KATE MARTIN: Hello and welcome to the National Trust Podcast.
I'm Lead Ranger Kate Martin and today we're making a splash just
off the coast of Northern Ireland.
We'll be heading out to Rathlin Island but to get there we need
to cross the deepest waters in the British Isles.
Along the way we'll find out what creatures lurk in the deep
as we head on a sea safari, as well as discovering an ancient
and delicious source of food.
It's a glorious day on the Causeway Coast today.
I've not long woken up here in my beautiful holiday cottage at
Carrick-A-Reed.
Looking through the window and stretching for miles is some of
the most gorgeous sun-kissed blue oceans I've ever seen and
something you might not know about me as I'm actually a
marine biologist so any and all opportunities to feel the sea
breeze and smell that crisp salty air and I'm there.
I'm just packing my rucksack. And a packed lunch for the day
before I head down the road to the harbour for a very exciting
day of adventure.
I've actually booked on to do a sea safari and meet a seaweed
expert for a picnic.
Before I go, I'm off to meet my friend and fellow marine
biologist, Jade Berman.
How are you doing?
JADE BERMAN: I'm good. How are you? How was your trip over?
KATE MARTIN: It was good. It was very, very good.
JADE BERMAN: Excellent.
KATE MARTIN: So, you're obviously an expert on the coast
of beautiful Northern Ireland.
JADE BERMAN: I try my best.
KATE MARTIN: So I need to know what it is I should be looking
out for. What's good?
JADE BERMAN: Oh, there's so many things you could be looking out
for. It is an absolutely amazing place and you're going to have a
ball.
So what can I think? Let's start off maybe from the big stuff and
then we'll work our way down to the little things that are my
favourites.
If you're kind of looking around there, you've got a good chance
of seeing some of the marine mammals.
So there might be a few different ones there. We've got
a great drop off. So because of the upwelling coming from 200
metres, there's lots of nice tasty food for them. So you
might have a chance to see some of the dolphins.
KATE MARTIN: Nice.
JADE BERMAN: If you're lucky, you might have a chance of
seeing a basking shark, which is always an amazing thing. Or even
maybe there's actually one of the first marine protected areas
pretty close by, which was designated for porpoises.
So those little puffin pigs are pretty cute as well to come and
see.
But there's lots of stuff beneath the water as well. So if
you get a chance, then it's quite awesome to have a look
both in the shallows and some of the cool seaweeds.
But my particular favourite is the sponges. And the reason is
like Rathlin Island is a world hotspot for sponges.
KATE MARTIN: Really?
JADE BERMAN: There are over 29 species that are endemic. So
they're found nowhere else in the world that is just in
Rathlin.
And they come in every colour under the sun. So they are
pretty awesome.
So if you can get a chance to have a wee dip, that would be
awesome. But I know, you know, whether depending on time, you
might have to come back for that one. So we shall see.
KATE MARTIN: Obviously, I'm really hoping we will see
something. But if we don't-
JADE BERMAN: Yes, I actually have something to help you with
some of that big stuff.
KATE MARTIN: Amazing.
JADE BERMAN: Yes, so I've got one here. And I want you to see
if you can figure out what it is and what you might want to do
with it.
That's how we look-
KATE MARTIN: How very suggestive!
It's obviously a microphone of some kind.
JADE BERMAN: But where do you think you might be using it?
KATE MARTIN: Well, I'm guessing if we're going on a boat.
JADE BERMAN: Yes.
KATE MARTIN: Does it go under the water?
JADE BERMAN: Bingo.
KATE MARTIN: Ah, a hydrophone.
JADE BERMAN: Yes.
KATE MARTIN: Wow. So what sort of things, what sort of noises
would I be expecting to hear?
JADE BERMAN: Well, it just so happens that I have a few little
noises that you can have a listen to.
KATE MARTIN: Oh, amazing.
JADE BERMAN: See if you can then recognise them in real life.
KATE MARTIN: This is not a good one for a- It's been a long time
since I did my marine biology degree. We'll see.
A dolphin?
JADE BERMAN: Yeah, I think if you can see- what was one of the
largest of the dolphins that we get in our waters?
KATE MARTIN: Bottlenose?
JADE BERMAN: Yes.
KATE MARTIN: Bottlenose dolphin?
JADE BERMAN: Well done. Yeah, that's right. I think we might
have to try another one though, because there are others you
might hear too.
KATE MARTIN: I know!
Again? It's a dolphin or a porpoise? I don't know something
like a common dolphin?
JADE BERMAN: Something a bit bigger this time.
