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
 

27 June 2011
A small tidal wave was seen off Marazion in Cornwall (by St, Michael's Mount) and estimated at 0.3 metre high at 10:15 am, appearing like a small bore in the Yealm Estuary (SE of Plymouth flowing out into Wembury Bay), and detected on the south-western coast of the British Isles recording tidal anomalies in Newlyn, Cornwall at 0.2 metres above predicted, in Plymouth at 0.3 m  and in Portsmouth at 0.4 m. The British Geological Survey said there was no appreciable seismic activity in the UK over the weekend.

17 June 2011
A dead and decomposed Moray Eel, Muraena helena, was removed from the water by the Condor ferry ramp in St. Peter Port Harbour, Guernsey. This southern sub-tropical species is an extremely rare discovery in British seas and is normally found found around the Azores, Canary Islands and in the Mediterranean Sea and further south. The last discovery in Guernsey seas was in 1996. 

16 June 2011
A Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaengliae, was spotted lunge feeding in Aberdeen Harbour, during the evening. The following dawn it (or another whale) was seen off Chanonry Point, Moray Firth, for two hours and later seen breaching near the Sutors of Cromarty at 10:00 am. The whale was off-route but it was seen moving further out of sea. The large deep water Humpback Whales migrate between their winter breeding grounds off Africa to summer feeding grounds around Iceland and are more likely to be seen off the western coast of the British Isles. 

11 June 2011

The wind and rain held off for the eleventh Adur Environment Festival and Adur World Oceans Day went well in the marquee on Coronation Green, by Shoreham Footbridge at the High Street end on the second Saturday of the Adur Festival. Len Nevell of the British Marine Life Study Society was there with the usual exhibition of lobsters and crabs. 
World Oceans Day on Facebook
World Oceans Day Highlights from around the World 2011

8 June 2011
A Spotted Bass, Dicentrarchus punctatus, was caught on rod and line by Lee Allen off the west coast of Jersey, Channel Islands. This southern warm water species is a rare visitor to the English Channel and differs from the common Bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, by having dark black spots on its silver flanks. Only a handful of Spotted Bass have been reported from British seas, but some fish may have been dismissed as a variant of the Bass rather than a different species. 

Fin Whale	Krill Meganyctiphanes norvegica

Due to a lack of surveys in the past, it is unclear if Fin Whales have always been present in the Celtic Deep in the spring, but they are certainly rare during the summer months when most surveys take place. However, recent survey work by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, the Sea Trust and Sea Watch Foundation indicate that Fin Whales and other large whales are being increasingly encountered in the Irish Sea and Celtic Sea.

FORUM NEWS

Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Mailing Groups

Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean 
Yahoo Group
New Group: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Glaucus

British Marine Life Study Society 
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/glaucus/

This Wall is now working properly and members can now post on it. This is designed for quick less important chatty news items. Photographs can be uploaded quickly which is only possible on the Yahoo Group by going to the web page.  

Images can be uploaded to flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/glaucus/
 

Wet Thumb (Marine Aquariology) Forum Link
 
 

The Pimplet Anemone is widespread but not particularly common and only southern and western shores of the British Isles and is not found in the North Sea. Theoral disc is stained green (not with chlorophyll in zooxanthellae symbiotic algae) with a green fluorescent protein, common in corals, sea anemones, and some other cnidarians. 

Photographers submitting pictures should indicate if they wish them to be considered for inclusion as confirming permission takes work and time and can delay publication of the news bulletins. 
 

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

NEW BOOK
 

by Paul Kay & Frances Dipper 
£19.95 incl. p&p
Soft cover

With 256 pages and numerous photographs supported by drawings, this book is the most comprehensive photographic guide to marine fish currently available in the UK. Published for the Marine Conservation Society with support from the Countryside Council for Wales. 

Click on the image to order this book through the Marine Conservation Society

RECOMMENDED PURCHASE *****

July 2010

SEASHORE SAFARIS
 
 
 

Publisher: Graffeg
Publisher's Review (click on this text)
Review by the City and County of Swansea

This is the book I should have written (and I dare say a few others as well) and is a much needed introduction to the world of the seashore and the hobby of rockpooling. It is a photographic guide to most of the common species encountered which is much appreciated as newcomers and even experienced rockpoolers will try and match up what they have seen to a visual image (and photographs work better than line drawings) and this will usually get them the correct species, (unless there are two very alike species and then you will need a specialist identification guide like the Collins Guide to the Seashore).

However, the seashore is a rich and interesting habitat with a myriad of species and 225 pages of this large pocket guide are comprehensively covered to suit the enthusiast.

Extract from the foreword by Keith Hiscock:
"Being able to names to what you see and, better still, to use your observations to add to our knowledge about the natural world is what this book is about."

But the book for a popular audience is more than this. It starts from the assumption that the parents and teachers and older children are unfamiliar with the seashore environment, so the

