Shortly after 19:00 the Skerries Coast Guard team were tasked to assist Gardai at Portrane beach. Swords Gardai had received public reports of an adult male possibly requiring assistance in the area of Portrane beach.
A thorough search of the area was carried out with nothing unusual found. The Dublin based Coast Guard helicopter, R116, also carried out an infra-red search of the area.
No further public sightings were reported and all search teams were stood down.
Incident # 4 of 2013
At 20:10 this evening, the Skerries Coast Guard team were just commencing a training exercise on Rush South beach when they spotted a lone red parachute flare deployed nearby in the area of Portrane/Rogerstown estuary. The Skerries team immediately notified the Coast Guard’s Maritime Operations Centre of the distress signal and headed straight to the area, beginning their search within seconds.
The Coast Guard issued a radio Pan Pan alert to all vessels in the area and several vigilent members of the public also contacted the Coast Guard on 999 to report the flare. The Dublin based Coast Guard helicopter was also tasked to conduct a search of the Donabate/Portrane/Rogerstown area.
A thorough search of the area was conducted, involving Skerries Coast Guard, a Coast Guard helicopter (Rescue 116) and several public vessels but nothing unusual was found. With the incident successfully concluded the Skerries team resumed their training exercise.
Incident #6 of 2012
Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty or even if you think that someone could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.
Earlier today the Skerries Coast Guard team took up a recent invitation to attend a SARDA search dog training event at Donabate, on the banks of the Malahide estuary. This was a fantastic opportunity for the Skerries Coast Guard team to meet with several SARDA search dog handlers and observe first hand the years of rigorous training their dogs undergo.
The day proved very insightful and impressive, with the Skerries team observing several different searches over varied and challenging terrain, each time the dogs successfully locating their “missing person” with incredible skill and efficiency.
SARDA Ireland is a voluntary emergency search and rescue organisation concerned with the training, assessment and deployment of air scenting search and rescue dogs to search for missing persons. For further information on SARDA visit their website at www.sardaireland.com
Skerries Coast Guard would like to sincerely thank SARDA for this opportunity to attend their training event and look forward to working with them again in the future.
More photos are available in our online photo gallery.
Skerries Coast Guard – a voluntary search and rescue unit of the Irish Coast Guard.
This morning, the Skerries Coast Guard team were tasked to investigate a suspected pollution report near Donabate beach. A concerned member of the public had contacted the Coast Guard’s operations centre to report a large block of an unusual waxy grey substance on the beach. The size of the substance was approximately 0.25 cubic metres. As further information was received from the caller at the scene, the Coast Guard determined that the substance was likely to be ambergris, a naturally occurring digestive substance secreted by certain whales. This substance poses no danger to humans. A request was made for Fingal County Council to attend the scene and remove the item from the beach.
Remember – if you spot something unusual on the beach, dial 112 or 999 and ask for the COAST GUARD.
Incident # 10 of 2011