?

0:36:140:36:18

My father and my grandfather.

0:36:180:36:20

-Your father and your grandfather.

-Yeah.

0:36:200:36:22

Right. So why was it necessary to run turf? Was there just none in the area we're going to?

0:36:220:36:28

There's no turf in these areas of Clare, yeah.

0:36:280:36:32

It's hard work, isn't it?

0:36:320:36:34

Dangerous work as well, cos they didn't have the conveniences that we have

0:36:340:36:38

of knowing the weather ahead of time.

0:36:380:36:41

-No, no.

-They'd set sail in the morning regardless,

0:36:410:36:44

bad days at sea, trying to get the cargo out, get the turf out.

0:36:440:36:49

-Trying to get a buyer as well.

-Yeah.

0:36:490:36:51

And trying to get it all done, and of course it was the only way

0:36:510:36:55

to make a buck as well, it was their livelihood.

0:36:550:36:57

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

0:36:570:37:01

Everyone's dad and granddad has sailed these things

0:37:010:37:05

all their lives, delivering turf, think of all the years of experience both in the vessel itself,

0:37:050:37:10

in the heart of the vessel and in the crew as well. This is an age-old scene of coming alongside a jetty.

0:37:100:37:17

Once the tide is high, the boats can moor up in Kinvara to unload their commemorative cargoes of turf.

0:37:170:37:23

Shared traditions like this make for a close knit community.

0:37:230:37:30

But there would have been fierce competition as well

0:37:300:37:32

to get the best trades, and that spirit lives on in the regatta which is just getting underway.

0:37:320:37:39

The Volunteer races tomorrow and I'll be in the thick of the action.

0:37:390:37:44

It's Sunday.

0:37:470:37:49

Before racing can start, there are important traditions to observe.

0:37:490:37:54

Remembering hooker sailors, often family members who went to sea and didn't return.

0:37:540:38:00

THEY SING

0:38:000:38:02

The whole origins of the hooker

0:38:050:38:08

was transporting stores around,

0:38:080:38:11

getting them across the bay. You brought things like turf which was life, cos it was warmth and heat,

0:38:110:38:16

but also you operated at your peril and lots of people in hookers were lost.

0:38:160:38:21

The sea was the great provider, the great means of communication, but also

0:38:210:38:26

the great predator and took a lot of people.

0:38:260:38:28

Lot of people who went out, a few didn't come back,

0:38:280:38:31

and that's the reason they get together and just remember those people on the quay here.

0:38:310:38:36

But now it's time for the racing to begin.

0:38:460:38:50

I'm pretty much a novice, so I'm doing what I'm told,

0:38:530:38:56

raising sails, hauling on lines and generally providing a bit of muscle.

0:38:560:39:02

All around us, boats are getting ready, but in our class we only have one competitor.

0:39:020:39:07

Everyone's split now into their, to their jobs, you've got Donal on the foresail there.

0:39:100:39:16

You've got Joe holding the second sail in, and then you've got Ronan

0:39:160:39:20

on the main sail, and Padraig at the back there just trying to sort of steer the correct line.

0:39:200:39:24

And me as warm ballast basically.

0:39:240:39:27

The art here is to get a rolling start across the start line.

0:39:290:39:33

Our rival crew is as experienced as they come, and they're already

0:39:330:39:37

jockeying to deny us the best position on the start line.

0:39:370:39:42

Put out then.

0:39:420:39:43

-HORN BLARES

-That's the start, and it's first blood to the competition.

0:39:430:39:49

That's our competition basically, it's got maybe 30 yards on us, 40 yards on us. We're right on her bow.

0:39:490:39:55

So we're just jostling to see who can be fired out into the real winds in the bay.

0:39:550:40:00

It's literally the race for the bay now.

0:40:020:40:04

The first leg is about straight line speed, as we make for a turn buoy where the real tactics will begin.

0:40:070:40:14

We're going to tack in a second, and it all comes down to the tack,

0:40:140:40:18

the efficiency of the crew, cos you lose momentum of course

0:40:180:40:21

as you come round the turn. Right, there she is, coming right across our bow now.

0:40:210:40:26

Once we round the first buoy, we're sailing into the wind,

0:40:390:40:42

and we can only make progress by tacking first one way then the other.