KATE MARTIN: Oh!
JADE BERMAN: It's actually one of the biggest ones that we kind
of would-
One of the biggest ones or the ones-
KATE MARTIN: Orca!
JADE BERMAN: No, bigger! Bigger still!
KATE MARTIN: Minke whale!
JADE BERMAN: Bigger!
Come on, you can get bigger-
KATE MARTIN: Blue Whale!
JADE BERMAN: Not that big! Not that big! We haven't got blue-
KATE MARTIN: Humpback?
JADE BERMAN: Humpback, that's right. Yeah. So well done. Well
done on that one.
KATE MARTIN: Next one.
That sounds completely different. That sounds more like
a propeller on a boat.
JADE BERMAN: That sounds like a propeller on a boat.
KATE MARTIN: I'm going for with the splashing- Is it a basking
shark?
JADE BERMAN: No, it's not a basking shark.
KATE MARTIN: Any clues?
JADE BERMAN: Well, it is still one of the whales.
KATE MARTIN: Okay.
JADE BERMAN: It's not as big as a humpback whale.
KATE MARTIN: We're going to go down. We're going to go
sideways.
Are we going Minke?
JADE BERMAN: Yes.
KATE MARTIN: I've seen a minke whale in- off of Scotland a few
times.
JADE BERMAN: Yeah, I'm hoping you see some basking sharks. I
think that would be quite cool.
KATE MARTIN: I love basking sharks.
JADE BERMAN: It's kind of early, but, you know.
KATE MARTIN: Yeah. I've seen them off the coast of Scotland
before now. They're just awesome. They're so big.
JADE BERMAN: Yeah. And keep an eye out for puffins too.
KATE MARTIN: Oh, really?
JADE BERMAN: Yeah, obviously the puffins will be coming in.
KATE MARTIN: Yeah.
JADE BERMAN: And Rathlin Island is a good place for those too.
KATE MARTIN: Oh, nice.
Sounds absolutely amazing. I can't wait.
JADE BERMAN: Yeah, you really enjoy. Yes, and tell me all
about it later.
KATE MARTIN: Will do!
Now prepped with a boatload of knowledge, it was time to head
to Ballycastle Marina to meet Skipper Richard from Aquaholics,
a company that specialises in diving, sea safaris and the
Irish Sea.
Hi, you must be Richard?
RICHARD LAFFERTY: I am, how are you? Kate is it?
KATE MARTIN: I'm good, I'm good.
Nice boat!
So, what sort of things should we be looking out for today?
RICHARD LAFFERTY: Well today we're going to go across the
channel here between the Causeway Coast and Rathlin
Island with Fairhead on the right hand side which is
fantastic, it's a Game of Thrones site and where Jon Snow
first pet of the dragon.
And up to the west end with Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and
Giant's Causeway so we're going to keep going head towards
Rathlin Island which is well known for its wildlife.
What do you want to be doing today is keeping not your eyes
on the boat but eyes on the sea.
KATE MARTIN: Fantastic well I can't wait I just love being on
the water so really looking forward to it!
RICHARD LAFFERTY: So Kate, we've left Ballycastle and we've come
across the Rathlin Sound here.
If you're looking to the west, this is the Giant's Causeway,
the chimney tops and the furthest bit of cliff you can
see.
KATE MARTIN: Yeah.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: And then that's Sheep Island, which is
beside Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.
This is Kinbane Headland, where Kinbane Castle is. And you've
also Dunseverick Castle on the side of Giant's Causeway.
And then here on the southeast side of us is Fairhead. This is
the most northeast point of the island of Ireland.
So then we're actually looking down the Irish Sea. We're
looking down the east side of Ireland. Over to further to our
east is the Mull Of Kintyre in Scotland. That's part of the
mainland of Scotland.
So it's only about 14 nautical miles from Fairhead to the Mull
Of Kintyre.
KATE MARTIN: Wow.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: And then you can see what's happening at the
moment. We've got quite a strong tide. The tide's coming up the
Irish Sea, and it's heading into-
This is now the Atlantic Ocean to our west. And that strong
tide is fantastic for us, as boat people and riding sea
safaris, scuba diving.
This strong tide and our plankton-rich waters is hitting
Rathlin Island at full tilt. And that's force-feeding the soft
corals and the sponges under the water.
That brings in the small fish, the big fish, and then that's
all part of the food chain. That brings in the birds, etc.
So what's below water is actually more important than
what's above water.
KATE MARTIN: Well, as a marine biologist, we always used to
say, it's the little stuff that matters, not the big stuff on
the top.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: Yeah, yeah.
