Swans in Dublin are dying after “fairly catastrophic” crashes into the Samuel Beckett Bridge, Kildare Wildlife Rescue has warned. 

The bridge opened in 2009, connecting the capital’s northside and southside and is shaped like an ornate harp. 

However, while the design has been widely praised, Wildlife First Responder Andrea Porter said it is a nightmare for birds. In the past four years alone, at least 17 swans have died following collisions with the bridge. 

“It's a beautiful bridge and everything,” she explained on Moncrieff. 

“But the cables are running diagonally and unfortunately for the swans, they are flying into the cables. 

“Their eyes are at the side of their head, so they don't see the cables and, unfortunately, they're flying straight into it. 

“That's the unfortunate thing; 17 is the number that we have reported that we've dealt with.” 

Ms Porter added that she suspects the true figure of birds killed by the bridge is much higher, as many deaths will go unreported. 

“Consider that swans are basically one of the largest flying birds that we have, they could range anywhere between maybe at full size, right up to about 15 kilos, sometimes more,” she said. 

“They would fly right up to maybe 88 kilometres per hour. 

“So, you can imagine the impact of a swan, a very heavy bird, flying at speed, hitting cables. It's fairly catastrophic, unfortunately.” 

Ms Porter continued that Kildare Wildlife Rescue want “proper data” to try and work out exactly when it tends to happen. 

“The swans I've responded to have generally been [injured] around high tide,” she said. 

“So, if you can imagine the tide goes up and then that vertical space under the bridge isn't [there], they're not going to go under the bridge.

“We need to ascertain really whether it's on the flight path where they're flying in from around Greater Dublin or it's when they're taken off from the water. 

“There's a lot of variables, including light, flight paths, obviously, tide times; that's something that we really need all the information for, so that maybe we could approach engineers.”

Main image: A swan and the Samuel Beckett Bridge. Pictures by: PA and Alamy.com.