CORNISH
MARINE WILDLIFE REPORTS 1992
Reports received of Marine Creatures sighted, stranded or landed during
1992
A list compiled by Raymond Dennis
9/1/92 2 Bottlenose Dolphin were seen going north from the Cape Cornwall
Hut.
9/1/92 A small school of dolphins were seen at Cape Cornwall at 1400
by divers in boat and also underwater, one dolphin nudged a diver in the
back. Believed to be Bottlenose.
10/1/92 A small pod of dolphins came right into the cove at Porthgwarra
SW371216.
15/1/92 9 or 10 Common Dolphin were visible on the surface at one time
at about noon in position 50º 49'N 09º 39'W.
The pod covered an area 75 to 100 metres across.
16/1/92 20 or more Bottlenose Dolphin were feeding off Cape Cornwall
at 1210, then went north beyond Kenidjack Castle and then returned south.
Last seen beyond Aire Point at 1325.
16/1/92 8 Common Dolphins were riding the bow wave of a vessel
between 1400 & 1800 in position 50º 35'N 09º
50W.
19/1/92 24 or more Bottlenose Dolphin were feeding off Cape Cornwall
at 11 a.m. They went north beyond Kenidjack Castle then returned south
passing the Cape. Last seen at 1145.
21/1/92 20 to 30 unidentified dolphin were seen moving quickly north
at Cape Cornwall SW3431 between 1310 and 1320.
26/1/92 7 or 8 Common Dolphin were visible on the surface at a time
between 1400 and 1800 in position 50º 49'N 09º 49'W.
28/1/92 Groups of 2 or 3 Common Dolphin were spotted all afternoon
in position
50º 55'N 09º 50'W
29/1/92 11 or 12 Common Dolphin could be seen at any one time in an
area 100 metres across on the surface in position 50º 59'N
09º 39'W. between 1400 and 1800 hrs.
2/2/92 4 Common Dolphin were seen12 miles NW of Longships Lighthouse
between 1400 and 1800.
11/2/92 2 or 3 Common Dolphin were seen at noon in position 49º
25'N 04º 50'
12/2/92 7 Common Dolphin were riding a Bow Wave at 9 a.m. in
position 49º 19'N 04º 41W . and 9 Common Dolphins
were riding a bow wave at 1600 in position 49º 18N 04º
39'W.
16/2/92 Unidentified dolphins were reported at St.Ives during the day.
18/2/92 6 to 12 Bottlenose Dolphins (including 3 juveniles) were seen
from the Cape Cornwall hut at 1140, they were first seen outside the Vyneck
Rock heading south disappearing beyond the reef between the Brisons and
Carn Gloose at 1152. They reappeared again just north of the Brisons about
an hour later proceeding north going close to the Cape, this
time about 20 (not less than 12 including 4 juveniles.) Last seen going
north beyond Kenidjack Castle at 1340.
20/2/92 Bottlenose Dolphins were seen feeding and playing in Porthgwarra
Cove SW371216 all day.
25/2/92 1 Risso's and between 12 and 25 Bottlenose Dolphins were seen
moving rapidly south pass Cape Cornwall SW3431 from 0830 to 0847.
The Risso's and one Bottlenose Dolphin, both about 12 ft long, were travelling
very close together and well in advance of the rest of the school which
were all about
8 ft long and scattered over a wide area in twos and threes.
27/2/92 A large unidentified dolphin was seen heading westward at 1225
off the Carricks SW467408
9/3/92 Approximately 20 Bottlenose Dolphin spent most of the day feeding,
sometimes jumping clear of the water off the Long Rock to Chyandour
area
of Mount's Bay at about 4.p.m. they moved to the Newlyn , Gwavas
Lake area and then disappeared around the headland south and westward.
15/3/92 4 Killer Whales were seen by climbers at Gwennap Head Sw367214
at 1600. One of the four was bigger than the others, the height of the
dorsal fin being at least 1 metre. They were heading westward close inshore.
27/3/92 A Common Dolphin was beached at Carbis Bay entangled in fine
netting. Surfers disentangled the animal and a vet examined it to
confirm that although weak from struggling in the net it was otherwise
fit. The surfers assisted the dolphin out through the 3 or 4ft surfand
were pleased to see it swim off reasonably strongly.
30/3/92 8 to 10 Bottlenose Dolphins were seen to pass northwards off
cape ornwall SW3431 between 1515 and 1540 some jumping clear of the water
and swimming around the Vyneck, a rock exposed at low tide a few
hundred yards offshore.
