A well-known Donegal adventurer has revealed the amazing underworld life beneath Arranmore Island off the Donegal coast.
For years Ian Miller has been exploring the cliffs, islands and sea stacks off our rugged coastline.
But his latest adventure has left even Ian gobsmacked at what he found.
His destination was a visit to Uaigh na Róin (the Cave of Seals) which is a huge sea cave system deep underneath Arranmore island.
In this short film, Iain Miller (https://uniqueascent.ie/about-iainmiller) and Lisa Murdiff (@staypresentclimbing) descend into Poll an Reithe.
From the edge of the abyss, they abseil a further 50 metres down into the darkness to a storm beach in the middle of a huge cave system.
On this storm beach, they inflated a small rubber dingy and paddled out into a labyrinth of dark underground tunnels and cavern chambers. It is in these chambers that they meet approx 30 seals returning home on the flood tide.
The most unusual moment occurs when they discover a young seal pup playing with a football completely unconcerned by its small human audience.
After paddling underground for over two hundred and fifty meters they arrive at the seaward exit of the cave system which is behind a 35-meter free-hanging waterfall in Poll a’Chopper.
This sea cave system is one of the largest in Ireland at approximately 700m in length and on average 40m ceiling heights in its main chambers.
In the cavern zones of this system, the walls and ceilings are covered in bioluminescent algae which glows brightly under torchlight.
The bioluminescence ends when you arrive in the black darkness of the cave zones where no natural light ever penetrates.
Ian said “There is nothing else like this in Ireland and globally I can find nothing to compare, or even come close to this unique seal-filled cave system with an outrageous waterfall exit into the light.”
