On a mission to boost marine habitat health

Greater Skellig hot spot included in same league as the Galápagos Islands and the Great Barrier Reef

A Minke Whale lunge feeding on schooling prey near Skellig Beag. Picture: Valerie O'Sullivan

The iconic outline of the Skellig Islands can be seen from coastlines all over the southwest, their steep pointed peaks rising dramatically from the deep sea waters. The monastic settlement on the bigger of the two islands, Skellig Michael, was established in the sixth century. It is now one of our most prized cultural heritage sites, and one of only two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Republic of Ireland. Little Skellig hosts the second largest colony of gannets in the world, with almost 30,000 pairs of these strikingly beautiful seabirds breeding there each summer.