BANTRY naturalist Eoin Warner is taking TG4 viewers on a breath-taking journey of discovery around the spectacular coasts of Ireland and Wales in a new natural history series for TG4.
Iontais na bhFarraigí Ceilteacha was filmed over two years by some of the filmmakers behind natural history series Blue Planet, in a corner of these islands which has never previously been explored in such detail.
The camera team captured an incredible array of species including blue sharks, basking sharks and fin whales – all swimming and hunting off our Celtic shores. From Wexford’s Saltee Islands, Eoin observes the guillemots – seabirds that can ‘fly’ underwater, and viewers will also encounter the humble blenny fish getting washed-up – but the blenny can breathe on land.
The team has captured some remarkable and exciting new behaviours that have never been filmed in Celtic waters before: such as the courtship rituals of bottle-nosed dolphins as well as astonishing footage of basking sharks congregating off the Irish coast.
They also filmed the wonders of the Celtic deep where they discover sex-shifting cuckoo wrasse, huge sea urchins, ancient lobsters and a giant conger eel, all hiding in a wreck.
Paddy Hayes, director said: ‘Getting close to nature – especially given recent lockdown events – provides such a great escape for the soul. The Iontais na bhFarraigí Ceilteacha team captured some really breathtaking footage of our undiscovered coasts and some eye-opening behaviour of our best-known marine animals – and it is such a joy to know that all this occurs just off our shores.’
• Iontais na bhFarraigí Ceilteacha airs on Wednesdays at 9.30pm on TG4.
