30 



The Irish Naturalist. 



March, 



a length of six feet and has a wide range. Besides all 

 the tropical seas, it inhabits the Mediterranean and is an 

 accidental visitor to the western coasts of Europe. 



The Irish turtle, if we may call it so, above referred to, 

 must have drifted to our shores either by means of the 

 Gulf Stream from the West Indies or with a marine current 

 from the Mediterranean. The fact that it was accom- 

 panied by Velella, lanthina and Spirula, which are tropical 

 forms of life, proves that they all were carried to our shores 

 by the Gulf Stream. It might be contended since lanthina 

 and Velella are frequently met with in the Mediterranean, 

 that they and the turtle were transported to Ireland by 

 the Rennel current or other marine current coming from 

 the coast of Portugal. Spirula, however, is not to my 

 knowledge found in the Mediterranean nor is Physalia, 

 wl.ich occasionally finds its way to the western shores of 

 Europe. Miss Delap reported to me that she had heard 

 of a Physalia being seen in Bantry Bay recently. And 

 this remarkable creature, belonging to the jelly-fish trite 

 and perhaps better known by the popular name of 

 " Portuguese Man-of-\^'ar," is surely a native of the 

 tropical seas and not found in the Mediterranean. 



In a letter addressed to the Field and published in the 

 issue of the 5th February last, Mr. P. J. Dennehy states 

 that a turtle was picked up dead but quite fresh in Pulleen 

 Harbour at the mouth of Bantry Ba}/ during the previous 

 week. It weighed 3^ lbs., had a ridge with 5 tubercles, 

 and measured 13 inches in length and 9 inches across the 

 back. It was therefore slightly smaller than the Valentia 

 turtle, also a Loggerhead, and no doubt was cast ashore 

 during the storms referred to by Miss Delap. 



Such occurrences may be thought to be quite unique, 

 but in 1890 a young Loggerhead Turtle, measuring 8| inches 

 in length (10 J including the head), ^vas washed ashore in 

 Donegal Ba3\ It has been exhibited in the Dublin Museum 

 ever since. Several records of similar occurrences are 

 known from the west coast of Scotland and the south-west 

 of England, \\hile an adult Loggerhead Turtle was stranded 

 in 1894 on the coast of Belgium. 



^.ational Museum, Dublin. 



