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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27 March 2004
A former Royal Navy frigate has been sunk off Cornwall to create the UK's first artificial diving reef. Thousands of people watched from Whitsand Bay near Plymouth as HMS Scylla was scuttled at 3:28 pm GMT.
The explosives were detonated by 12-year-old Daniel Green, from Ivybridge, Devon, accompanied by environmentalist David Bellamy.
BBC News Report

The position of the Scylla Artificial Reef is 50º 19.64 ´N 004º 15.20´W with the bow facing south-west, about 800 metres from the wreck of the James Eagan Layne.  It is on the bottom at 20 metres below Chart Datum and listing 20º to starboard. The sea bottom is dark granule sand.
1 April 2004
The diving team at the National Marine Aquarium were the first civilian divers to ever dive on the unique Scylla reef, after the Royal Navy divers had been down to inspect the sunken warship. 
The first fish to arrive was a Ballan Wrasse, Labrus bergylta.

26 March 2004
A Hooded Seal, Cystophora cristata, was discovered on St. Ives beach, Cornwall, by British Divers Marine Life Rescue. The Hooded Seal is an Arctic species and even discoveries off the coast of Scotland, including the Orkney and Shetland Isles are rare. It moults around Greenland and the Denmark Strait (between Iceland and Greenland). 
British Divers Marine Life Rescue News Page (with the Full Report)
Hooded Seal 2001 (SW Wales)
BMLSS Seals

21-22 March 2004
A 12 metre long Sperm Whale, Physeter catodon, was washed up still alive on a sand bank at Sutton Bridge in The Wash, on the east coast of England, and first spotted by a local resident at 10:00 am on 21 March 2004. Unfortunately the distressed whale was stuck on the sandbank and the rescuers are powerless to assist the 15 tonne animal back into deeper water. Efforts were made to help it stay alive and to hope it will have the strength and luck with the tides to free itself. The prognosis is poor for any chance of survival.
Unfortunately, the whale died on the second day. 
BBC News Report
British Divers Marine Life Rescue News Page
BMLSS Cetacea

21 March 2004
The head of the cetacean skeleton (see below) has now been discovered.

I think the length of the beak indicates a Harbour Porpoise, Phocoena phocoena.

14 March 2004
A headless skeleton of a 120 cm long cetacean is washed up on the shore at Low Newton, in Northumberland, north-east England.

The head is missing and the bit where the head should be probably tucks underneath the skeleton. It is most likely a Harbour Porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, and these are probable too commonly washed up to be newsworthy, but rarely is anything like a complete skeleton photographed. The image on the far right shows the bone structure of a cetacean (the method of swimming can be ascertained from these remains). 

9 March 2004
A large male Thresher Shark, Alopius vulpinus, was landed to Plymouth Fish Market. It had been caught by midwater pair trawlers fishing for Bass. It weighed 258 kg and was 416 cm in total length (207 cm precaudal length).

2 March 2004
An unusual high numbers of Fulmars, Fulmarus glacialis, were found dead on the beaches in Northern France and Belgium. Since the end of last week, probably more than 200 have already been picked up dead.

This seems to be the first report of mass fatalities and unusually high numbers of Fulmars in the North Sea, with other reports from Norfolk and even stray birds inland.
On 12 March 2004, 59 Fulmar corpses were found on a three mile section between Wells and Holkham, north Norfolk, including 11 'blue phase' birds. Other dead sea birds of 13 different species were also discovered, plus 30 live Snow Buntings, Plectrophenax nivalis.

The current Fulmar wreck appears not to be triggered by instantaneous events in terms of food-shortage, pollution incidents, unfavourable weather or disease. The problems of the birds date back to at least October last year, 2003, or probably earlier.
Full Report by J.A. van Franeker
Dutch Seabird Group
Historic Reports
 

17 February 2004
A seal was spotted in the River Thames, London, by Richmond Bridge. It was about 120 cm in length. It was most likely a Common Seal, Phoca vitulina.

Links for News Reports:

Nature Notes Webring

Helford (Cornwall) Marine Conservation Area

Friends of Moray Firth (NE Scotland) News Page

Sussex at Sea News Page

Cornish Marine Wildlife News

Cornish Marine Sightings Archives 2003

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.

Labrus bergylta

The first fish to arrive on the sunken wreck of the Scylla was a  Ballan Wrasse

The Sea Hare, Aplysia punctata, from the Dorset shore. This aplysiid mollusc is usually brown in colour, although green ones have been discovered from Dorset before.  Photograph by Bob Alexander Sea Slug Forum to close

The rocky shore at Low Newton, in Northumberland,  north-east England Photograph by Frances Stockdale Shore Topography Portfolio

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
 

Click on the album for more links (On-line link)
 
 

Plymouth

Talks Series 2004

Tuesday 30 March 2004.

Basking Sharks, Britain's Gentle Giants of the Sea.
Colin Speedie, researcher and Chairman of the Shark Trust. 

Colin is an experienced yachtsman who has been following basking sharks for more than fifteen years. He is now supported by the Wildlife Trusts' Basking sharks project funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and National Express. 

