After more than two weeks reacquainting myself with dry land, I have taken the time to reflect on IWDG’s ‘Floating Classroom’ in Galway City this year!
As the group’s new Education and Outreach Officer, Floating Classroom is the most important event on my calendar, where we sail our distinguished Research Vessel Celtic Mist to a coastal community on the island of Ireland and promote ocean literacy there. This is achieved by inviting as many local schools onboard as we can for workshops on Ireland’s native cetaceans, their importance in the ecosystem, and how the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group goes about their conservation.
Indeed, IWDG’s mission statement is “to promote the better understanding of cetaceans and their habitats through education and research”. Between ‘education’ and ‘research’ I reckon at least half of this falls directly under my remit as education officer! The more that people know and the more people that know it, the better equipped we will be to inform and perform our conservation work.
So how do we do this in a way that’s novel and exciting for school-going children? We invite them onto a boat!
The Floating Classroom, AKA Celtic Mist, in Galway City – photo by Cian Ó Nialáin
‘Floating Classroom’ was piloted by IWDG in 2019 in collaboration with the Irish Ocean Literacy Network, the Irish Wildlife Trust and Marine Dimensions using RV Celtic Mist as a platform to educate young people about marine biodiversity, the ecosystem, the essential services that cetaceans provide therein, and the work carried out for their conservation. From its first success in schools on Ireland’s southeast coast, Floating Classroom has become an institution in our education strategy, and it has been a part of Celtic Mist’s schedule each year since.
A hands-on experience – photo by Tina Concannon
This year, at the end of the survey season, the maritime community of Galway City was chosen to finish off the Celtic Mist calendar. Having studied Cumarsáid agus Gaeilge (media studies through the Irish language) for 4 years there, on top of my 24 years living on the Banner side of Galway Bay, it seemed only fitting to bring Floating Classroom somewhere familiar. I also wanted to focus on giving a novel education opportunity to local Gaelscoileanna by preparing content as Béarla, as Gaeilge and bilingually. Not only all of the above but Galway people, as we well know, are just sound – deciding on a venue was not hard!
Beginning in late September with the Galway Hooker Sailing Club’s ‘Docklands Festival’ and finishing on October 10th, we saw almost 250 different people onto our deck. This includes over 190 young scholars, their teachers/group leaders, members of the Galway populace and Galway members of IWDG. Tours of Charles Haughey’s old boat (this fact was lost on most) were conducted, where we discussed the history of Celtic Mist, her survey effort around Ireland’s coastline and what life is like onboard as a marine biologist. Students sat in the cabin, bowed on the bow, lay on the berths and flushed the head. It was an interactive experience.
Too many cooks! – photo by Tina Concannon
From there, we got into the blubber of the event – the presentation. It’s important to remember we don’t just conserve whales and dolphins because they are pretty to look at. They are top predators, the largest in Earth’s history, and they provide an essential service to their ecosystem, which in itself is hundreds of thousands if not millions of years old. While giving our next generation of prospective marine scientists the basics on cetaceans in our waters, the over-arching focus of this lesson was marine biodiversity. Using large, charismatic, almost universally beloved animals such as whales and dolphins as a flagship species helps us discuss the organisms they share habitats with, highlighting the interdependency of species that form an ecosystem. Participants are invited to consider their place within this ecosystem and to become better stewards for marine biodiversity.
Every day is a school day – sometimes us grown-ups need a reminder too on why conservation matters. On Saturday October 4th we ran an event in collaboration with FairSeas to discuss Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) at Galway City Museum. Despite the rumbling and tumbling and power outages from Storm Amy the previous day, we had a wonderful turnout of roughly 25 people to this event. Marine Policy & Advocacy Officer Eva Lambert fascinated the group with her explanation of MPAs and the amount of ongoing survey effort and campaigning to protect 30% of our waters by 2030. I used my very same Floating Classroom presentation, albeit to a more mature audience. A screening of ‘FairSeas: Ireland’s Northwest’ and a tour of Celtic Mist completed what turned out to be an enjoyable and informative evening. Many thanks to FairSeas and indeed the Galway City Museum for hosting and facilitating this weekend event.
Eva Lambert and Cian Ó Nialáin – photo by Louis de Vries
A fish and a dolphin are given speaking time – photo by Louis de Vries
For now, Celtic Mist sits happily at Kilrush Marina ahead of her annual makeover – she’ll need to be spick and span before the survey season rolls around again next May. As for the Floating Classroom, who knows where we’ll turn up next? Start placing your bets…
I’d like to thank all participating schools and organisations for the success of Floating Classroom 2025, with special thanks to the following:
Cathal Blunnie & crew for delivering Celtic Mist to Galway City; the Galway Hooker Sailing Club for their invitation to the Docklands festival; Molly Curran for including us in said festival and also volunteering her time for Floating Classroom; IWDG members Aoife Fitzgerald, Mary Hensey, Pat O’Brien, Sibéal O’Regan and Léa Delhaise from the Galway local group who also volunteered onboard; Eva Lambert from FairSeas, the Galway City Museum and Louis de Vries for our Saturday event; Skipper Bob Ellis of Galway Harbour and Sea Scout Daniel Concannon for safely returning us to Kilrush marina; and last, but by no means least, the incredible Ray Meehan, whose knowledge of this boat and the larger marine world around him made the event that much more authentic.
Looking forward to next year.
Beir bua ⁊ beannacht,
Cian Ó Nialáin
Oifigeach Oideachais ⁊ For-rochtana
Education & Outreach Officer
Galway volunteers Molly Curran and Léa Delhaise – photo by Csilla Trungel