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Monthly
electronic news bulletin for the marine life of the NE Atlantic Oceans
including the seas around the British Isles.
The
bulletin is designed for Microsoft Explorer 4 and above using medium fonts
at a resolution of 800 x 600.
Subscribe
and unsubscribe options are at the foot of this page.
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If
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EMails.
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| MARINE
LIFE NEWS
Reports
of marine wildlife from all around the British Isles, with pollution incidents
and
conservation initiatives as they affect the flora and fauna of the
NE
Atlantic Ocean.
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3
September 2003
A
large whale skull was landed at Shoreham (Monteum's
Wharf, River Adur) from a small (under 10 metres
length) trawler fishing ten miles off Brighton Marina, Sussex.
Further
Details and Photographs
BMLSS
Cetacea
30-31
August 2003
National
Whale and Dolphin Watch
Sea
Watch Foundation
The
Sea
Watch Foundation organised the UK's National Whale and Dolphin Watch
Weekend, aimed at providing a snapshot picture of the numbers and variety
of whales, dolphins and porpoises to be seen around the British Isles.
Details
BMLSS
Cetacea
20
August 2003
Emergency
protection was introduced for the Darwin Mounds,
a deep water cold water coral reef off the north west of Scotland. The
mounds are situated in the top end of the Rockall Trough off north-west
Scotland, in waters 1,000 metres deep.
The
main coral species forming the rare and interesting habitat is Lophelia
pertusa but Madrepora oculata is also known to be present.
The protection forbids all fishing and oil exploration in the area because
of the damage such activities would cause.
JNCC
Report Page
JNCC
Committee Paper
Extending
Offshore Habitats Protection
Two
unusual intertidal fish (at least around the British coast) were discovered
in shallow, under three metres depth, water over sand off Limeslade Beach,
south Wales, were a small shoal of Red
Mullet, Mullus surmuletus, located
in a channel amongst the sand. Further out in deeper water there were some
Leopard-spotted
Gobies,
Thorogobius ephippiatus.
BMLSS
Gobies
BMLSS
Rockpooling
c 20
August 2003
Two
specimens of the square-carapaced crab, Hemigrapsus
penicillatus were
caught on the Belgian shore at Koksijde. This Japanese (eastern Pacific)
immigrant which has been known from France (1994 at la Rochelle and 1997
at le Haura) and The Netherlands (2000), is a new arrival for the Belgian
carcinofauna. The most likely method of accidental introduction is in the
ballast tanks or on the hull fouling of merchant vessels.
About
the same date, some more specimens were discovered on the Belgian coast
by Emmanuël
Dumoulin.
Bionomics:
in the Pacific this crab seems to occupy similar habitats to the native
Shore
Crab,
Carcinus maenas.
It may be a similar predator.
More
Information on this crab
General
Information
Images
Marine
Science Portal
14
August 2003
A
Black-faced
Blenny, Tripterygion
delaisi, was discovered in a rockpool
at Les Écréhous, Jersey. This warm water fish fish is more likely to be
found in the shallow seas to the south of the English Channel. It is a
small secretive fish and although not a true blenny,
it hides in crannies and will rarely feature in fishermen or angler's catches.
However,
diver's are beginning to see more of this attractive fish and they have
been reported notably from off the coast of Dorset. This is my first record
of this fish discovered on the shore. It was about 55 mm in length.
The
nudibranch (sea slug) Rostanga
rubra was also discovered on the same shore.
BMLSS
Black-faced Blenny page
BMLSS
Nudibranchia
Rhizostoma
octopus off
Chesil Beach
Photograph
by Peter Glanvill (Dorset)
6 August
2003
Doing
a few boat transects today we saw absolutely loads of the jellyfish, Rhizostoma
octopus off the Rhossilhi/Llangennith beach, Gower, south
Wales and further into Carmarthen Bay. I'm not even going to attempt a
number, but unless they were all stretched out in lines which corresponded
exactly with our transects there must have been tens of thousands.
BMLSS
Jellyfish
DEFRA
LAUNCHES CONSULTATION ON
EXTENDING
HABITAT AND BIRDS DIRECTIVE
A Government
consultation is to look at increasing protection for important offshore
sites such as the Darwin Mounds, Nature Conservation Minister Ben Bradshaw
announced.
