LATEST
NEWS:
24
March 2015
Blackfish
Photograph
by Mark Firman
A Blackfish,
Centrolophus
niger, was trawled in shallow water
four miles off Flamborough
Head, Yorkshire. This fish is unusual
in shallow water as it is an inhabitant of water deeper than 100 metres.
The Outer
Silver Pit is an area of sea bed up to 80 metres deep about 100 miles
east of Flamborough Head.
Previous
Report
20
March 2015
A
small Angel Shark, Squatina
squatina,
was a rare capture off Douglas,
Isle of Man.
Previous
Report 2010
Angel
Shark
Photograph
by Grant Lopes
This
large stocky angel shark was formerly a common and important demersal predator
over large areas of its coastal and outer continental shelf sediment habitat
in the North-east Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Seas. It now appears
to be absent from the English Channel where it was caught back in 1969.
This
protected
shark is classified as "Critically Endangered".
Red
List entry
OSPAR
Assessment
MarLIN
Records
Shark
Trust Factsheet
A partial
Solar
Eclipse was viewable over the United Kingdom
where the mostly hazy low cloud weather allowed.
At Shoreham the clouds
parted for just 6 seconds at 9:21 am.
The
Vernal
Equinox occurred at 10:45
pm UT.
November
2014 - March 2015
Eggs
Cases of the Flapper Skate
Photographs
by Penny Martin
Over
four thousand egg cases of the now
rare and endangered
Flapper Skate,
Dipturus
intermedia, (=Diptrus
batis*)
were discovered washed ashore on just three beaches in the Orkney
Isles. They were found on the remote shores of Skaill
Beach, Bay of Birsay
and Aikerness
Beach, on West Mainland.
IUCN
Red List Entry
Orkney
Skate Trust
* In 2009,
research showed what was formerly listed as a single species, Dipturus
batis, should be instead classified as two separate species, Dipturus
flossada, and the Flapper Skate, Dipturus
intermedia.
BMLSS
Mermaid's Purse: Skate
Previous
Report
28
February 2015
A Sperm
Whale, Physeter catodon, was found
stranded dead near Northton,
Isle
of Harris,
Outer
Hebrides, Scotland.
20
February 2015
A
distant photograph of a large humped whale
off Par Beach on the island of St
Martin's, Isles of Scilly, proved a puzzle at first because the whale
lacked a distinct dorsal fin. Expert opinion agreed that this was an unusual
record of a juvenile Bowhead Whale,
Balaena
mysticetus, a species of right
whale usually only found in icy Arctic
seas. "The dorsal hump of a Humpback is the
ice-breaking wedge-head of a Bowhead." This
was the first ever discovery in British seas.
BMLSS
Cetaceans
1 February
2015
An
adult 150 cm long Dealfish
(Ribbonfish
family),
Trachipterus
arcticus,
was caught fishing 50 miles NE of Peterhead,
Scotland.
Previous
Report
30
January 2015
Killer
Whale washed up at Saleen
Photograph
by Mark Culbert
One
of the diminishing number of Killer Whales,
Orca
orcinus, in Irish seas was washed up dead
on a beach at Saleen, near Tramore
in County Waterford.
It was 5.2 metres long.
BMLSS
Cetaceans
25
January 2015
A
Loggerhead
Turtle,
Caretta
caretta, was washed ashore alive but in a moribund condition on
the shores of County
Donegal, Ireland, facing the Atlantic. It was moved to Portaferry
"Exploris" Aquarium, County Down, N Ireland
for recovery and rehabilitation. The
problem is the seas around the British Isles are too cold for this tropical
turtle and these reptiles often die of hypothermia.
BMLSS
Turtles
10
January 2015
A
record British angling capture of a White
Sea Bream, Diplodus sargus, weighed
in at 1170 grams
and was caught off St Catherine's Breakwater, Jersey.
13
June 2015
Adur World Oceans
Day
Adur
was one of the UK leaders in presenting the fifteenth environmental exhibition
of World
Oceans Day on Coronation
Green,
Shoreham-by-Sea.
The
British Marine Life Study
Society presented the usual exhibition of
lobsters
and crabs.
The Friends of Shoreham Beach (FOSB)
took an active role with their display of the wonders of Shoreham
Beach. Wildlife writer Steve
Savage presented the whale
and dolphin exhibition with the life sized replica of a Bottle-nosed
Dolphin. Nikki
Hills on behalf of the Sussex
Wildlife Trust produced an interactive
display on the sea and seashore for the younger age group. David
and Marion Wood produced a presentation about
Widewater
Lagoon (brackish lagoon) LNR. Exhibitors were able to find the time
to answer questions about marine life.
Other
participants included Southwick
Camera Club with an exhibition of seascapes and marine life, and Colin
Knight and Mark Colvin
with a butterfly presentation on the behalf of the Sussex
branch of the Butterfly
Conservation Society.
World
Oceans Day on Facebook
United
Nations: World Oceans Day.
British
Marine Life News 2013
flickr
BRITISH
MARINE WILDLIFE
BMLSS
Oil Disasters page
