Latest news with #BayOfBiscay
Times
6 days ago
- Times
Swap Île de Ré for this quieter French island that's just as charming
Ten miles off the Vendée coast of western France, Île d'Yeu demands a little extra effort. For starters it's in the Bay of Biscay and when we board the boat for the 45-minute journey from the port of Fromentine, the heavily suntanned deckhand with bandaged fingers takes one look at us and hands me a stack of sick bags. It's true that after a 4am start and a delayed flight, we are not looking our best. But despite my husband Rob turning a shade that would colour match Farrow & Ball French gray, we manage not to disgrace ourselves on the bouncy crossing. 'It's wibbly wobbly like jelly on a plate, Mummy,' shrieks our three-year-old daughter Lyra, somewhat understating things. Our fellow passengers are sturdy, twinkly French people of a certain age, sensibly dressed in form-fitting waterproofs. There is nonetheless a sense of relief when we dock at Port Joinville. With its blue-shuttered and white-painted buildings lining the front, I'm not sure a harbour town has ever looked more appealing. This was the island's commercial centre — coastal shipping then fishing were big business, and there is still a canning factory (the last) in town. We're on the calmer northeast coast of the 23 sq km island, which is 10km from west (Pointe du But) to east (Pointe des Corbeaux). The south coast is uninhabitable, with coves carved by frothing seas and an imposing medieval fortress, Le Vieux Château, that seems to rise out of the rock. Prehistoric sites, including dolmen dating to 4,000BC, show people settled on the island in the very distant past. Like on the Île de Ré, about 124 miles south, the population of Yeu swells in summer from 5,000 to 25,000 but the island feels less developed, less glitzy than its southerly neighbour, with more of a sense of ordinary life going on in the background. We are staying in the middle, in a new hotel, La Mission, in the village of Saint Sauveur, which was once the island's capital. Opened last summer, it's the first outpost outside of Paris for the boutique group Les Hôteliers Impertinents, and it's seriously chic. Michel Delloye and Jacques-Olivier Larant, the owners and childhood friends, spent summers on the Île d'Yeu and they have managed the transformation of what was a 19th-century garrison canton then primary school with style and care. They've made a point of employing locals and keeping the hotel open almost year-round so islanders can enjoy the bars and restaurant off season too. What was the girls' primary school is now a series of 22 rooms in one-storey white buildings — in keeping with the architecture of the island — arrayed around a giant plane tree. The former boys' school is now a rum bar (plus breezy rooftop spot), restaurant and heated pool with 'Ye' tiled into the bottom and a small adjoining spa. The white parasols are fringed with red and the rooms are all smart rattan and jaunty textiles. Our family room has a cheery, thick-piled zigzag yellow rug, Matisse-inspired embroidered cushions by A&N and a mustard checked throw. Were the furnishings for sale, I'd gladly buy the lot. There are cute white bunk beds built into the wall for Lyra and a cot on the mezzanine level next to our giant bed for our baby, Jasper. It's still blowy outside but, as we make our way to the restaurant for supper (and strong gin and tonics), there are bursts of lovely clear island light. We begin to feel away from it all. I'd like to say that our meal is a detangling experience but you know what dinners with young children are like. Messy (and we are seated over a distressingly smart rug). Noisy (even if it's not tears). Shortlived (despite the kindly provided colour-in menu). Some of our fellow diners turn around to look. • 10 of the best things to do in France for families But we are all (especially the baby) captivated by the interior with its giant jellyfish-like pendant lights and ikat-covered ceiling. And Jasper so endears himself to the maitre d', she even allows him to grab her silk shirt. Horreur! The walls are deep red, there's a blue and white tiled fireplace and shelves of ceramics. The chips are salty, the fish perfectly cooked but there is no lingering for dessert — that giant bed is calling. Breakfast is more of a success because we are first through the door and have the buffet of breads, brioche, two types of butter and homemade salted caramel spread to ourselves. Yes, there's fruit and yoghurt and