The
12 week consultation puts forward proposals to extend the protection afforded
to important species and habitats under the Birds and Habitats Directives,
which currently does not go beyond 12 nautical miles of the UK coastline.
[extract]
Full
Press Release
2 August
2003
Juvenile
bothids (left-eyed Flounders) that have been identified*
as
the Eckströms Topknot, Phrynorhombus regius occasionally
appear in crab pots off Guernsey's south coast at this time of year. I
was given a 25 mm long specimen from a crab pot.
(Identification
confirmed by Robert Patzner.)
Eckströms
Topknot ©
Richard
Lord 2003 (Guernsey)
I took
several photos and noticed that it had an elongated process emanating from
the dorsal margin of the left eye. This process is not illustrated
on Fishbase or in Volume
III of 'Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean'.
I would like to know what possible function this process or protuberance
serves and whether it is found also in adult specimens.
c.
2 August 2003
An
ovigerous (with eggs) female Slipper Lobster,
Scyllarus arctus, was caught just off the Eddystone Lighthouse, south
Cornwall, by Looe-based fishermen Richard Chapman. This strange crustacean
is only a rare discovery in British seas, normally found in waters to the
south. However, it is now suspected there could be a small breeding population
off the coast of Cornwall. It measured 14 cm long and was identified by
the experts at MarLIN (Marine
Life Information Network).
The
exact date of capture was probably a few days before this newspaper report
in the Western
Morning News.
2001
Report
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NEW
INTERNET DOMAIN
The
British
Marine Life Study Society has changed its main Internet Universal Resource
Locator (URL) under a new easier to remember domain name:
The
old URLs are expected to eventually fall into disuse, and from year 2004
there is no guarantee that the old links will work. This poses a problem
as many other web sites and search engines are linked into to the old URLs,
and the new URLs cannot be found on the commonly used search methods like
Google
and Copernic. Already
the latest News items are only to be found on the new domain. The changeover
was necessary because the CompuServe system was old fashioned and essential
because it still cannot be accessed via Broadband. The new domain does
not officially commence until the deadline for the broken links to be repaired
and the missing images to be renewed which is 1
January 2004. Please amend your bookmarks
for the News pages immediately.
Marine
Wildlife News of the North-east Atlantic Ocean 2003
(British
Marine Life Study Society)
News2003.htm
News2003Summer.htm
It
would probably be best to amend your book marks for the other pages as
well. If you are a webmaster, please adjust the links before the end of
2003.
PICTURE
GALLERY
Each
month, at least one special marine image will be published from images
sent to the BMLSS. This
can be of the seashore, undersea world or any aspect of the marine natural
world, especially the underwater life, but not restricted to life beneath
the waves. Topical inclusions may be included instead of the most meritorious,
and images will be limited to the NE Atlantic Ocean and adjoining seas,
marine and seashore species and land and seascapes.
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A
strange twin Beadlet Anemone, Actinia equina,
with
two oral discs and mouths
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Shore
Topography Series
The
name of the particular coast should be included and the grid reference,
if known. Print photographs can be included in Exhibitions
and on the BMLSS Web Sites and electronic publications. Electronic images
in *.JPG format can also be considered for the web site. They should not
exceed 150K in size.
Shore
Topography Portfolio
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CLOSE-UP
PICTURE
Yarrell's
Blenny ©
Richard
Lord 2003 (Guernsey)
This
is a rare and detailed study of a small Yarrell's Blenny, Chirolophis
ascanii, a
fish that is uncommon and not very well known in the seas around Britain.
It may may be commoner than is realised because it is a small fish that
lives in rocky areas in deeper water than normally dived. This one was
caught in Clive Brown's
crab pots off the south coast of Guernsey. They are frequently caught in
these pots in autumn.
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 Click
on the album for more links (On-line link)
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WORLD
OCEANS DAY
In
June 1992, over 150 Heads of States signed the Convention on
Biological
Diversity at Rio de Janeiro. They did so to express a shared belief
that action must be taken to halt the worldwide loss of animal and plant
species and genetic resources.
World
Oceans Day was first declared as 8th June at the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992.
Events
will occur all around the world on and around this day.
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| DIARY
In
chronological order, the most recent events are at the top of the page.
Events open to the public, free or for a nominal charge only are included.
Most Seminars need to be booked in advance.
