Warmer waters in South-West attract cuttlefish, red jellyfish and Spanish octopuses
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Cuttlefish eggs are turning up in lobster pots in West Cork, a species of red jellyfish rarely found outside the Mediterranean has arrived in numbers in Ventry in the past week, and large Spanish octopuses have been eating the lobsters in Schull.
The developments are being viewed with concern by marine experts, who say there is a change under way in the sea environment in the South-West due to rising temperatures.
The cuttlefish eggs have been brought to Dingle Oceanworld, where marine biologist Kevin Flannery expects them to hatch. The aquarium has also been given a live Spanish octopus mostly found around the Canaries.
They are now here in numbers and are killing lobster.
But while "these wonderful strange creatures" are a great addition to the aquarium — their increased presence in Irish waters is of concern and an indication of wider issues at play, Mr Flannery said.
Cuttlefish spawning and laying their eggs in the South-West is "a different kettle of fish" to the odd one turning up, and it is a signal of drastic change.
“Spawning is a sign new species are moving in,” Mr Flannery said. The type of cuttlefish eggs turning up is not found further north of the Channel and is mainly in the Mediterranean.
“This is all a result of the rise in temperatures and the great wave of marine heat for four to six weeks. We had weeks of 20 hours a day of bright sunlight. We never had that before," Mr Flannery said.
The 5C rise in sea temperatures in June was "way above normal and would have a colossal" impact, he said.
Anchovies, sardines and tuna, which can be seen in the warmer waters in September, are now also moving up rapidly, since June.
The grape-like formations of the cuttlefish eggs were spotted by pot fisherman John Ball off Turk Head and he alerted the aquarium in Dingle.
Near Schull, fisherman Denis Griffin is regularly now coming across large Spanish octopuses, which pull the lobsters against the pots to smother them.
Mr Griffin managed to capture a live octopus and has presented it to Mr Flannery and Oceanworld, where it has gone on view.
Mr Flannery said "the colossal change" this June should be treated with the same urgency as weather events like storms.
The sustained heat means native species like pollock and cod and young salmon cannot survive and would be expected to die in the warmer oxygen-depleted waters. This effect will be seen very quickly.
He has called for a steering committee on rising sea temperatures to be put in place.
‘We have great expertise in the Marine Institute and brilliant scientists in Teagasc and we need an urgent forum to be brought together, quickly, with State expertise to look at the changes which have already begun and how we can best respond.’ Mr Flannery said.
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