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| The
Glaucus 2001 CD-ROM has
been sent out to Premier Members for last year. This information packed
disc contains the British Marine Life Study Society
web pages and other wildlife information (some not available through
the web site). This was a limited distribution copy because of technical
difficulties and the the next CD-ROM to be produced will be the Glaucus
2002 CD-ROM.
Details
of the availability of the new disc will be available to British Marine
Life Study Society members as soon as possible. |
MARINE WILDLIFE
NEWS
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.
22
June 2002
The
Phocine
Distemper Virus has been identified as
the cause of a new increased total of 461 Common
Seals,
Phoca vitulina, carcasses
tested in Denmark, with a further 150 in Sweden and dead seals also recovered
on the shores of the Netherlands.
First
Report for 2002
Ananova
News Report
21
June 2002
Summer
Solstice 2:11 pm.
20
June 2002
A Cuvier's
Beaked Whale, Ziphius cavirostris,
was stranded alive on the south end of the beach at Ostend, Happisburgh,
Norfolk, eastern England. A rescue attempt was made in the evening by the
Norfolk coastguard and RSPCA, but sadly the whale beached and died overnight.
The
stranded whale is an adult male, with two protruding teeth, pale head and
beak and shows extensive scarring over the dorsal surface, particularly
between the blow hole and dorsal fin. This stranding is unusual for a deep
water whale which on the rare occasions when they are washed up on western
British coasts they are in a badly decomposed condition.
Earlier
Report (probable)
BMLSS
Cetacea
An
estimated 30 plus Basking
Sharks, Cetorhinus maximus,
were seen this morning between Longships and Brisons off the south-west
of Cornwall.
19
June 2002
Goose
Barnacles, Lepas anatifera, are
washed up on a plank at Borth-y-Gêst, near Portmadoc, north Wales
(Tremadoc Bay, north bit of Cardigan Bay), and these attracted the curiosity
of the public.
Report
by William Galvin (RSPCA)
BMLSS
Barnacles
15
June 2002
An
extremely unusual record of a live stranding of a female Atlantic White-sided
Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus acutus,
on the sandy beach outside of Newhaven harbour, East Sussex occurred in
the early evening. The tail muscle was in such poor condition that the
experts on site decided on euthanasia. They were also able to confirm the
identity of this deep water northern species that is a rare discovery in
the English Channel. There was no hourglass pattern like a Common
Dolphin with the yellow zone behind the dorsal
fin and the distinctive patterns could be seen clearly. The
last
English record on the BMLSS records occurred of a specimen washed up
dead on the north Devon coast in 2000. This species is seen occasionally
around the Shetland Isles but other reports are exiguous.
On 18-19
June 2002, five Atlantic White-sided
Dolphins were seen close inshore in Uyea
Sound , Unst in the Shetland Isles. Unst is the most northerly island in
Britain. Uyea is a small island to the south of Unst separated by the Uyea
and Skuda Sounds.
Reports
of the Atlantic White-sided Dolphin 1998 - 2000
Bionomics
of the Atlantic White-sided Dolphin in the NE Atlantic (Link)
Shetland
Isles (map)
Bionomics
Link (for CD-ROM only)
12
June 2002
A
crab fisherman found a specimen of the pelagic crab called the 'Sargassum'
or 'Gulf Weed Crab,' Planes minutus
on a float, which was covered in barnacles.
The float was found in the Big Russel between Herm and Sark to the east
of Guernsey, Channel Islands. This crab is rarely recorded from the English
Channel.
Report
from 2001 (Link) on the Belgian coast
BMLSS
Crustacea
> 10
June 2002
The
bodies of more than 310 Common Seals,
Phoca
vitulina, have been washed up on the Danish and Swedish coasts, raising
fears of an epidemic of the highly contagious and usually fatal
Phocine
Distemper Virus. The origin of the the
outbreak on the Kattegat and Skagerrak coast of Denmark and south Sweden
prior to the breeding season is the same place as the 1988 epidemic which
quickly spread to the east coast of England and killed about 2000 seals
in the Wash (60% of the population).
The
virus causes pregnant seals to abort their pups, pneumonia and nervous
system abnormalities including convulsions.
BBC
Norfolk Report
BBC
National News Report
BMLSS
Seals
8 June
2002
Official
WORLD
OCEANS DAY
World
Oceans Day was first declared as 8th June at the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992. Events will occur all
around the world on and around this day.
World
Oceans Day offers the opportunity for people in many parts of Britain and
around the world to increase their understanding of the marine environment
and wildlife of the oceans.
World
Oceans Day Events page
JELLYFISH
SPECIAL REPORTS
By-the
Wind Sailor (Colonial Hydrozoan)
27
May 2002
"Millions"
of Velella velella, the By-the
Wind Sailor were discovered by Nick
Darke on Porthcothan Beach, Cornwall. They
are freshly dead, the float having the animals or at least fragments of
the soft tissue, still present. They are probably all along the north coast,
especially at Perranporth, so I will be interested to have an idea of the
maximum density per sq. metre. The last really big incursion was in June/July
1981 when
Rennie
Bere counted 150 to 200 per sq. metre, as
they came in on the tide (i.e. not heaped up in catchment areas) and he
estimated 100,000 for the stretch of shore at Bude.