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11
October 2003 (Saturday)
SHOREHAM
FISH FESTIVAL
Coronation
Green, Shoreham-by-Sea,
West Sussex
FREE ADMISSION
LOCAL
FISH AND SHELLFISH ON SALE
FISH
COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS
LOCAL
FISH TASTINGS
This
event is organised and run by Shoreham Fisheries Project
P
O BOX 12, BRIGHTON, BN41 1WW
Email:
shorehamfish@fsmail.net
The
British
Marine Life Study Society will present a live exhibit and an information
display at this event.
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BIOSIS
Conference Calendar for Zoology
(Major
Link of all biological conferences around the world)
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Plymouth
Spring Talks Series
2003
No
talks are listed. Facilities are available for schools, linked to
the national curriculum.
All
talks are on Tuesdays and start at 7:00 p.m.
at
the National Marine Aquarium,
Coxside, Plymouth Devon.
Admission
– Adults £2.50; Children and NMA members £1.50, inclusive of
refreshments will be available.
Please
reserve your place by calling the Aquarium on 01752 275204
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 SAMS
Seminar Series
The Scottish
Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Dunbeg,
Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA
Tel: 01631 559000 Fax: 01631 559300
Email: mail@dml.ac.uk
For more details/how to find SAMS
see our website: http://www.sams.ac.uk
Unless otherwise stated, seminars
are held on Fridays at 4:15 pm
in the SAMS Conference Room
** Followed by the Friday R&R **
29
August 2003
Richard
Shelmerdine (SAMS-UHI).
Angels
of the Shark’s Board.
For
more details on the forthcoming talks, please contact Murray Roberts (m.robertsl@dml.ac.uk)
or Anuschka Miller (aham@dml.ac.uk) tel: 01631 559 000
9 -
12 September 2003
Second International
Symposium on Deep Sea Corals, 9 - 12 September, 2003, Erlangen, Germany.
For further details: www.cool-corals.de
Registration: cool-corals@pal.uni-erlangen.de
For more details
on the forthcoming talks, please contact Murray
Roberts (mailto:mr-t@dml.ac.uk)
or tel: 01631 559 000
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A
series of monthly talks on marine conservation topics
These
talks are open to the public, admission is free.
4 September
2003
Beachwatch
– Gillian Bell, (Marine Conservation Society)
2 October
2003
ROV
deep sea fish watching – Ian
Hudson
6 November
2003
Turtles
– John Houghton
4 December
2003
Sea
Mounts – Kerry Howell
The
Marine
Life Talks are held on the first Thursday of the month at 7.30
pm, please arrive at 7.15 pm to be met in
Reception. Southampton Oceanography Centre is reached via Dock Gate 4 (between
Town Quay and Ocean Village).
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NEW
PUBLICATIONS & WEB PAGES
21
August 2003
'Atlas of cetacean
distribution in north-west European waters'
The
publication by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) of an atlas
of their distribution in waters off north-western Europe. It is based
on the sightings made by hundreds of observers over the past 25 years.
The atlas is a first for these waters, and becomes the first globally to
take full account of the variation between areas in the amount of searching
that observers have carried out to gather the information.
Click
on this text for the full information including ordering
Price
£17.00 from the Natural History Book Service (www.nhbs.com),
or
phone +44 (0)1803 865913.
_______________________________________________________________
SHRIMPING FOR
FOOD AND FUN
 Local
shrimper Peter Talbot-Elsden, from Southwick (Sussex),
has produced a small booklet called “Shrimping for Food and Fun”
about catching the brown shrimp around the coasts of Britain. The shrimps
are caught in nets and the book features the various methods, firstly the
push-netting seen over the sand in shallow water in spring off the Sussex
coast. The famous Morecambe Bay shrimps were originally captured by cart
shanker shrimping with a horse and cart in deeper water off the Lancashire
coast, later replaced by a tractor. At Formby, they experimented with amphibious
vehicles after World War II. Nowadays, most commercial shrimping on the
east coast around King’s Lynn trawls from small boats using a net off the
stern. Shrimps are often cooked on board.
The
28 page book contains 40 photographs of shrimping through the ages. It
is available through Bookworms of Shoreham
and other booksellers and museums at £3.50.
The
booklet is also available through the British
Marine Life Study Society, but at £4 including postage and packing.