KATE MARTIN: So stuff stuck on the ground, that's the thing
that's important.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: Yeah, without the blue, there's no green.
KATE MARTIN: Exactly, exactly that!
RICHARD LAFFERTY: Kate, what we'll do now is, if it's okay,
we'll head in towards, this is the old kelp houses.
KATE MARTIN: Okay.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: This is Ushet Harbour.
So in the old days- look at how choppy maybe the sea is a wee
bit in places today.
If you look into this bay you see it's very calm. In the old
days they were able to get the sailing ships into this bay and
hopefully we'll find some seals and have a look in there.
KATE MARTIN: Fantastic!
RICHARD LAFFERTY: So, Kate, this is Ushet Port. You can see how
calm it is inside the port. And these are the old kelp houses
when they would of farmed kelp all along the coast here. And if
you look up on the rocks and in the bay here, you'll see some
seals in the water.
But again, you can see the strength of the tide, how strong
the tide is outside the port here. It's ripping about four to
five knots.
Oh, there's a big Seal coming towards us now!
KATE MARTIN: Oh Yeah!
Oh, so nosy.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: You hear an Oyster Catcher somewhere as
well, squeaking there.
KATE MARTIN: Oh, oyster catcher. The most neurotic of birds.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: The water's lovely and clear here, very
rich.
The kelp here is extremely thick. In Rathlin Island, a lot
of places around the British Isles, kelp grows to around 12
metres under the water.
Around Rathlin Island, because our water's so rich, generally
the water's so dark and clear. The kelp was growing down to 20,
24 metres in places.
KATE MARTIN: Wow!
That is massive!
RICHARD LAFFERTY: Right beside! There's a young girl there, a
little Seal.
KATE MARTIN: They're so nosy, aren't they?
RICHARD LAFFERTY: Yeah, yeah.
KATE MARTIN: That's what I always loved about seals!
I remember doing some snorkelling once when I lived
off the west coast of Scotland and we were just snorkelling
around and you just turn around and there was a Seal behind us.
It was like, "Ahh! What are you doing here?"
Is the Seal still nosing around?
RICHARD LAFFERTY: There's a lot of seals lying up on the rocks
beside the sheep there.
It's just gorgeous, isn't it?
KATE MARTIN: As we leave the seals relaxing in the bay and
continue around the island's coast, Richard invites us into
the boat's cabin to explore some of Rathlin's most famous and
infamous shipwrecks below us on the seabed.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: We know of hundreds, if not thousands, of
ships that have hit Rathlin Island or have been lost in an
area around it.
And so this is a very strategic location. As you can imagine,
World War I and World War II, A lot of the convoys coming in
from the North Atlantic are from America were going to Belfast,
Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow. So they're all having to pass
this area.
So the German U-boats would have sat off the North Channel here.
And on one day, a German U-boat, U-89, sunk three British
warships.
But the ship I'm going to show you now is an old, it's a
Caledonian MacBrayne liner. And in World War II, it was
transporting British troops.
And it hit rocks.
So there actually on our sounder now, the wreck's actually
appearing.
KATE MARTIN: So what we've got here, because obviously we're in
your nice warm cabin now, and not at the bottom of the sea,
which is great.
So you can see sort of a blue- obviously blue of the sea.
And then sort of at the bottom of the screen is sort of
relatively flat, sort of darker brown, and then this quite clear
hump in the middle, which is the wreck?
RICHARD LAFFERTY: Yeah, that's the wreck, and we can actually
put another system on as well, which is a side scan system.
So yeah, you can see the structure of the wreck. You can
see the bow, this is the bow of the wreck.
So this wreck is a fantastic wreck because it's one of the
best wrecks for sports divers on the island of Ireland because
it's sitting intact in the bottom.
KATE MARTIN: Oh, wow.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: And the reason why I like diving, not only is
it a fantastic wreck to see, but because it's sitting in a flat
area of the bottom with a strong tide going past it all the time,
it attracts fantastic marine life. So the wreck is completely
covered in soft corals, sponges, big shoals of fish, lobster,
ling, conger, everything.
KATE MARTIN: Sounds amazing. So how many wrecks do you think
there are just within Rathlin Sound itself?
RICHARD LAFFERTY: Around, at Rathlin Island, we know of about
65 confirmed locations that we've identified.
But there's hundreds of other wrecks that haven't been found.
And then there's a lot of wrecks in very deep water that haven't
been dived. So-
There's more wrecks off the north coast of Ireland than
there is anywhere else in the world.