eggs, but is there anything better than French bread and butter? It's expensive to bring a car onto Yeu so holidaymakers usually cycle and La Mission has electric bikes with all manner of options for ferrying children. First, though, a foray into Saint Sauveur. It's properly charming with white houses with orange, burgundy and blue shutters, a Romanesque church with frescoes, Renaults parked next to walls and roses rambling all over the place. Trumpet lilies are in bloom and there's a bakery, which provides us with sandwiches, quiches and prune tart, a local speciality. At the bar-cum-tabac they are doing a busy trade in espressos and tiny glasses of white wine. While buying postcards Lyra and I meet a family from Paris who are relocating to the island for two years. What an adventure. Babies and baskets loaded, we set off. Even though it's relatively flat, we are grateful for the electric oomph (especially when the children fall asleep on the back). It's a brilliant way to get around and see the island, which is lovely in early June with fragrant banks of honeysuckle and flowering gorse in the hedgerows and verges scattered with orange poppies. Jasper, though, is more interested in a thorough investigation of the screw securing his bike seat. • 10 of the most beautiful places in France (and how to see them) Our first stop is La Ferme d'Émilie, owned by the couple Émilie and Pierre Sage. They run an organic 60-hectare farm (farming is having something of a renaissance on the island) a 20-minute cycle from La Mission. A restaurant using its produce and a shop selling it (including homemade ice cream, verbena jelly and slippers lined with wool from their flock of Sologne sheep) is new for this summer. It's a lovely, airy space and Lyra confirms the strawberries are very good indeed. Pierre, who used to work in the oil industry, tells us he is happier with the life-changing career move into farming that he made 18 years ago, but more tired. We can only sympathise. It is an attractive ride on sandy bike paths from here to the ruined Le Vieux Château, which even in the sunshine strikes me as a chilly, foreboding outpost — though I guess that was the idea. It's open for guided tours only but we are still able to cross the drawbridge and peek through the door to see the large cannon. On the horizon to the north, we can see one of the island's five lighthouses, Le Grand Phare, rebuilt in 1951 having been bombed in 1944. It can be climbed but not, we decide, with a preschooler. From here we pedal further south to La Meule, with its tiny harbour lined with fishing huts (Bar de la Meule overlooks the harbour and comes recommended) and overlooked by a tiny chapel built in the 11th century. • 19 of the best holiday villas in France Then it's on to the attractive cove Plage des Soux. The sea is rough but it's sheltered enough for Rob to brave the water. A group of young Frenchmen arrive with their guitars to provide a gap year vibe. It reminds me of Scottish island beaches — bracing but beautiful. On the northeast coast the sandy stretches, some backed by piney forests, are bigger and ideal for shell collecting. We score a very good haul on Plage du la Petite Corniche at low tide when people are out and about shore fishing. But sometimes it's tempting to just keep cycling while the children are captive and (mostly) quiet. After too short a stay, we have a boat to catch. Our return journey is by a bigger vessel (less heave-ho, more gentle roll) on calmer seas and the mood on deck is almost festive with people drinking beer and not a sick bag in sight. Yes, you work a little harder for a holiday on Île d'Yeu, but you won't regret Coad was a guest of La Mission, which has B&B doubles from £181 ( Yeu Continent ferries ( Vendée Tourism ( and Atlantic Loire Valley Tourism ( Do you have a favourite summer destination in France? Let us know in the comments
Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Science
- Irish Times
Jaws at 50: the most significant piece of negative publicity sharks have ever received
