Girls, eight, make fishy discovery

TWO eight-year-old girls have discovered what is believed to be the first fish of its kind ever spotted in Irish waters.

Just 24 hours after west Cork received a visit from a tornado, another less destructive visitor turned up on its shores.

Róisín Neville and Ciara Hanly, both from Cork city, were visiting Allihies when they did a bit of exploring.

Armed with a net they scooped a boarfish in a rock-pool near the pier at Ballydorgan Beach.

“I thought it looked a very unusual fish,” Róisín’s mother, Melissa, said. After a photographer took a picture of the bright orange and striped sea-dweller, the fish was released. The pictures were subsequently examined by marine experts, who said it was a boarfish.

“It is believed to be the first sighting of such a fish in Irish waters,” Melissa added.

This species, which slightly resembled a John Dory, is mainly found in tropical and sub-tropical Atlantic waters. It is particularly common off Barbados and Cuba. They have a maximum length of one foot and are also common in the Pacific Ocean.