KATE MARTIN: Really?
RICHARD LAFFERTY: We've got liners, warships. For us, we
have a lot of shallow wrecks in here. And because of the thick
kelp, it's very hard to see the wrecks. But this is the perfect
wreck. We couldn't ask for any more than this.
The intensities of the sponges, the corals on it.
The deck is all black and white tiled. And then there's all the
wooden deck areas. There's luxury baths.
KATE MARTIN: And you can get into the actual, into the ship
itself, actually get into the-
RICHARD LAFFERTY: You can, there's bits we can go in.
Obviously, we don't recommend that, but there is bits you can
go in.
KATE MARTIN: Yeah. Wow!
Back out on deck, we reach the northeast corner of Rathlin, an
Altacarry lighthouse, and arrive to a nature lover's dream. On
the cliffs and flying alongside the boat are dozens of different
species of seabird.
RICHARD LAFFERTY: Kate we've arrived at Altacarry Lighthouse,
the northeast corner of Rathlin. And these are puffins flying
about.
That's a razor bull there.
But how- The easiest way to find a puffin is look at all the
birds, the way they fly. And the puffin is flying quicker and
harder. And the wings are going harder, like a cross little man.
And once you start to see the way they fly, you'll start to
see a lot more of them.
If you look now to our north, look how many birds we're seeing
now.
Let's make a round this corner onto the north side of Rathlin.
The numbers have greatly increased.
So the tide here is flowing very quickly.
So that tide, we're getting a bit of upwelling here in the
water, and that upwelling is bringing the nutrients towards
the surface. And that's what's helping feed the birds. And
that's why there's so many birds here.
And then in this area of the cliff here-
As we all know, the Puffins are nesting on the grass banks just
below the lighthouse. And the Guillemots and the Razorbills
are using the rock faces. But we'll go in a bit closer in a
minute and have a look.
KATE MARTIN: Oh, fantastic.
It's my first puffin of the year, that is!
RICHARD LAFFERTY: So I'm just going to take the boat up to
this next corner here. And then sorry, we've got a lot of
Gannets. So the gannets now are staying in one spot. You see
them just staying here. So if you keep looking there, there's
a good chance we might see the porpoises.
KATE MARTIN: Oh, amazing.
The seabirds gathering above the water are a good indication that
there are plenty of fish and plenty of food just below the
surface.
And soon enough, we were lucky enough to see a couple of
porpoises joining in to feed.
This seemed like a good opportunity to try out the
gadget Jade had lent me earlier.
This feels like a really good place to try out the hydrophone
that Jade gave me, so I'm just going to chuck it in.
So what I'm hearing under the sea is lots of gurgles.
You can obviously hear the water hitting the boat.
It's amazing how quiet it is, actually. I don't know quite
what I was expecting.
I think I was expecting singing, like in The Little Mermaid, and
all the creatures to be singing a nice little chorus line.
It's very quiet.
As I listened out for the calls of the wildlife that live in our
oceans, I pictured the luscious sea of colour below us. From the
sponges, the anemones, the crabs and other crustaceans and all
that call this place home.
Whether you get to enjoy this sea on land or out on a boat, it
really is such a magical otherworld.
Having spent some time listening, it was now time to
get onto dry land and explore what else Rathlin had to offer.
I've now arrived on Rathlin Island, Richard has very kindly
dropped me off.
I had a fantastic voyage where we saw porpoises and seals,
puffins, guillemots.
Now quite often people get excited about the big creatures,
the sort of creatures that Jade told us about that people see in
the waters around here but often it's the little things. It's the
little things, squidgy things, stuck to rocks.
Crawling on the seabed that's actually really important for
our ecosystems here.
And another thing that is incredibly important is the
plant life, for want of a better word, the algal life that is
under the sea.
And what I'm doing right now is I'm going to meet a lady called
Prannie Rattigan, who is a real expert on seaweed. And she's
going to tell me all about how significant seaweed is.
I'd arranged to meet Prannie at the Kelp Store. This is a
property that is looked after by the National Trust but is a
little bit of a hidden gem. In fact, it doesn't really appear
in any guidebooks or maps and it's just nestled in the
coastline around a short walk through a sweeping cove
decorated with cottages and white sandy beaches.
The Kelp Store would have once played a huge role in the
island's economy and at one point was even used as a venue
for live music and dance.
Today it stands as a monument and without its roof and open to
the elements, it's a beautiful place to sit and reflect and to
enjoy a lovely picnic even if things do start to turn out a
little bit cloudy.
