Whiddy Island: A Few Thoughts from the Coastline

Whiddy Island (near Bantry, county Cork) is something like only five miles long and a mile wide, with a current population of about only 20 people living on it (during the day, about 240 workers come over from the mainland to work at the oil refinery), but the place made a definite impression on me:

 Whiddy Island is only about a 10-15 minute ferry ride from Bantry, but there seems to be a special solitary atmosphere there, especially when walking along the coastline of the island:
 

My good old friend Dave Dealy explained to me that the barrel-type 'things' in the water below are used for catching cockles and/or mussels:
 

Dave also explained that the 'thing' below was an old lobster box:

Yes, this place had a definite solitary feel to it, but every now and again, some human aretefact would pop up, such as the old rowing boat below which, as you can see, is being increasingly claimed by nature: