LATEST
NEWS:
23
September 2014
An
epic natural tragedy in the sea was witnessed off the Ards
Peninsula, north-east Ireland, when a bull
seal was spotted by Lena
McVea from Ballywalter
with a large item of living prey in its mouth, described as pink with a
large dark shadow and as big as another seal. This action was seen through
binoculars in a deep channel with pladdies,
between the Long Rock and the shore. Eventually, a three metre long juvenile
Basking
Shark,
Cetorhinus maximus,
was discovered dying on the sandy shallows. The freshly dead shark was
taken away for post-mortem.
Full
Report on Manx
Basking Shark Watch facebook
Shark
Trust Basking Shark Project
BMLSS
Basking Shark
Queen's
University Marine Laboratory web pages
23
September 2014
Sea
Spider, Endeis
Photographs
by David Fenwick
Snr
An
extraordinary red Sea Spider, Endeis
species, was discovered on the lower shore
at St. Ives,
Cornwall. There were quite a few of these miniature pycnogonids
rarely recorded before this year on British shores. Sea
Spiders are occasionally discovered on the
shore and in the seas around the British Isles but they are usually of
the genus Nymphon
or the bulkier and widespread species Pycnogonum
littorale. But this year this slender
species, without chelifores
or palpus, has also been recorded
at St.
Abbs Nature Reserve by Shaun
West (in August
2014) and other reports from the east coast
of England (by Dawn
Watson) and the first ever records from
the Netherlands (Marco
Faase). This
specimen was examined microscopically by Dr.
Paul Gainey and identified as Endeis
spinosa. The are 10 records of this
species in Cornwall, the first in 1912, but confirmed by Bamber in 1983.
Endeis
on MarLIN
Pycnogonida
(Sea Spiders)
Fossil
Focus: Pycnogonida
6 September
2014
A
Bluefin
Tuna, Thunnus
thynnus, was spotted swimming around a boat off Start
Point, south Devon, by a fishing vessel laying pots. The video
showed the top dorsal fin to be a yellow but the anal fin is not extra
elongate which would be found in the Yellowfin
Tuna, Thunnus albacares, so it is a
Bluefin.
Late
August & September 2014
Atlantic
Bonito, Sarda
sarda, were caught with some frequency
in the English Channel. Reports have been received of at least thirteen
caught in waters close to Guernsey and three from around the island of
Sark,
but judging by facebook
references I think more have been caught.
Atlantic
Bonito
Photographs
by Jon Ashworth
Bonito,
caught in the Mackerel handline fishery in Cornwall, have been seen in
Newlyn
Fish Market, Cornwall, and one was recorded at Cawsand,
south Devon, and others as far east as Dorset. This warm water fish is
a slightly smaller fish seen amongst the Mackerel
shoals and has been seen on occasions before, but there seems to be more
of them this year. NB: In past years larger
Tuna
have been amongst the Mackerel
even as far east as off the Sussex coast.
BMLSS
Tunnies
28
July 2014
Killer
Whale
Photographs
by Jac
Volbeda
A
sub-adult 15 year old
Killer Whale,
Orca
orcinus,
was discovered washed up dead
on the sandy beach at Baleshare,
South
Uist, in the
Outer
Hebrides, Scotland. “The whale was thin
and not in good condition. There was also quite a lot of marine debris
in its stomach such as fish hooks, plastic bags and silage wrap.”
Scottish
Marine Animal Stranding Scheme
UK
Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP)
Hebridean
Whale & Dolphin Trust
West
Coast Community Killer Whales
NAKID
Project (Killer Whales)
B&B
Bagh Alluin Blog
BMLSS
Cetacea
26
July 2014
Shoals
of Anchovies, Engraulis
encrasicolus, that normally
inhabit warm waters have been seen swimming in the North Sea off the Essex
coast. Angler Richard Holgate
has caught this Mediterranean fish off Walton-on-the
Naze pier
for the first time. In historic times Anchovies
were caught in large numbers off the coast of the Netherlands in summer
when they entered the Wadden
Sea and Zuiderzee.
After the closing of the Zuiderzee they were still found in the Wadden
Sea until the 1960s.
They were also caught in the estuary of the Scheldt.
There is reason to believe that Anchovies
at the western end of the English Channel in November and December migrate
from the Zuiderzee and the Scheldt in the autumn, returning there the following
spring.
23
July 2014
A
most extraordinary capture of a young Atlantic
Croaker, Micropogonias
undulatus, caught by an angler off
the Dutch coast. This fish is a member of
the Drum (Sciaenidae)
family of fishes that make a distinct
croaking sound.
The
Atlantic
Croaker can be found along the east coast
of the U.S.A. (between Florida and Massachusetts) and northern Gulf of
Mexico, where it is one of the most abundant inshore demersal
fish species. Captures of this small fish (> 55 cm) in the North Sea are
rare but have occurred before. They are most likely to have arrived in
a ship's ballast
water.
Historic
Report 1998 (Journal of Fish Biology 2004)
12
July 2014
An
enormous Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus
thynnus, washed up freshly dead at Kingsand,
Rame
Peninsula, Cornwall. It was measured at nearly 2.2 metres.
7
July 2014
Thousands
of jellyfish were washed ashore at Polzeath,
north Cornwall. Easily over a thousand Bluefire Jellyfish, Cyanea
lamarckii; up to a hundred Moon
Jellyfish, Aurelia
aurita, and
two juvenile Compass
Jellyfish, Chrysaora hysoscella,
were noted. A few of the Bluefire Jellyfish must have been about 35 cm
diameter, but most were much smaller, with lots of very juvenile specimens.
BMLSS
Jellyfish
NE
Atlantic Cnidaria on flickr
flickr
BRITISH
MARINE WILDLIFE
British
Marine Life Study Society
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