Research Locations:
Portrane – Rush Resorts

The scenic coastline of Fingal is a wonderful natural amenity resource for the people in the county. The 55 kilometer long coastline is also home to thousands of plants and animals that live in the great diversity of habitats that make up our coastline such as the estuaries, dunes and beaches. The coastline is our most important wildlife resource with most of the protected sites and protected wildlife species in the county found along our shores.

Research Locations:
North Bull Island/ Dublin bay

Dublin Bay is bisected by the shipping lane of Dublin Port.  Its natural shallow harbour brought about the genesis of Dublin City as a major international port, first as a centre of trade controlled by the Vikings and then as the ‘second city’ of the British empire.

The Bay has always been challenging for navigation due to its numerous shallows and contains over 400 shipwrecks classed now as national monuments.

Research Locations:
South Wexford Coastline

Wexford is a county rich in biodiversity. Habitat biodiversity includes marine, coastal, terrestrial, wetland, freshwater and upland habitats. Wexford has an extensive and diverse coastline which supports a wide range of coastal habitats such as lagoons, dune systems, lakes and reefs of international and national conservation interest. County Wexford supports a diverse range of native species associated with terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine habitats and is regarded as an internationally important stronghold for breeding seabird colonies as well as breeding wildfowl.

For full details on the unique biodiversity of
each location see biodiversity profiles above.