The theme music alone of the classic film Jaws is scary but the dramatic footage of the giant fish itself, albeit a mechanical model, would be enough to give anyone nightmares. It is hard to believe that this iconic movie is half a century old this year but it is probably the most significant piece of negative publicity that sharks have ever received. Ask anyone you know what they think about sharks and the reply is rarely positive. The movie was based loosely on Peter Benchley's novel Jaws which describes a renegade great white shark on the east coast of the United States. Previously unknown in Irish waters, there are now confirmed records of this species as far north as the Bay of Biscay but reports around Ireland and the UK are confined to anecdotal sightings. Ireland is a globally recognised hotspot for other shark species, such as the basking shark, porbeagle and tope shark, but great whites have yet to be formally recorded here. Found throughout the world's oceans, great white sharks were historically common throughout the Mediterranean before overfishing caused major declines. In 2024, a team of scientists embarked on a major survey with the goal of documenting the presence of the great white shark in Irish waters. Dr Nick Payne of Trinity College Dublin, who led the expedition, said he was optimistic about the team's chances of confirming its presence off the Irish coast. I have never seen a great white shark but I have had an encounter with the largest fish in the Atlantic Ocean. I was sailing off the coast of Mayo when a pair of fins appeared in the water beside the boat, moving slowly on the surface. As the fins came closer, I realised that they were both part of the same animal, a basking shark. It moved sinuously across the sea with a large open mouth capturing the rich harvest of plankton. Basking sharks were once plentiful around the Irish coastline, migrating into our waters in summer and disappearing in the winter. The location of my sighting was not far from Keem Bay at the very western tip of Achill Island. This is a cliff-bound cove with a beautiful sandy beach at its head. Throughout the early 20th century this was the location for the capture and killing of basking sharks and large quantities of the valuable shark oil were exported to England. [ Eye on Nature: If bees can't see red, why is one drawn to this red poppy? Opens in new window ] A shortage of fuel after second World War led to an increasing market for shark oil for use in certain industrial products. The slow-moving basking sharks swam into the bay to feed on dense swarms of plankton near the sea surface. Here they became entangled in nets set by the islanders who then launched their lightweight curraghs and killed the struggling fish, stabbing them with scythe blades attached to long poles. Over a 30-year period up to the 1970s more than 12,000 basking sharks were landed on Achill – an average of at least 400 fish per year. Not surprisingly, catches declined markedly towards the end of this period and, with the availability of alternative mineral oils, the market for shark oil disappeared, allowing the few remaining animals to survive. Today, basking sharks are back, their population slowly recovering from this classic example of overfishing. READ MORE Other shark species are not immune from the pressures of overfishing either. These species fill ecological niches that are important in maintaining a balance within the ecosystem. Their removal can result in cascading effects that have a negative effect on marine biodiversity right down through the food chain. Irish waters are known to contain 71 cartilaginous fish species (sharks and rays), over half of the European list. Of these, 58 were assessed using the latest international categories in the Irish Red List. Six species were considered to be critically endangered – Portuguese dogfish, common (blue) skate, flapper skate, porbeagle shark, white skate and angel shark. For example, numbers of angel sharks recorded in tagging programmes show a decline of over 90 per cent since the 1980s. A further five species were assessed as endangered while six more species were rated as vulnerable. Sharks tend to grow slowly and produce small numbers of young each year, which can make them particularly vulnerable. [ How plans for new Guggenheim museum have triggered major biodiversity row in Spain Opens in new window ] While there are no longer any vessels fishing commercially for threatened cartilaginous fish in Irish waters, some are taken as by-catch in other fisheries, involving both Irish and non-Irish boats. Ireland is not unique in this as, since 1970, the global abundance of sharks and rays has declined by 71 per cent owing to an 18-fold increase in relative fishing pressure. Sharks could use some good PR to encourage better protection and recovery of the threatened species. Richard Nairn is an ecologist and writer. His latest book is Future Wild: Nature Restoration in Ireland .