31/3/92 Approximately 20 Bottlenose Dolphins, including some juveniles,
were seen about noon moving slowly south pass Cape Cornwall SW3431.
4/4/92 A small group (about 6 seen ) of Bottlenose Dolphins were
half a mile off Praa Sands at 1330 occasionally jumping clear of the water.
8/4/92 A pod of Bottlenose Dolphins were reported off Newlyn Green
SW464288 early in the morning and 20 to 30 were still in the area from
1600 until darkness about 2015 moving between Newlyn and Chyandour, jumping
clear of the water at times.
9/4/92 A pod of Bottlenose Dolphins were still in the Penzance area
of Mount's Bayearly in the evening playing alongside a divers boat. Many
juveniles, some no more than 3ft long were in the group.
11/4/92 A pod of Bottlenose Dolphin, about 15 to 20 were off Penzance
at 1730 some jumping clear of the water, they disappeared for a while when
a 20ft boat came out toward them from Penzance Harbour but they resurfaced
when the boat returned to Penzance. When the boat came out a second
time and circled them at 1830 they dived and were not seen again. No juveniles
were seen.
12/4/92 A pod of Bottlenose Dolphins were seen briefly off Penzance
promenade at 1630.
15/5/92 A pod of Bottlenose Dolphin were in Mount's Bay all day, early
morning off Long Rock moving close inshore to Chyandour, later off
Penzance and Newlyn moving off south and west toward Mousehole late evening.
Numbers between 10 and 20, occasionally jumping.
19/5/92 A large Leatherback Turtle was found caught up in a rope of
a Dan Buoy in Mount's Bay near Marazion. It was cut free by a swimmer
in a wetsuit. Pictures seen on T.V.
27/7/92 A pod of Bottlenose Dolphin was seen off Penzance during the
late morning fo about an hour.
6/8/92 Large numbers of Bottlenose Dolphins spent the day in Mount's
Bay. A diver returning from a dive at Low Lee Reef about 2000hrs saw upward
of one 100 between Low Lee and The Gear Pole, a big proportion of which
were juveniles.
20/8/92 Approximately 12 Bottlenose Dolphin were seen off Bosrigran
SW417368 at 1500 heading NW.
5/9/92 Divers in an inflatable craft approximately 1 mile off St.Ives
picked up a Sunfish which was basking on the surface. The fish was covered
in parasites and diver Fred Buckingham scraped a few into a container before
returning the fish to the sea with a little lighter load. The container
with the parasites were delivered to Ray Dennis who made drawings of them
by use of a microscope. The parasites were then pased to Stela Turk who
identified them as Copepods Lepeophtheirus nordmanni , they were
then passed to Dr.Paul Gainey.
11/10/92 A pod of 30 to 50 Bottlenose Dolphins were very active off
Land's End between 1530 and 1630 first moving south to the Armed Knight
then going north. These were all from medium to very large animals except
one which stood out from the rest. It was half the size of most of them
being 5 to 6ft long and had white and grey markings along the sides. It
seemed to be slimmer in proportion and was probably a different species
but unidentified.
29/10/92 20 to 30 Bottlenose Dolphin including many juveniles were
playing in the surf off Nanquidno SW357294 at 1100 moving toward Land's
End. Many could be seen under the water coming in with the large swell
or waves, the juveniles jumping clear of the water
7/11/92 A pod of Bottlenose Dolphin was seen off Eastern Green Penzance
during the morning.
13/11/92 A pod of 20 Bottlenose Dolphins was seen off Nanjizal SW358236
early afternoon.
@3/11/92 A large pod of Pilot Whales were seen a few miles south of
Plymouth during the late morning from Trinity House Vessel Mermaid.
Other unusual visitors this year, dates
unknown were:-
A 16 lb Velvet Belly
Etmopterus spinax was caught in 200 fathoms by MFV Sowenna sold
at Newlyn Market for £15 to Truro fishmonger David Smart
George Hatt of Newlyn caught a 14 oz Comber
Serranus cabrilla near the Wolf Rock.
Mark Pilcher of Herefordshire found a Pufferfish
on Eastern Green Beach. It was identified as Lagocephalus lagocephalus
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1989
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1990
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1991
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1993
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1994
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1995
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1996
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1997
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1998
Cornish
Marine Life Records (Ray Dennis) 1999
Vince
Smith's One-List/Cornish Wildlife
Seaquest
SW (Cornwall Wildlife Trust web pages)
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