Observations on Nature
When night fishing on Fanore Strand, Co Clare, I saw something shining in the sand. It was small and shrimp-like, 3-4mm long, and glowed blue/green in the darkness.
Gerard Heaslip, Tallaght, Dublin 24
It was a tiny crustacean of the zooplankton, called a copepod. They are bioluminescent in the dark, and it was left when the tide went out.
I spotted a bearded seal hauled out on rocks in the New Quay area on April 2nd. How common a visitor to these shores are they?
Sharon L Parr, Burrin, Co Clare.
This is only the second report of a bearded seal, an arctic species. One turned up in Killary Harbour in September 2002.
The nesting box outside our kitchen window is selected each year by a pair of blue tits.
How do birds select their partners without risking inbreeding?
William Bell, Sandyford, Dublin 18.
Juvenile birds usually disperse from their parents' territory; and this guards against inbreeding.
Usually the female makes the choice of mate according to criteria known only to her.