Blasket Islands provide evidence of trouble in paradise

Just beyond the breaking surf at the White Strand on the Great Blasket island, seals were standing up in the water to get a better look at us humans. 

There were few of us, although it was one of this summer’s rare, perfect days. We didn’t swim; the water was chilly and I couldn’t imagine going for a dip in a wetsuit. I’m told that 2,000 seals haul up on the strand in the breeding season. Too many, it seems.

The ferry crosses from Dunquin Pier every hour or so, depending on tides. One appreciates the dangerous approaches at both landing places. To have rowed a namhóg between the rocks on crashing waves or rising swells must have required a strength and expertise bred into the islanders from birth. The sea is as fearsome as ever today.