1. Getting started
explains about the tides (very briefly: a detailed explanation can be in chapter 2) and the equipment you may need, where and how to look for the seashore critters (my term).
2. Living between the tides
explains about the dynamic nature of the littoral environment and the variations on different coasts. It also introduces the explorer to a few technical terms which are further explored in
3. Zonation
which is a rather important explanation to on what part of the shore what animals and seaweeds are to be discovered and why
4. Habitats
Even between the zones the geography of the seashore varies and this chapter explains what habitats what type of creatures
5. Beachcombing
This is the scavenger's first introduction to the see what the sea has deposited on the strandline complete with an excellent quick guide to the common shells and other treasures
6. Animal Life
The large animal life section is structured roughly by phyla (major groups of animals) ignoring for the most part the specialist microscopic studies. Each animal group is given a brief description including behavioural characteristics. Each animal is given a common name and the important scientific name (because the common names can vary in different localities and in different books) with a photograph, brief written description, habitat preferences and field notes.
"Did you know?
Male crabs have a narrow 'v' shaped tail with 5 joints and in females the tail is wider with 7 joints."
Fish are the most interesting discoveries for many of the fledgling rockpoolers. Most of the common species are included but a frequently encountered species like the Rock Goby, Gobius paganellus, has been omitted.
7. Seaweeds
In contrast to the fish the common macroalgae are well covered.
8. Conservation
This is a good section encouraging participants to take an active interest, how the public can help and a comprehensive list of where to report their findings.
9. Further Information
With a book list and a list of organisations and their web pages, a comprehensive glossary and an index, this has the hook that could result in a lifetime interest in the seashore.

Now why would anybody want to go to Serengeti when we have so much of interest nearer to home?

RECOMMENDED PURCHASE *****

Not just a cookery book: you have to go down to the shore and catch or collect the food yourself. The 240 page hardback book (with an index) is exceptionally well produced in quality of the binding, paper as well as the quality of writing, information and clear useful colour photographs. It is well organised into nine chapters:

Starting Out:  Conservation and Equipment, including the first paper published instructions on how to construct a shrimp net (push-net). 

Foraging:  Lots of useful and essential information about the tides, weather, safety and what to wear. 

Rule Book: This is the bravest inclusion. John Wright attempts (better than anyone so far) to explain the rules, law and ethics of seashore collection, what you are allowed and not allowed to do. It is worth buying the book for this chapter alone.

The Flowering Plants
The Seaweeds
The Molluscs
The Crustaceans

All the expected species and some unlikely edible candidates are included and each is given two pages. Very informative and lots of information I did not already know. John Wright conducted his research first hand and we shrimped together on Southwick Beach with Peter Talbot-Elsden (as shown in my photograph, not in the book).

The Recipes:  Well I would omit the chilli in the Potted Shrimp. After collecting the food, I am usually a wee bit tired and this chapter should be for your partner. Let me know how you get on?

The home-made shrimp net on page 17 is an identical design to mine, the one used by John Wright before he made his own on our expeditions at Southwick, and the one used by Charlie Dimmick on River Walks filmed on nearby Lancing beach.

Kimmeridge Tidings

Autumn 2009
http://www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/c2/uploads/tidingsautumn09web.pdf

Up to date with all the latest happenings at our Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve in Kimmeridge.
 

VIVARIUM
by Peter Stiles
Publisher: Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon

Philip Henry Gosse was a popular naturalist who moved to Victorian Ilfracombe and wrote his natural science book ‘A Naturalist’s Rambles on the Devonshire Coast’. He later designed the first public aquarium, which opened in London. His activities also attracted other naturalists, including Charles Darwin and novelist George Eliot.

This book celebrates the link between Philip Henry Gosse and his rockpool adventures in Devon and contains lots of information about the life of this self-taught Victorian scientist and writer.

in conjunction with an Exhibition that finished on 25 April 2009.
 

Marine Fisheries Science Yearbook  2008/2009

Publisher:  defra

Sharks in British Seas Richard Peirce 138 pages, colour illustrations, line drawings, colour & b/w photos. Lots of newspaper reports. Publisher:  Shark Cornwall Softcover | 2008 | £9.99 ISBN: 978-0-955869402

Seashore by Lucy Beckett-Bowman Consultant: Andy Horton Usborne Publishing   £3.99 Usborne Beginners Series Level One (very young children) ISBN 978-0-7460-8864-7 BMLSS Notes for a Primary School Teacher

Whales & Dolphins
of the European Atlantic
The Bay of Biscay, English Channel, Celtic Sea and coastal SW Ireland
by Dylan Walker and Graeme Cresswell
with the illustrations by Robert Still
WILDGuides  2008
£ 12.00 (includes standard UK P&P)
ISBN:  978-1-903657-31-7

This is the second fully revised and updated edition of this comprehensive guide to the identification of whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans) in the European Atlantic. Until very recently, most researchers and whale-watchers were unaware of the great variety of cetaceans that can be seen so close to the shores of western Europe. Indeed, it is only during the last decade, when detailed cetacean surveys have been carried out in earnest, that we have discovered how important this area is for cetacean biodiversity.

This field guide describes all of the 31 species of whale, dolphin and porpoise that have occurred in the European Atlantic. 
 

BMLSS Cetacean Book Reviews

 
The Gulf Stream
by Bruno Voituriez
Publisher:  UNESCO 
ISBN:  92-3-103995-4 
222 pages, figures, glossary, bibliography

The Gulf Stream
Amid contemporary scenarios of potential climatic catastrophes and global warming that might be imagined to bring a new ice age, the powerful image of the Gulf Stream rising from the Florida Straits and flowing to the north Atlantic inevitably provokes questions about its ecological significance and whether it might ever stop.
 

Coastal Plankton
Photo Guide for European Seas

by Otto Larink & Wilfried Westheide
reviewed by Wim van Egmond
 
 
 

Seashore (Collins New Naturalist) (Paperback) by Peter Hayward Collins 2004 ISBN:  0-00-220031-7 Amazon Web Site

Paperback. Pp 288. Colour & b/w photographs, illustrations, charts, maps and bibliography. Fine copy. "New Naturalist" Seashore is a comprehensive, authoritative account of the natural history of the seashore.
 

BMLSS General Guides
BMLSS Advanced Guides