Inside the small stone building is Prannie.
Hello Prannie.
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Hello Kate.
KATE MARTIN: Are you enjoying this nice weather?
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Oh it's so lovely to be here. It really is.
It's actually very moving to be in a place of such historical
seaweed significance.
KATE MARTIN: And what would they have been using the kelp for?
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Well, it was put in the kilns and then it was
made into a mush and burnt down. And then it was the iodine that
was used, especially during wartime when they really needed.
They used them as part of their traditional foods.
KATE MARTIN: With seaweed playing such a huge role in the
local diet, it seemed only right that it was time to give some a
try.
This picnic was a little different from what I may have
been used to, but I'd all been lovingly put together using some
of Prannie's recipes.
Ok, so what are we starting off with?
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Well, Kate, I thought we'd have a little bit
of the Dulse, the dried dulse, and wrapping it around a lovely
walnut.
So I'll get you to pick yourself out a little walnut there. And
then I will get you a nice strip of the Dulse. And then if you
wrap it around it and pop it in your mouth and chew and chew and
chew, it has that wonderful umami sensation or flavour.
KATE MARTIN: So this is sort of, you know, the bit of seaweed
that I've got here is sort of dried. It's a beautiful
reddy-purple colour.
And you can see that- I assume the white on it is the salt?
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Yes. Yeah.
KATE MARTIN: So you just wrap it round. Pop it in.
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: And some of the sugars that are on it as
well, that come to the surface.
KATE MARTIN: Oh you don't really think about sugars and seaweed.
I think salt and seaweed but not sugar.
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Yeah. They come to the surface. So have a
little taste.
KATE MARTIN: Oh, that is delicious.
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Good.
KATE MARTIN: It's sort of salty and creamy and you're right,
that umami is so good.
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: It's a real snack to have in the car.
Okay, so this one-
These are little scones that I made. And again, I would have
the the dulse in them and also a mixture of seaweed in them. Now
they are better hot, I will say. So this is not a hot-
KATE MARTIN: Just imagine!
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: You have to imagine that they're hot. So
would you like a little bit of butter or do you want to just
try it as it is? So do you want to pick one out there and I'll
get a little knife and-
I can give you-
KATE MARTIN: And I have to say savoury scones are my favourite
scones I think they're way better than sweet scones.
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Yeah yeah me too!
KATE MARTIN: Scones are beautiful!
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Oh they really are 100% different when they're
hot.
KATE MARTIN: They're spicy!
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Aren't they, yes well I did add spice.
I've added- like that's part of the recipe it has some mustard
and a little bit of of cayenne pepper in it, yeah so it gives
it that kick.
KATE MARTIN: It's absolutely lovely it's the sort of herby
and salty.
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Yeah I'm so glad you like savoury things I
too.
KATE MARTIN: I'm definitely a savoury person.
Oh well thank you Prannie this has been fascinating. Seaweeds I
always was absolutely fascinated with seaweeds when I was doing
my degree in marine biology I had a real soft spot for
seaweeds so learning so much from you and tasting absolutely
delicious food I am just so pleased thank you so much.
PRANNIE RHATIGAN: Oh it's been an absolute pleasure to meet you
and to come here Kate I've really really enjoyed it, thank
you.
KATE MARTIN: Walking back from the kelp house now, back along
the bay.
I'm just walking past all these lovely whitewashed cottages.
I've got the sea to my left. I can see the boat in the harbour
waiting for me.
There's even a few seals bobbing around out there.
Prannie's really opened my eyes to the wonder of seaweed. The
taste, the smell, just absolutely delicious.
I absolutely love being by the sea.
There's nothing quite like it.
My final impression of Rathlin Island as we're leaving is it
might be a little bit wet. It might be a little bit windy.
It's very, very beautiful. And I've got a nice little oyster
catcher just standing guard waiting to wave me off.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the National Trust
Podcast. And on a personal note, thank you for sharing these
stories with me.
I'm going to be leaving the National Trust to join our
friends as a ranger for the RSPB, caring for wildlife in
Scotland.
So for now, this is going to be one of the last times I'll be
with you.
I'll be back for a special episode that we have already
recorded, ready for next year, and I really look forward to
being with you again then.
To find out more about Rathlin Island, or for any of the
experiences mentioned, take a look at the links in our show
notes, where you'll also find some helpful guides to marine
wildlife.
Remember to subscribe to the show on your favourite podcast
app to be the first to hear new adventures from the rest of the
team.
They'll be back soon with a new episode, but until then, from
me, Kate Martin, goodbye.