0:40:420:40:46

Each time you tack, you cross your rival's path.

0:40:500:40:55

It's a real psychological boost to be ahead at that point.

0:40:550:40:58

The gap is closing.

0:41:020:41:04

It's now neck and neck through a canny bit of tacking.

0:41:060:41:09

Working our way up the bay, stolen 30 yards from them, 40 yards, so it's even stevens now.

0:41:090:41:15

Here he comes, here he comes.

0:41:150:41:17

Coming round again.

0:41:210:41:23

That was close,

0:41:290:41:31

we'll ram her next time.

0:41:310:41:33

This is where the rules of the road apply, one skipper has to give way to another one,

0:41:330:41:38

and sometimes it's difficult and occasionally it doesn't happen, occasionally collisions occur.

0:41:380:41:44

Now it's our rivals who are playing catch-up and the final buoy will be crucial.

0:41:440:41:49

This prompts a desperate attempt by our rivals to cut inside us on the turn - with disastrous results.

0:41:500:41:56

Watch your heads, watch your heads.

0:41:560:42:00

Tangled up in the other boat's rigging, Padraig is in real danger of being hauled overboard.

0:42:030:42:08

Instinctively, Ronan and I rush to keep him on board,

0:42:080:42:11

but it's a move that brings us within inches of catastrophe.

0:42:110:42:15

I'm shaken, but if the boom had hit me, I could have been killed.

0:42:230:42:29

-You all right, man?

-Good, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:42:310:42:33

Yeah, yeah, fine.

0:42:330:42:35

By the time we recover our composure we're way behind, but we're sure the other boat has broken the rules.

0:42:350:42:42

Caught on camera, the other boat actually went the wrong side of the buoy, cos they

0:42:420:42:47

were so ken to cut inside us, nearly killing Padraig in the process.

0:42:470:42:52

Holy moly.

0:42:520:42:54

We'll be protesting to the referee, but we still have to make the best finish we can.

0:42:580:43:04

Try as we might, the boats are so evenly matched, there's nothing we can do to close the gap.

0:43:040:43:10

We're a distant second unless the referee rules in our favour.

0:43:100:43:16

The race will come down to each skipper's evidence and an interpretation of the rules.

0:43:230:43:28

THEY SPEAK IRISH GAELIC

0:43:310:43:36

That's Padraig just being taken off for the enquiry.

0:43:360:43:40

And the other skipper will join him on the boat,

0:43:400:43:43

which could be one of those awkward social situations.

0:43:430:43:46

As we step ashore, the regatta party is in full swing,

0:43:480:43:52

but after our close call none of us feel like joining in.

0:43:520:43:56

The race just out of interest has been declared void, so all that effort and emotion,

0:43:560:44:01

but for me it was a lot more than a race,

0:44:010:44:03

it was a chance to get out in a historic boat in Galway Bay,

0:44:030:44:07

and do a voyage that's been done for many hundreds of years

0:44:070:44:11

with descendants of the guys who originally did it.

0:44:110:44:15

So it's been a great experience all round. Learnt some Irish as well, none of which are repeatable here.

0:44:150:44:20

So, very good.

0:44:200:44:21

It's August, as you can tell by the leaden grey skies outside,

0:44:370:44:43

and my emphasis has changed ever so slightly in that I think

0:44:430:44:48

I really want to raise the money for this pontoon, this rescue pontoon, and the pressure is on

0:44:480:44:53

because they cost 4,000 euro, they're very expensive bits of kit, and I haven't got long to raise it.

0:44:530:44:58

One of the things I'm doing is a talk tonight

0:44:580:45:01

in the community hall in Roundstone, I'm hoping to get 250 people there.

0:45:010:45:07

To do that talk I need great photos, and, there's a wreck down here, a shipwreck, but apparently

0:45:070:45:13

it's beautiful and has terrific marine life on it, so I'm towing the rig down,

0:45:130:45:18

I'll do a dive there, get some photos, show them to the people of Roundstone and the people of Clifden

0:45:180:45:25

and raise lots of money hopefully.

0:45:250:45:27

That is the plan.

0:45:270:45:29

It's a very appropriate setting, cos it's quite wild and woolly,

0:45:360:45:41

it's a bit of a blustery wind, just a few white horses kicking around, and of course

0:45:420:45:47

this is a shipwreck, but it was a shipwreck that was actually put down

0:45:470:45:50

as a dive site, they're amazing focal points for marine life.