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WEB
SITE
EurOcean
(European
centre for information on marine science and technology)
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PUBLICATIONS
Assessing
the sensitivity of seabed biotopes to human activities and natural events
MARLIN
(Marine Life Information Network)
+ MarLIN News
Issue 6 Spring 2003
Sealife
Surveys: Identification Guide for Selected Underwater Species
 MarLIN
has published this new waterproof guide which is designed to support recording
projects. The 45 species in the guide have been selected for their ease
of recognition and their importance as species which play a key role in
maintaining particular communities, are likely to be affected by global
warming, or are non-native. The guide is produced in collaboration with
the Seasearch programme, which is a nationwide diving survey of underwater
habitats and species. Volunteers are taught about marine life, how to recognize
what's important and how to make records under water.
You
can obtain a copy of the guide for £3 including post and packing
by sending a cheque to MarLIN, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill,
Plymouth PL1 2PB. Cheques are to be made payable to ‘Marine Biological
Association’. Copies are free to participants in organized surveys.
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RESOURCES
CENTRE
The
Marine Life and Environmental Sciences Resource Centre
The Marine Life
and Environmental Sciences Resource Centre
The
Marine Life and Environmental Sciences Resource Centre is based at the
historic Citadel Hill Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association on
Plymouth Hoe. The Association was founded to investigate life in the sea
and disseminate the knowledge gained for the public good.
The
Centre is designed for a variety of educational and training purposes in
support of the local, national and international community, including charities,
small and medium-sized businesses, schools and colleges, universities and
learned societies.
The
Centre provides a spacious and flexible venue combining facilities for
workshops, conferences and lectures with laboratory benching and equipment
for practical work and field courses. The Centre can be partitioned into
connecting meeting and laboratory areas or remain as one large space. The
following resources are available:
Seminar,
workshop and lecture facilities for up to 80 people
Fully
equipped laboratory holding up to 40 participants (inventory available
on request)
Seminar
area convertible into laboratory space giving one large lab. capable of
holding up to 80 students
Digital,
slide and overhead projectors
Networked
computing facilities
Display
and poster boards
Access
to the National Marine Biological Library
Seawater
systems
Boats
and sampling equipment
Easy
access to a wide range of marine habitats including estuaries, rocky and
sandy shores and open water
Close
proximity to local diving services
Catering
facilities for tea and coffee, buffets, formal lunches and dinners
Disabled
access and toilet facilities |
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Marine
Biological Association of the U.K.
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Sea
Anglers' Conservation Network
| GREAT BRITISH MARINE ANIMALS |
by Peter Naylor |
published
by
Sound
Diving Publications |
ISBN 0
9522831 4 X |
| Available from |
 |
Published by the Conchological
Society
|
SOCIETY
INFORMATION
The
British Marine Life Study Society are responsible for producing the journal
GLAUCUS,
which is the first publication exploring the marine life of the seas surrounding
the British Isles available to the general public.
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Change of EMail
Address
 Please
note that the EMail address for messages to the British Marine
Life Study Society has now changed
from
bmlss@compuserve.com
to Glaucus@hotmail.com
Messages
to the first address will not receive any guarantee of a reply and from
year 2003, the old EMail address is expected to fall into disuse.
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Membership 2003
Current
members will
have their subscriptions waived for year 2003. An explanation was sent
before Christmas. This is because of he computer breakdown and the failure
of the full complement of paper publications.
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Bulletin
Details
If
you receive this Bulletin direct from the British Marine Life Study Society
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Recipients
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BMLSS.
Permission
is granted to forward the Bulletin on unaltered. However, you will have
to include the images separately.
Subscribe/Unsubcribe
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BMLSS-Torpedo
To
save download times, only new images are included with each Bulletin.
The
Bulletin is designed to be viewed on Internet Explorer using medium
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Viewing
should be possible on Netscape and other browsers.
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Printing
the two column version of Torpedo (from issue 28)
These
pages are not designed for the default settings on the Page Set-ups of
your browser. I recommend viewing in Microscope Internet Explorer 6 and
altering the right and left hand columns in the Page Set-up menu to 9 mm
(from 19 mm).
The
page set-up can also be amended in Netscape Composer and other web page
editors, and this has the advantage of enabling the specified number of
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to be deleted.
Some
of the images may not display if you have changed your directory for downloaded
files. The images may also not display properly if your settings on your
EMail software do not allow you do this automatically. When received in
Pegasus the format is changed slightly, but the bulletin is still readable.
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