News.com.au
02-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
2025 Rising Sun: Bay Of Biscay scratched by trainer Emma Stewart
Trainer Emma Stewart last night scratched the Chariots Of Fire winner from Saturday night's $300,000 Group 1 Rising Sun when all hope of a flight from Melbourne to Brisbane was lost. Bay Of Biscay and stablemates War Dan Buddy and Harold Smith had been on a waiting list for a flight on Friday after earlier hopes of flying last Tuesday had been thwarted. 'Emma's notified us there is no flight and scratched her three horses engaged on Saturday night,' Racing Queensland's Senior Racing Manager of Harness said. Earlier, Stewart had been adamant she would not travel her horses by road from Melbourne. Bay Of Biscay, a winner of 11 of his 22 starts and over $830,000, had been a long-time Rising Sun favourite. He led throughout for his biggest win in the Chariots Of Fire at Menangle on March 1 and then returned from a spell to narrowly but impressively win at Melton last Saturday night. Connections will now switch their focus entirely to the world's richest harness race, the $2.1m TAB Eureka, at Menangle on September 6. Bay Of Biscay ran second to Don Hugo in the race last year and is $3 prepost favourite to go one better this year. With Bay Of Biscay and War Dan Buddy scratched, emerging Kiwi pacer Betterthancash and the in-form Jacks Ultimate Fury get into the field as the two emergencies. 'You feel for the connections of those horses and the club for losing a headline horse like Bay Of Biscay, but we're thrilled to get a start and think he'll be very competitive,' Betterthancash's co-trainer Stacey White said. It makes for a huge night for White and husband David, who have top young trotter Bet N Win as a $1.50 favourite to beat Victorian star Arcee Phoenix in a heat of the Inter Dominion trotting series. It’s been a lean few years for New Zealand trotters in the Inter Dominion trotting series but Bet N Win and Oscar Bonavena are poised to change that in 2025. Story: @AdamHSport ðŸ'‡ — Racenet (@RacenetTweets) June 22, 2025 Stewart still hopes to be a major player in Brisbane with a batch of her young stars booked on the next flight on Tuesday. They include star two-year-old trio, Loucasso, Cardigan Dan and Dynamitedan, who are all major contenders in Australia's richest juvenile race, Saturday week's $500,000 Protostar at Albion Park.
BBC News
22-06-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Glastonbury weather: latest festival forecast
With just a few days to go until the gates to the world famous festival open, it is still unclear whether rain or sun will dominate across the build-up and end of the heatwave, which has gripped many parts of the country, has lead to a change of weather pattern with lower temperatures and more best advice is to consider packing your sun cream and this year the weather may not be quite as extreme as other years. How hot could it be? Westerly winds have now pushed the heat and humidity away, temperatures have dropped and it feels fresher. Maximum temperatures for the next few days will be around 22C and overnight temperatures will be typically down to 12C. Gates open on Wednesday and most people will be looking for the best pitches. Unfortunately, later on Wednesday is when we could see the wettest and muggy air from the Bay of Biscay could combine with a band of rain coming in from the Atlantic to bring heavy rain and thunderstorms into the evening. At the moment it is a risk. It is possible that the storms could be further east and the rain won't amount to good news is that after Wednesday night it should be and Friday could be quite windy with gusts of 35mph or more but there will be some sunshine at best weather looks like being reserved for the weekend. South-westerly winds will become lighter and with more sunshine it will be warmer. Temperatures could be a very pleasant an eye out for changes on the BBC Weather app. 2005 & 2007 - two years to remember In 2005, a six day heatwave came to an end just as Glastonbury started. Festival-goers swapped flip-flops for wellies. Heavy rain left parts of Worthy Farm underwater and big tents in the dance and circus fields were struck by lightning. Early acts were cancelled as engineers worked to restore power supplies. Later that day, as the sun shone, everything was back on schedule as The White Stripes headlined the Pyramid stage. In 2007, with the Arctic Monkeys, the Who and The Killers headlining, it was the wettest year in the festival's than a month's worth of rain, 60.1mm (2.4in), fell on the Friday and into the weekend. The site turned into a mud bath with tents floating on liquid earth. Some embraced the challenge, many went home early. And ten years earlier, 1997, was known as the 'Year of the Mud'. It was the height of Britpop with the Prodigy, Radiohead and Sting early British summer brought six out of eight days of rain in the run up to the festival. The gloop was knee-deep and mud pits formed next to the main stage. Not just about the rain Putting up your tent in 1987 was difficult for a different reason. This was the joint windiest with tent-destroying gusts of more than 40mph (64km/h). This was also the year with the chilliest night - just 4.2C at nearby Yeovilton. It may have been easier to find a pitch though as the attendance that year was only 60,000!In 2017, Glastonbury opened on the hottest June day for 41 years. The temperature went on to reach a scorching 31.7C. That year the festival was closed by Ed Sheeran, six years after he played to 'about 500 people'. Some people believe that the weather can make or break your experience at Glastonbury. But for hardened festival goers, rain or shine, it has always been as much about the experience as the music.