0:45:500:45:55

And this is very heavily colonised, this one, and I'm hoping

0:45:550:45:58

for some great photos, sitting totally upright on the seabed and they're always lovely to dive,

0:45:580:46:03

ships, it's always very evocative, it's rather like exploring an old haunted house that's full of vermin

0:46:030:46:10

and animals and bats and all that stuff and you fly through it.

0:46:100:46:15

Let's go, let's get on with it and see what we find down there, maybe treasure, who knows?

0:46:150:46:21

'The wreck is an island supply boat that was sunk 12 years ago'

0:46:250:46:31

Very good, well worth it, well worth it, now dash back, set up the community hall,

0:49:250:49:32

and raise my first bit of money for this pontoon.

0:49:320:49:36

This is where it all begins, hopefully.

0:49:360:49:39

It's about 7am, it's the morning

0:50:150:50:21

of the inaugural Roundstone Diving and Wildlife Festival,

0:50:210:50:25

an event that is almost entirely dependent on decent weather.

0:50:250:50:29

Although it's been absolutely lovely for about a month or so,

0:50:290:50:33

so I'm going to throw open the curtains and see whether we've been blessed with glorious sunshine

0:50:330:50:39

or whether the weather is honking.

0:50:390:50:40

It's a bit honking.

0:50:470:50:50

Actually, it's quite honking, but what can you do? Just got to get on with it, haven't you?

0:50:500:50:55

I've seen better days, and I've seen worse days as well.

0:51:070:51:10

So if the rain stays off...

0:51:100:51:12

'It's like a ghost town with just one inhabitant.

0:51:130:51:16

'Paddy the hog roast man, who's been getting up every 15 minutes

0:51:160:51:20

'throughout the night to make minute adjustments to tonight's supper.'

0:51:200:51:24

-Wow, she's huge.

-Initially I was supposed to go for 35 kilos for our target,

0:51:240:51:31

unobtainable, so we have 80.

0:51:310:51:34

80 kilos, that's fantastic!

0:51:340:51:36

But gradually we're joined by the main players, and the festival site starts to take shape.

0:51:460:51:52

Sun's just come out, that's a great sign.

0:52:030:52:06

The hog roast is cooking away, the smell, unbelievable, it's like

0:52:060:52:11

a tractor beam drawing people in and strangely enough, there's our first couple of tickets sold.

0:52:110:52:16

There we go, no worries, see you later.

0:52:170:52:20

Hello, how are you doing? I'm very well, very well.

0:52:200:52:22

'That burst of publicity is paying off,

0:52:220:52:24

'to my not inconsiderable relief the euros are starting to trickle in.'

0:52:240:52:30

This is how I'd imagined it.

0:52:360:52:38

Opening up the secrets of the seashore, while a curious public opens up their collective wallets.

0:52:380:52:44

Up at the marquee there's a raft of entertainment on hand to guarantee

0:52:470:52:50

good value for money, along with food from the sea.

0:52:500:52:55

While down on the beach, Simon has the crowd in the palm of his hand,

0:52:550:53:00

teaching them about the wildlife off their coast.

0:53:000:53:04

And the try dive sessions are introducing loads of new divers

0:53:040:53:07

to an underwater world now shimmering in the sunlight.

0:53:070:53:11

There's been a dramatic turnaround, I'm pleased to say, and as I kind of thought might happen,

0:53:110:53:16

was hoping would happen, the sun's come out, it's a beautiful Connemara day, Gurteen just looks superb.

0:53:160:53:21

You've got the intro dives going on down here,

0:53:210:53:23

a whale being inflated down there, which is a novel thing, you don't see that on a beach every day.

0:53:230:53:29

The talks are packed, absolutely packed, there isn't a spare seat in the place.

0:53:290:53:33

So I'm absolutely delighted.

0:53:330:53:35

And the highlight of the whole day is coming up.

0:53:350:53:37

Simon is about to show how all the money raised today will be spent.

0:53:370:53:42

You get about 20 live stranding events a year, now an event might be a single dolphin,

0:53:420:53:48

or it might be up to 40 pilot whales like we had in Kerry in 2001.