Come along and find out more about the behaviour of these wonderful beasts. 

Entrance is £2.50 for adults, £1.50 for children and National Marine Aquarium members, including refreshments. 
Everyone is welcome. 
Please book by calling the Aquarium on 01752 275204 or email doug@national-aquarium.co.uk so that we know how many to expect.
 

Further Information Link

  Facilities are available for schools, linked to the national curriculum. 

Talks 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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Unless otherwise stated, seminars are held on Fridays at 4:15 pm
in the SAMS Conference Room ** Followed by the Friday R&R **

7 April 2004 (3 pm) - Gwyn Griffiths (SOC) Isis and Autosub: Vehicles for Ocean Science. 
14 April 2004 (2 pm) - Alex Rogers (BAS) What can genetics tell us about deep-sea populations? 
28 April 2004 - Graham Shimmield (SAMS) The application of coral geochemistry for studying interannual environmental reconstruction in the central Pacific. 
12 May 2004- Louise Wilson (SAMS-UHI) - Tidal currents and their influences around Scottish fish farm sites. 
12 May 2004 - Daniel Vincent (SAMS-UHI) - Estimating vertical mixing in a semi-enclosed bay. 
26 May 2004 - Murray Roberts (SAMS) - Coral reefs and carbonate mounds: the ROV Victor-Polarstern expedition to the Porcupine Seabight. 

For more details on the forthcoming talks, please contact Murray Roberts  or Anuschka Miller  Tel: 01631 559 000  Diary

For information contact Dr Hamish Mair  or Anuschka Miller  Tel: 01631 559 000
 

A series of monthly talks on marine conservation topics
These talks are open to the public, admission is free.

FOR DETAILS OF SEMINARS AND OTHER EVENTS PLEASE CLICK ON THE LOGO ABOVE TO BROWSE THE WEB PAGES

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). Please confirm that the talk is taking place before arriving unannounced. 

Porthleven (near Helston), Cornwall

Aerial Multimap Location (Link)

The Silver Dolphin marine conservation and diving centre is dedicated to the conservation and protection of all marine life. Click on the image for the full list of events. 

To help protect the marine environment we run a full training programme of conservation courses and PADI scuba diving training.

Ideally placed in the old lifeboat house Porthleven why not come and discover the wonders of the Cornish coastline and underwater world!
 

Places on the courses must be booked in advance

Saturday 3rd April   Marine Mammal Identification workshop for the Cornwall Mammal Group.  1.30 pm to 5.30 pm at the Silver Dolphin Centre, Porthleven.  For bookings contact Alex Howie on 01872 273939.  Free event

   DIVE INTO EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES:

Monday 5th April  Beach clean and try dives at Marazion Beach.

Tuesday 6th April   Try dives and strandline surveys at Maenporth Beach.

Thursday 8th April   Snorkeling at Durgan. 

Tuesday 13th April  Snorkeling surveys at Porthleven (previous experience  necessary)

Wednesday 14th April  Try dives and strandline surveys at Maenporth Beach.

Friday 16th April   Snorkel safari at Durgan.

Monday 19th April  Snorkeling and rockpooling at Castle Beach.

Tuesday 20th April   Try dives at Durgan.

Thursday 22nd April   Try dives and beach clean at Marazion.

There will be a charge of £15 for the try dives and £5 for the snorkeling (if you need to hire snorkeling equipment).  For bookings contact the Silver Dolphin Centre on 01326 572002
 
 

The National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth have several web pages for information on this new dive site. Please click on the logo for more information. 

21 August 2003

'Atlas of cetacean distribution in north-west European waters' 

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. 

More Information

Download Page

BMLSS Man's Impact on the Marine Environment

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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.

A complimentary issue of this booklet was sent to BMLSS members. 

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. 

Disappearing 
Giants
The North Atlantic Right Whale
SCOTT KRAUS and KENNETH MALLORY
Bunker Hill Publishing
in association with New England Aquarium
ISBN  1 59373 004 7

ICE ISLAND
Expedition to Antarctica's Largest Iceberg
Gregory S. Stone
Published by New England Aquarium

GREAT BRITISH MARINE ANIMALS	by Peter Naylor
published by Sound Diving Publications	ISBN  0 9522831 4 X
Available from

 
MOLLUSC  WORLD

Published by the Conchological Society

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. 

We also publish the quarterly SHOREWATCH Newsletter and
the TORPEDO Electronic News Bulletin.

The Glaucus 2002 CD-ROM was sent out to Premier BMLSS members in January 2003. 

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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 2004
Plans have not yet been finalised for the publications and subscriptions for year 2004. An explanation was sent to members just after Christmas. 
 

If you receive this Bulletin direct from the British Marine Life Study Society it will contain only hypertext and image (*.htm *.gif & *.jpg) files.
Recipients can only unsubscribe if the Bulletin is received directly from the 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 fonts
at a resolution of 800 x 600. 
Viewing should be possible on Netscape and other browsers.

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 pages to be printed and the information about the file (name, path, date) 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.