"The paradox of the life sciences which makes them different in kind from physical science, is in the detail of nature everywhere. We see it about us in the birds, the trees, the grass, the snails, in every living thing. It is this. The manifestation of life, its expressions, its forms, are so diverse that they must contain a large element of the accidental. And yet the nature of life is so uniform that it must be constrained by many  necessities."

The second Shorewatch Newsletter for 1999 was sent out to members on 24 March 1999.
The third issue for 1999 was delayed first by a complete computer failure and then by a complete printer breakdown. It was eventually sent out to members on 5 June 1999. The main feature was on Biodiversity. 

Devon Wildlife Trust

Wembury Bay  Rockpool Rambles
Contact  Wembury Marine Centre  Tel:  01752 862538

Leaflet from Devon Wildlife Trust  Tel:  01392 279244.

World Oceans Day

150 other 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.

At the same Earth Summit Convention, they chose 8th June each year as World Oceans Day. Events will occur all around the world at this time of the year. The Adur representation to raise public awareness about the oceans included the Exhibition organised by the British Marine Life Study Society. 

BMLSS Exhibition & Official Links

It was an open exhibition and anybody was entitled to contribute artwork, photographs and factual information on marine life. 

EMails to: 
EMail Glaucus@hotmail.com   and marked "World Oceans Day 99" in the title of the message. 

Biodiversity for the Aquarist & Rockpooler

MarLIN Conference
Using Marine Biological Information in the Electronic Age
 

MarLIN  Marine Life Information Network (British Isles)

Coastal Visitors Centre
Salisbury Gardens
Dudley Road
Ventnor
Isle of Wight
PO38 1EJ

Tel:  01983 855400
EMail: coastcent@iwight.gov.uk

The Centre covers many aspects of the coastal zone, which include coastal flora and fauna, marine and inter-tidal archaeology, coastal defence and particularly coastal instability issues.

Husavik

The Whale Watch capital in Iceland is based at Husavik.  Sights include Blue Whales, Humpbacks, Orca, Minkes and Sei Whales, dolphins, porpoises, plus Northern Bottle-nosed Whales.

The page for whale and dolphin spotting around Britain has not been prepared yet.  If you are interested in marine wildlife, including marine mammals, and are planning a holiday in the UK, especially Scotland, it is work clicking on the image "SeaProbe" and having a look at the page:

Also

New Quay Dolphin Monitoring Group, Cardigan Bay, Wales
http://www.ceinewydd.co.uk/

Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the Moray Firth
http://www.highlanderweb.co.uk/dolphins.htm

Cornwall:

On Sunday the 13th and Monday 14th June 1999 I saw 3 Common Dolphins, Delphinus delphis, swimming off  Kennack Sands on the Lizard Peninsula. They were 2 metres long. The south Cornish coast is a good dolphin watching area.
 Report by Jake Scolding (Cadgwith)

Shetland Isles:

19 June 1999
A pod of 7 White-sided Dolphins, Lagenorhynchus acutus, visited Laxfirth Voe (central Mainland) this evening and a Minke Whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata, was spotted off Compass Head (Sumburgh).

For more cetacean reports click on the Shetland logo below:

22 June 1999
A ten mile oil slick was reported off the north-west coast of England near Barrow-in-Furness. The slick was composed of paraffin which spread rapidly across the surface of the sea and disappeared much more rapidly than crude oil. The oil threatened to enter the Duddon Sands and estuary. 
Oilspills Page

19 June 1999
A Grey Seal, Halichoerus grypus, was spotted in the fresh water reaches of the River Severn. Grey Seals usually inhabit the sea where there is more food and visits to fresh water are uncommon.

