LATEST
NEWS:
2 December
2016
Four Humpback
Whales, Megaptera
novaengliae, were spotted close-up
off the east side of Yell,
Shetland. Cracking
views were enjoyed along side the boat, even passing underneath, tail slapping,
breaching and I even got sprayed when one blew close to the boat !
1
December 2016
Pygmy
Sperm Whale
Photographs
by Colin
Bird
A
rare Pygmy Sperm
Whale,
Kogia
breviceps, was washed ashore on a
Caithness
beach at Thurso East,
north Scotland, originally discovered by Cram
Labwons and recovered by Colin
Bird and Jamie Dyer. Another rare cetacean,
a Sowersby's
Beaked Whale, Mesoplodon
bidens, was discovered washed ashore
dead on Dunnet
Beach.
This
is an extremely unusual stranding of a deep sea Pygmy
Sperm Whale. This species is much commoner
in the southern hemisphere. The presence of a population west of the Bay
of Biscay is possible. This whale is classified as a Vagrant in
the British
Cetacean List.
Previous
Report 2002
BMLSS
Cetacea
28
November 2016
A
white Harbour Porpoise,
Phocoena
phocoena, was spotted by Henry
Kirkwood off Morwenstow
in north Cornwall, close to the border with North Devon. Porpoises
are usually more of a dark grey colour.
The
adult Olive Ridley
Turtle,
Lepidochelys
olivacea, was recovering at
Anglesey
Sea Zoo and is now feeding on oily Mackerel
which are easy to digest. This was confirmed as the very first Olive
Ridley Turtle recorded in British seas.
27
November 2016
A
large baleen whale,
about 12 metres in length, was spotted struggling in very shallow water
at Cross
Beach, Killadoon, County
Mayo, western Ireland The whale
was effectively stranded but as the incoming tide
rose, surfers from nearby managed to encourage it away from the beach and
it eventually managed to swim away in a northerly direction. Photographs
did not confirm which species it is but at this size it is likely to be
either a Fin or Sei Whale.
Unfortunately, the outlook for the mammal is
poor as it is likely to be ill or injured when found so close to shore
and there is a strong possibility that it will restrand in the coming days.
12
November 2016
All
the way from tropical seas, a large olive green adult Ridley
Turtle, Lepidochelys,
was discovered in a moribund condition but still alive, on the sandy shore
of the Menai Strait,
at Tan-y-Foel very close to Anglesey
Sea Zoo, north-west Wales. Undoubtedly suffering in the cool waters
off north Wales, the turtle was warmed up and nursed by local vet and rehabilitated
at Anglesey Sea Zoo. (At the time of writing
it is not sure if the turtle
was healthy enough to recover.)
""This
individual is much larger than any other Kemp's
Ridley Turtle, Lepidochelys
kempii,
documented
as stranding in the UK, previously we have always recorded juveniles here,"
said marine expert Rod Penrose, from the UK
Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme."
BMLSS
Turtles
30
October 2016
Over
forty Killer Whales, Orcinus
orca, were spotted 12 miles south-east
of Sumburgh
Head, the southernmost headland of Shetland. Large fishing trawlers
were also there and it was surmised that the Killer
Whales were also after the Mackerel.
20
October 2016
A
13 metre long Fin Whale, Balaenoptera
physalus, was
stranded dead on the sandy shore at Holkham
in Norfolk, The large whale was undernourished. Fin Whales are
very unusual in the southern North Sea
and may have starved to death. .
12
October 2016
Have
you have ever wondered why fish and other organisms end up in strange places?
Most are doomed to perish as their new environment is alien, outside of
the natural "ecological
amplitude" for survival. Some colonise their new habitats and
some become pests and unwanted aliens.
There
is very little chance of natural long term survival of these tropical fish
and invertebrates that arrived in a moon pool (an open pool in the middle
of the boat) on a ship in Stavenger,
Norway, from the Gulf
of Mexico.
More
Crustacean Images
by
Vivian
Husa on Crustacea
of the NE Atlantic & NW Europe
facebook
(Gulf
of Mexico to Norway)
Eksotisk
økosystem på reisefot
Exotic
Ecosystem Travelling (the Full Report)
Institute
of Marine Research, Bergen
British
Marine Life News 2012
BMLSS
Oil Disasters page
