
Dooagh Beach, before and After Photo: ACHILL ISLAND TOURIST OFFICE/SEAN MOLLOY
The lost beach of Achill Island has returned after being gone for 33 years. Achill Island’s Dooagh Beach was a sand-covered strand until the summer of 1984 when a series of storms washed all the sand away, leaving a bare and rocky shore. Now, strong northerly winds and tides, over a period eight to ten days, have carried tons of sand and shells to the shore, restoring beach to its previous sandy glory.
Achill Island in County Mayo, off the west coast of Ireland, is country’s the largest island, at roughly 57 square miles. With a population of under 3,000, the economy relies primarily on tourism. The return of Dooagh Beach has already triggered a flood of tourists.
The oil fields beneath the North Sea are running out of oil. As there is less oil to pump, costs rise per tonne of oil delivered from the now aging offshore platforms. A decline in oil prices only makes the economics of these rigs worse and yet they cannot be simply shut down and abandoned. Under a 15-nation protocol called the “Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic,” known simply as
For one Scottish ship’s engineer doing the right thing paid off. In 2013, Christopher Keays risked his entire career when he turned whistleblower shortly after taking a job as a junior engineer on board the cruise ship, Caribbean Princess. At the end of last month, he was awarded by US courts $1 million for his role in exposing Princess Cruise Line’s illegal polluting.
Researchers have published the results of their analysis of DNA from 24 individuals who died on the ill-fated
For affluent surfers, the ultimate escape is to take a luxury charter boat to surf perfect waves on distant islands. The 
A surfer, who had been swept out to sea while surfing off the Argyll coast of Scotland, was rescued by the Belfast Coast Guard after 32 hours at sea. Matthew Bryce, 22, was reported missing by his family when he failed to return from a surfing trip on Sunday afternoon.
Next weekend, the Viking Ship Draken Harald Hårfagre is seeking volunteers to help maintain the ship before it sets sails again this summer. Or as they put it, “Spring is here, and the Viking Ship Draken Harald Hårfagre needs some extra love before summer!” The Draken, the largest replica Viking ship ever built, spent last winter laid up at the
In the past year and a half, I have spent far more time in a boatyard in Deltaville, VA on the Rappahannock River than I would have imagined or intended. While I have not necessarily had great luck with repairs in the boatyard along the Rappahannock, I will say that I do love 
Hundreds of icebergs have drifted into major shipping lanes off Newfoundland, forcing ships to go far out of their way to steer clear of the massive ice mountains.