17 June 1999
A pod of 7 White-sided Dolphins, Lagenorhynchus acutus, visited Laxfirth Voe (central Mainland), Shetland Islands,  in the evening.
Shetland Wildlife News Web Site

15 June 1999
A Common Crane, Grus grus, was spotted at Aith in the Shetland Islands during the evening. On the 22th it was seen at Eswick on the East Mainland (of the Shetland Isles). 
Shetland Wildlife News Web Site

14 June 1999
A male Risso's Dolphin, Grampus griseus, was discovered 18 miles inland at Inistioge up the River Nore in County Kilkenny, Ireland. The dolphin was injured and in distress. An elaborate rescue was organised by the Irish authorities and volunteers. The dolphin was released into the sea near Dunmore Head and was seen swimming strongly. 
Report by Gavin Gerrard, Marine Mammal Rescue, Dublin.
Full Report Link

10 June 1999
A male Thresher Shark, Alopia vulpinus, was landed at Plymouth. It was caught in a bottom set net off the south Devon coast. The length was given at 4.04 metres (13 ft +), including the long tail fin which is equal to the body length.  The pre-caudal length was 192 cm. Thresher Sharks are usually uncommon summer migrants to the English Channel. However, there is believed to be a small resident population in the western English Channel, especially as the previous capture was in winter.
(Report from Doug Herdson, National Marine Aquarium at Plymouth.)
Shark Page

9 June 1999
Six Barrel Jellyfish, Rhizostoma octopus, were washed up on the sandy beach at Ravenglass, Cumbria, in the north-west of England. The definitive dark blue ring around the base of the bell was present but did not show up on the photograph. This jellyfish does not have stinging tentacles, unlike the similar looking Cyanea species, which are sometimes washed up on the same coast. 

Report and photograph by  Nikki Sheldon (EMail)

Norwegian Marine ***
These web pages are recommended for photographs of Jellyfish

June 1999
Ryan Williams and Brett Jose (Cadgwith, Cornwall) spotted a 120 cm long Leatherback Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, poke his head out of the water whilst they were fishing off Church Cove on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. A Newlyn fishermen also spotted one near the Isles of Scilly . 

30 May 1999
A small Electric Ray, Torpedo nobiliana, was caught by fisherman John Gillam off Brighton, Sussex. These fish are occasionally caught off the Sussex coast each year. What was unusual about this fish was that it was captured alive and put on display at Brighton Sea Life Centre.
1998 Report from Sussex.

A small 26 kg Porbeagle Shark, Lamna nasus, was caught off Brighton by Derek Dalmon. This is a rare capture off Sussex, but the second record this year.

May 1999
Basking Sharks,  Cetorhinus maximus,  have been seen in groups of up to 20 at a time from Start Bay (Dartmouth, Devon), and 12 around Land's End, Cornwall.
Basking Sharks 1998 Link

7 May 1999
A small (about 3 metres long) Minke Whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata,
was washed up dead under the cliff near Kimmeridge, Dorset. Although dolphins have been known to be stranded on Dorset shores, whale strandings are very rare this far up the English Channel. The whale was stranded about a couple of miles to the east of Kimmeridge Beach. This isolated part of the beach is only accessible without wading at low spring tides.

The whale can be seen from the top of the cliff. Minkes are the smallest of the baleen whales, only slightly larger than Killer Whales. 

 Aquaria with seaweed and animals 
from the Norwegian coast

Hello Andy Horton.

(I hope you understand my spellings. I guarantee you that my aquarium knowlege is a great deal better than my English knowlege) 

I have visited your web:
wetthumb.htm

I am delighted to finely have found a person that has an aquarium with animals from a Temperate Zone. I have only found tropical stuff.

I like to present to you this picture of my aquarium with seaweed's and animals from the Norwegian coast. 

We have succeeded with seaweed in a closed aquarium system. Do you have any experience, or do you have knowlege of others with seaweed in the aquarium?

My tank holds 260 litres of sea water. 

Are you able to get me in contact with people that shear our interest.

This was many questions, but I really would appreciate an answer from you.

Monicha Landøy
EMail: monlan@online.no

July 1999

• Andy Horton's Shore Watch column in the Aquarist & Pondkeeper magazine:
• Sand Dunes and Between the Tides

None reviewed this month

Life on the seashore
Life in the sea
The diversity of life
The animal kingdom
The ecology of the sea
Marine ecosystems
Exploitation and conservation of the marine environment.

The contact for a leaflet, details, etc is Heather Blackburn on 0115 951 3734,
ce-ugs@nottingham.ac.uk or try URL= http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cont-ed.

