January 2002
At least 50 small cetaceans, mostly dolphins, have been washed dead up on English Channel coasts during this month. Dolphins are washed up dead every year, but there seems to be at least double the normal numbers this year. Although, the cause of death is not known for sure, most people seem to think that fishing activities are to blame. The cause of the increase is less clear; it could be because of the bad weather has washed more ashore, it could be because more are being caught because of increased dolphin numbers, or increased fishing effort, or it could be because more people are reporting their grisly discoveries.
More information can be found on the following efora:
Marine Mammals of the English Channel Smart Group
UK Cetnet
Cornish Wildlife Mailing List

BBC News Report
Report Numbers for Stranded Cetaceans
BMLSS Cetacean Page
Sea Watch Foundation
Cornish Marine Wildlife Reports 2001 (by Ray Dennis)
Whale & Dolphin Society Report & References

26 January 2002
Along the stretch of coast from west end of Whitsand Bay (Seaton) to Par, and especially Hannafore Point and Looe Harbour beach very many small cuttlebones as you describe over last week, mostly Common Cuttles, Sepia officinalis, but also smaller numbers of Elegant, Sepia elegans, and Obigny's, Sepia orbignyana. The unusually large number of adult Common Cuttles (100-180 mm) too, sometimes numbered several hundred. The situation is difficult to monitor accurately as the stormy weather tends to deposit the cuttlebones, then remove them at the next high tide and (presumably) drop them again elsewhere. These large concentrations I have noted before in previous years after prolonged periods of strong south-west winds, so would suggest that it is likely that weather conditions are causing the unusually high number of strandings of these floating objects. 

BMLSS Cuttlefish Page

19 January 2002
A Cuckoo Ray, Raja naevus, was discovered in a rock pool in Cove Harbour , Berwickshire, SE Scotland, by Ben Tindall, Harbourmaster. It was an adult full grown specimen at 60 cm. The shallow water species of ray is rarely recorded in pools, although the Thornback Ray, Raja clavata, has been recorded in very shallow water in February in the English Channel. The Cuckoo Ray has not been extensively studied. It is a southern species  found all around Britain and in the Mediterranean Sea and it lays its egg cases all through the year with possibly a peak in January. This ray could have found its way into the rock pool as a result of fishing activities. This ray is common off this North Sea coast and has been recorded in harbours before.

11 January 2002
Dogwhelks lay eggs after a 25 year absence
Kingston Beach, Shoreham Harbour, Sussex. 
A notable discovery were large Dogwhelks, Nucella lapillus, averaging 50 mm in length (all a dirty white colour) and one group were laying their egg capsules. This was unknown on this shore since the TBT pollution wiped out the breeding population in the 1970s. A chemical component called tributyltin in anti-fouling paints caused female Dogwhelks to develop a condition called imposex which prevented them from breeding.
Full Report
Dogwhelk page
Trouble with Dogwhelks

6 January 2002
Donny Nicolson reported a decomposed Leatherback Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, washed ashore on the Dale beach at Walls (west Mainland) in the Shetland Isles. 

3 January 2002
A 2.88 metres long female Pygmy Sperm Whale, Kogia breviceps, was washed up dead on Thurleston Beach in Devon. This is an extremely unusual stranding of a deep sea whale. Scientists from the Natural History Museum in London have taken DNA samples in an attempt to discover from which population this whale came from. The cause of death was unknown. This species is much commoner in the southern hemisphere. The presence of a population west of the Bay of Biscay is possible. This whale is classified as a Vagrant in the British Cetacean List.

3 January 2002
A deep water trawler after Blue Ling and Hake etc. caught a female  Giant Squid, Architeuthis dux, amongst the large haul of fish. With a mantle length of 127 cm it is a medium-sized specimen with some of the tentacles missing. Therefore, the total length could not be measured, but it is estimated to be about 5.5 metres with a weight of about 60 kg. the specimen will be prepared for display at the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth, ‘Creatures of the Deep' zone from May 2002.
This is believed to be the 25th Architeuthis recorded in British waters since 1673.  Fifteen have been stranded on the shores of the British Isles, nine caught in fishing gear and one found in the stomach of a Sperm Whale.

According to the Guinness Book of Records 1991, the largest squid found in British seas was an Architeuthis monachus found at the head of Whalefirth Voe, Shetland Isles on 2 October 1959. Its total length was measured at 7.31 metres (24 ft).

However, details of this record may be called into question as it is included in the List of British & Irish Strandings in year 1949 with a mantle length of 1.2 metres.
On this list the largest measured specimen had a mantle length of 1.75 metres and was stranded in Cove Bay, Aberdeen on 8 January 1984. (My estimate of the total length would be nearer 6.7 metres or 22 ft.)

The world's largest species is Architeuthis dux.
EuroSquid
BMLSS Octopuses and Squids Page

1 January 2002
More Triggerfish, Balistes capriscus, are washed up dead on Cornish shores. The Hocking family (Sue, Richard, Emma and Rebecca) found eight Triggerfish on Porthtowan beach, Cornwall. 
Reports from Stella Turk (Link)
Previous Report
 

21 December 2001
A Slipper Lobster, Scyllarus arctus, was caught in a lobster pot at a depth of about 60
metres about 3 miles south east of St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly , just before Christmas by Barry Bennett. Realising that it was an unusual and interesting find Barry put it in a display tank, which he maintains in the Harbour Master’s Office in St Mary’s.
Scyllarus arctus is a warm waters species found in the Mediterranean, and in the Eastern Atlantic from Morocco to the English Channel but is rare north of the Bay of Biscay.  They live on stony ground, in caves, and can also be found on muddy bottoms or in seagrass beds.  They use the large spade-like scales at the front of the head to burrow into mud,
sand or gravel between and under stones. Only 15 have been confirmed from British seas all from off Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly or off Plymouth.
Full Report
Full Report (CD-ROM only)

This page can be used by members to report finds, ask questions, queries over identification, concerns about environmental issues etc. This eForum is participated in by members of many groups studying the marine environment. Go to menu bar above and click on Database and then on Marine Life Organisations to find a list of web sites. 

Photographs and illustrations are best uploaded to the Document Vault and should not exceed 75K in size (*.JPG).

During the month of January all Smart Groups were disrupted by a "Denial of Service" attack but by the beginning of February all services seem to be back to normal.