Provision of Bottlenose dolphin suveys in the Lower River Shannon SAC, 2015

Tender description

As part of Ireland’s conservation obligations concerning cetaceans there is a significant requirement for the monitoring of cetacean occurrence in all Irish waters. The State also has a legal obligation through the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) to monitor key marine habitats and species and to report on their conservation status to the EU. The Lower River Shannon is a candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for inter alia Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Several population assessment studies have been undertaken on this distinct resident dolphin community with the most recent being boat-based photo-identification surveys undertaken in 2010, 2008 and 2006-07. For information on the above studies see http://www.npws.ie/marine/marinereports/. In order to fulfil the requirements for monitoring set out within the Habitats Directive a population assessment compatible in methodology with the aforementioned surveys will be undertaken during 2015. The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht now invites tenders for the provision of Bottlenose dolphin surveys in the Lower River Shannon SAC, 2015. A detailed specification of the Department’s technical and proposal requirements is set out in Appendices 1B and 1C respectively. A strict schedule of deliverables will be agreed with the successful Tenderer with the contract concluding in 2015. (refer to RFT)