The fees are quite high since the government removed subsidies but reducable for low income earners.

Regards

Andy Colls
EMail:andy@collsj.freeserve.co.uk

 Sue Daly produces a Creature Feature every month on her web site.

We had orginally planned to bring this service to our  members. However, as Sue is already producing this series, I have decided to devote my energies to producing other information. 
 

Featured Species Trial DataBase:   Green Ormer  Haliostis tuberculata

A similar exhibition is planned for the year 2000. 
Print photographs should be sent in to Glaucus House from March 2000. They could also be used on the BMLSS web sites.
However, if you have a large selection of your own photographs, I would suggest that you should arrange your own exhibitions at a Local Library or similar venue. We will help to advertise the event. 

World Oceans Day:  Details of the BMLSS Exhibitions:

World Oceans Day

This is a simple project or request to members and readers of this Bulletin. It is to take pictures of the coast when you are next down on the shore. Even general views have value, but ideally we would like photographs of the shore showing the type of rock, topography and rock pools, dominant fauna, and information that cannot be described adequately by words on the Report Cards. 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. Transparency photographs are the best choice of film but these cannot be transferred to the web pages at the present time, but these will be suitable in the future. 
 

Photograph by Eileen Horton (Shoreham-by-Sea)

The British Marine Life Study Society Web Site has been included as an Encylopaedia Britannica Recommended Site and included on the BBC On-line Internet Guide.
 
 

NEW
The WaterWeb Ring [ Prev 5 | Prev | Random | Next | Next 5 ]                          [ List | Add ]	The Water Web Ring
Friends of the Earth SSSI Navigator http://www.foe.co.uk/wildplaces/intros/intro2.html	Useful site to identify SSSIs  If the URL has changed, please go to the FOE Homepage.
	BIOSIS and the  Zoological Society of London
	For young scientists. Some services are free, others require a subscription
U.K ANGLER'S SHARKS, SKATES AND RAYS	For anybody interested in British sharks, this site is a must.
CoralRealm	"A coral reef marine life education web site with 1000 fish, sharks and rays in a searchable database."

Dungeness, Kent, England Orford Ness:  Coastal Ecology of a Shingle Bank (excellent references) Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Shoreham Beach	Shingle Beach sites
Worldwide Sea Anemone DataBase(External Site)

Aquarium Net	Internet Publication for aquarists with extensive marine coverage.  Very Good.
Fishing News Homepage	Recommended, especially for books.
	Contains information on seals and   photographs.
Seaweb	Links and News Bulletins
ENN (Environmental) News  ***	News and campaigns
Planet Ark (Reuters)	News
Sea Mammal Research Unit	Update on seal populations, diets,   telemetry  etc.
Profusion Search Method	One of the best Search methods for   environment and serious information.  Multiple Search Engines.
Capt. Tom's Guide to New England   Sharks, USA	Really useful stuff on shark recognition.

BMLSS  GATEWAY 1

BMLSS  GATEWAY 2:   Britain & Europe

BMLSS  GATEWAY 3:   America & the Rest of the World

UK BIODIVERSITY
FISHBASE FISHFINDER
CHANNEL ISLANDS MARINE WILDLIFE PAGE
NORWEGIAN MARINE WILDLIFE
PUBLIC AQUARIA DATABASE
SHETLAND NEWS WEBSITE
BRITISH MARINE FISH DATABASE (UK SEA FISHING)
including the EBlast Internet Search method                                              incorporating  Alta Vista
BBC Web Guide
SHARK TRUST (EUROPEAN ELASMOBRANCH ASSOCIATION BRITISH BRANCH)
FRANK BUCKLAND & THE BUCKLAND FOUNDATION
MarLIN Marine Life Information Network
National Geographic
Dept. of the Environment, Transport & the Regions  - Press Releases -
EUCC   European Union for Coastal Conservation
Aquatic Conservation Network

UK DIVING INFORMATION

DIVER MAGAZINE

BRITISH SUB-AQUA CLUB

Some of the images may not display if you have changed your directory for downloaded files.