Reuters
28-05-2025
- General
- Reuters
Tools made of whale bones reveal inventiveness of prehistoric people
May 28 (Reuters) - Artifacts found at archeological sites in France and Spain along the Bay of Biscay shoreline show that humans have been crafting tools from whale bones since more than 20,000 years ago, illustrating anew the resourcefulness of prehistoric people. The tools, primarily hunting implements such as projectile points, were fashioned from the bones of at least five species of large whales, the researchers said. Bones from sperm whales were the most abundant, followed by fin whales, gray whales, right or bowhead whales - two species indistinguishable with the analytical method used in the study - and blue whales. With seafaring capabilities by humans not developing until thousands of years later, the Ice Age hunter-gatherers who made these implements would have been unable to actually hunt whales for their resources in the Bay of Biscay, a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean. "These whales were likely opportunistically acquired from stranded animals or drifted carcasses, rather than actively hunted," said biomolecular archaeologist Krista McGrath of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, co-lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Communications, opens new tab. "The majority of the bones were identified from offshore, deep-water species - such as sperm whale and fin whale - which would have been very difficult to hunt for these prehistoric groups. And there is no evidence from this time period that they had the level of technology that active hunting would have required, like seafaring boats," McGrath said. The 71 whale bone artifacts analyzed by the researchers were found at 27 cave or rock shelter sites. The two oldest ones, both from the bones of fin whales, came from the Spanish Cantabrian sites of Rascaño, dating to about 20,500 years ago, and El Juyo, dating to about 19,800 years ago. The rough age range of the artifacts was from 14,000 years old to more than 20,000 years old, but most were 16,000 to 17,500 years old. The main raw material used to manufacture spear points at the time was antler from reindeer or red deer because it is less brittle and more pliable than land mammal bone. But whale bone offered some advantages, including its large dimensions, with some of the projectile points measuring more than 16 inches (40 cm) long, a size difficult to achieve using antler. "They can be very long and thick, and were probably hafted on spear-style projectiles rather than arrows. They are usually found as fragments, many of which bear fractures related to use, and they were most likely used to hunt the main game animals of the time - reindeer and red deer, horse, bison and ibex," said archaeologist and study co-senior author Jean-Marc Pétillon of the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Bone tools were used by members of the human evolutionary lineage dating back far before our species Homo sapiens emerged more than 300,000 years ago in Africa. The artifacts examined in this study pushed back the oldest-known use of whale bones for toolmaking by 1,000 to 2,000 years. The objects were previously discovered at the various sites and kept in museum collections. The researchers used modern analytical techniques to determine the species from which the bones came and the age of the artifacts. Humans living in this period of prehistory generally were inland hunters, obtaining most of their subsistence needs from the hunting of large hoofed mammals, Pétillon said. The new findings enhance the understanding of their exploitation of seashore resources, Pétillon added. Previous research had shown that Ice Age people gathered seashells, hunted seabirds and fished for marine fishes as a complement to meat from terrestrial animals. "The new findings tell us that these prehistoric groups were likely very well adapted to these coastal environments, and very likely had deep local ecological knowledge and understanding of their coastal habitats," McGrath said. "Whale bones would have been for more than just making tools. There is evidence for their use as fuel as well - the bones contain large amounts of oil - among other things. And the rest of the whale would also certainly have been used – teeth or baleen depending on the species, meat, skin. A single whale provides a lot of resources," McGrath said.