0:53:480:53:52

But obviously the pilot whale, you really need the pontoons, so I'll show you the pontoons now.

0:53:520:53:58

The pontoon consists of two inflatable cylinders with a canvas floor that's rigged between them

0:54:000:54:06

to hold a stranded animal until it has the strength to swim off under its own steam.

0:54:060:54:12

For the demo, Simon has filled the inflatable whale with water so it weighs as much as the real thing.

0:54:150:54:22

It's a realistic demonstration of just how hard it would be to float a live animal back out to sea.

0:54:220:54:28

You can see what a monumental task it is

0:54:320:54:36

to get an animal this size back into the water, hardly any surf today, and obviously this is just

0:54:360:54:41

a big old bag full of sea water, it's not thrashing, it's not heaving around,

0:54:410:54:46

so this is why the pontoon is vital.

0:54:460:54:48

Try and do this without a pontoon, you're in real trouble, you know, you're really going to struggle,

0:54:480:54:53

and the longer you struggle the more stressful it is for the whale, the more chance the whale dies.

0:54:530:54:59

Obviously this is the whole rationale of the whole weekend

0:54:590:55:02

really, to try and get one of these pontoons.

0:55:020:55:04

Imagine doing this without the pontoon, just wasting your time,

0:55:040:55:08

with an animal that's thrashing and heaving around.

0:55:080:55:11

So this is the whole reason we're trying to get one.

0:55:110:55:14

Safe, simple piece of kit, but very well designed

0:55:140:55:17

actually, we were a bit messy there putting it on, but you know.

0:55:170:55:21

Well done, superb.

0:55:210:55:24

-Well done, Simon.

-APPLAUSE

0:55:240:55:30

It's been a quite simply tremendous day, really has been blessed

0:55:300:55:35

with the weather, and the money's just steadily clicked in, and now we're moving onto the evening phase,

0:55:350:55:41

we've got a brilliant band turning up and I'm hoping for about 150 200 people at the party tonight.

0:55:410:55:47

So we'll have a big old auction and then tomorrow morning, count the money and see if it's worked.

0:55:470:55:53

110. 105.

0:56:000:56:02

135, 130, that's great.

0:56:050:56:08

RAUCOUS FOLK MUSIC

0:56:080:56:13

APPLAUSE

0:56:180:56:20

I'm distinctly nervous about how much we might have made,

0:56:370:56:41

and as Tam counts the cash, I can't bring myself to watch, there's just too much riding on the final tally.

0:56:410:56:48

It's the morning after the night before

0:56:500:56:52

and there's that slightly stunned feel to the whole thing.

0:56:520:56:57

I think a phenomenal exercise,

0:56:570:56:59

in terms of resonance for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group and getting

0:56:590:57:03

people in the water, and we made that happen and that's great.

0:57:030:57:06

But the money is being counted by Tam at the moment, so...

0:57:060:57:13

financially we'll find out if it's all been worth it in a sec.

0:57:130:57:17

Remember when the day started we were 3,000 euros in the red,

0:57:190:57:24

and we need 5,000 for the pontoon.

0:57:240:57:27

I think we have a final figure.

0:57:310:57:35

Well, I think we've definitely raised a thousand euros at least, if not more.

0:57:350:57:41

A thousand euros, a thousand euros.

0:57:410:57:44

Now that is fantastic, that is fantastic, really because...

0:57:440:57:48

'With money from the auction and other pledges to come,

0:57:480:57:50

'the final figure should be more than double that.

0:57:500:57:53

'There's no way I could have done this without Tam, but I still have nearly

0:57:530:57:58

'3,000 euros to raise, so I need some more money-spinning ideas to keep the pontoon dream alive.

0:57:580:58:05

Next time, the moment of truth as I haul up the acoustic pod.

0:58:070:58:11

The really exciting science is right there.

0:58:110:58:14

A sure sign my idyllic summer is coming to an end.

0:58:140:58:17

If ever there was a harbinger of the change of seasons

0:58:170:58:20

it's starting to see the seal pups away from their mums.

0:58:200:58:23

And a last chance to swim with the sharks that will soon migrate to warmer waters.

0:58:230:58:28

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:450:58:48

E-mail [email protected]

0:58:480:58:51

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