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

8 December 2013
In the aftermath of the flooding on the east coast of England, seals were seen scattered all over the dunes of Donna Nook in Lincolnshire. Grey Seals, Halichoerus grypus, are with pups at this time of the year, but most seemed to be with their mothers, although a few were found dead and others isolated, which happens every year. 

5 - 6 December 2013
A Storm Surge coinciding with a high spring tide caused floods and coastal erosion on the North Sea coast of England and some minor floods on the eastern English Channel shore. The environmental impact on wildlife seemed to be minimal but there were social consequences with homes flooded and some houses washed into the sea, notably at Hemsby, Norfolk, where the the soft cliffs collapsed. 

Photograph by Alex George Tidal Surge Aftermath Gallery on facebook Leader of Our Boat web page	Photograph by Cameron Self Coastal Erosion in Norfolk Gallery on facebook Happisburgh Gallery

The elevated sea level was higher than the devastating floods of 1953 but the damage was much less because of improved sea defences and advanced warning. 

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
 
 
 

Lots of marine wildlife reports from Shetland on facebook Photographs include undersea, sea mammals and birds.  Click on the image to connect

The Curled (or Lesser) Octopus, with a single row of suckers, is the species most likely to be found the British Isles, with a highly variable presence. In some years we receive reports throughout the year and in other years reports are few and far between. This octopus preys on crabs and other crustaceans and can even enter lobster pots to consume the catch. 

The warm water Common Octopus, Octopus vulgaris, is rarely (less than one a year reported) discovered from the English Channel and its demise seems to have occurred since the cold winter of 1963. Before then this octopus was caught regularly around the Channel Islands. All reports are newsworthy. In the last twenty years, reports have all come from off Cornwall or the Channel Islands. The Common Octopus has a double row of suckers on its eight long arms. A third species of octopus, the deep water Seven-armed Octopus, Haliphron atlanticus, has been discovered with one record from the English Channel. The hectocotylus arm is hidden from view in this species which has eight arms like all octopuses. 
 

St Abbs Marine Life Gallery by Peter Bardsley on flickr Click on the swimming octopus for the gallery of more undersea life from St. Abbs, Berwickshire, SE Scotland. St. Abbs Diving

March 2012	February 2013

December 2013

Happisburgh
Norfolk Beach Erosion
A chronological study by Cameron Self

If you look carefully in the above sequence you can see the original steps to the cliff top stranded nowhere before they were destroyed by the power of the sea.

This most recent shot shows what the tidal surge did on 5 December 2013. The clay in the cliff is more hard-wearing than the sand - so fared better - but a complete chunk of top-cliff was removed. On the grass on the cliff top were pieces of seaweed and other flotsam and jetsam thrown up by the waves - giving a good indication of just how high the water must have been. The groynes are also a pale reflection of their former selves.
 
 

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)

 

Publisher: marine scotland

Scotland's Marine Atlas

Scotland's Marine Atlas is an assessment of the condition of Scotland's seas, based on scientific evidence from data and analysis and supported by expert judgement.

Click on the image for the free publication. 
 

Published: 27 March 2013 
ISBN (EPUB): 9781782564485 
ISBN (MOBI): 9781782564478 

EBook Reader Software (Adobe Digital Editions)
Change the font size to small for square monitors.

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This is a book about an ocean that vanished six million years ago: the ocean of Tethys, named after a Greek sea nymph.  The oceans are important to climate and environment, and therefore to life on Earth. The story of Tethys is also a story of extinctions, and floods, and extraordinary episodes such as the virtual drying up of the Mediterranean, before being filled again by a dramatic cascade of water over the straits of Gibraltar. 
Click on the image for a review of this book

Dorrik Stow
300 pages, 15 b/w illustrations and maps.
Oxford University Press
ISBN-13: 9780199214297
 
 

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

PS: A second revised edition of the book has been published. 

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.

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:

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

 
 
 

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