Many By-the
Wind Sailor were also discovered washed
up further east on the shore at Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset.
c.
9 June 2002
Thousands
of Velella are washed up on the north Devon strandline
from Westward Ho!, Croyde and Woolacombe.
On
30
May 2002 thousands of Velella
velella were also washed up along
the tide line on the beach at Nicholston Burrows on the Gower peninsular,
South Wales.
By 5
June 2002 there were millions of Velella
velella washed ashore on Rhosilli beach, a west facing beach
at the end of the Gower peninsula in south Wales.
Thousands
of dead, dried Velella on the beach at Caswell Bay, South Gower,
with quite a few live ones bobbing around in the surf too on 10
June 2002.
By 8
June 2002 the swathes (thousands) of Velella
looked like a 300 metres band of oil washed up on the shore at Freshwater
West, Pembrokeshire, SW Wales, from below the car park to Little Furzenip.
There was a distinct smell of rotting sea life.
On 4
June 2002 many washed up Velella were
discovered hidden amongst the pebbles on Aberystwyth south beach, west
Wales on the Cardigan Bay coast.
Underside
of Velella
Photograph
by Richard Lord
By
15
June 2002 millions of Velella had been
washed up on the sandy beach of Porth Ty'n Twyn, on the south-west coast
of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) between the small towns of Aberffraw and Rhosneigr.
The Velella formed five separate strandlines and the stink of the
decaying animals was horrendous.
On 2
June 2002 I have had two reports of hundreds
of Velella velella being washed
up on the South of the Isle of Man, one report from Scarlett Point and
another at Chapel Bay, Port St. Mary.
Also by
10
June 2002, Graham Mercer and the Harbourmaster
at Portpatrick, reported thousands of Velella
from the inner and harbour at Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway,
Scotland. This is the most northerly record so far of the current strandings
and they were not known to the local fishermen.
On
15-16
June 2002, smaller numbers of Velella
were washed up here on the Isle of Cumbrae. This appears to be the first
record in the Firth of Clyde (which has been fairly well studied since
the 1880s at least!).
13 June
2002 found thousands of Velella were
washing in on Kilmory Bay, Sound of Jura, Argyll, Scotland. There was a
lot of foam along the tideline at the time and they were quite fresh. This
is a south-west facing bay inshore of Islay and Jura in the western islands
and the furthest north record for 2002.
9 June
2002
Large
numbers of dead Velella along strandline of sandy beach at Kilmore
Quay (SE Ireland). Estimated to be in excess of 300 Velella
per metre of strandline for about 50 metres (= 15000). They were
a bit dried out so must have been there for a few days.
23 June
2002
The
first dead Velella is washed up on a Sussex beach at Bognor rocks.
This is the most easterly record so far up the English Channel.
Report
by John Knight (West Sussex
Countryside Rangers)
BMLSS
Velella
velella
Bionomics
of Velella (notes)
Barrel
Jellyfish Rhizostoma octopus
7-9 May
2002
Whilst
on Colin Speedie's Basking Shark survey last
week we were almost continually among the jellyfish Rhizostoma
octopus (from Lands End to Fowey, Cornwall), some areas had
particularly dense aggregations of them.
Huge numbers
of
Rhizostoma octopus
were seen between Falmouth and the Lizard, Cornwall.
5-7 May
2002
There
have been reports of jellyfishes from the Cornish and Devon coasts,
including Rhizostoma octopus
at 50 cm diameter with a purple rim to the bell stranded near the swimming
pool at Devil's Point (Western Kings) on the Plymouth foreshore on 7
May. Richard White
(of Devon Wildlife Trust) saw lots of
Rhizostoma at Church Cove
on the Lizard, Cornwall, on 5 May.
A
report arrived via Brixham Coastguard from a member of the public; that
a large jellyfish (one metre across) had been found in the Imperial Recreation
Ground in Exmouth, Devon, on 6 May 2002.
Large
numbers of jellyfish up to one metre in diameter are also reported from
off Chesil beach and around Portland Bill, and also the Erme estuary and
Bigbury Bay (south Devon). It seems this is a year of exceptional abundance
for Rhizostoma octopus. (Several
reports.) Sea
temperature = 12° C.
Aquascope
Photographic and Fact File for Rhizostoma
octopus
By
1
June 2002 the
Rhizostoma
octopus had reached as far east as Sussex with one specimen of
nearly a metre in diameter washed up at Shoreham
Beach.
Adur
Nature Notes (Spring 2002) for Shoreham Beach Nature Reports
23
June 2002
At
least 15 Rhizostoma octopus
jellyfish, ranging in size between about 10 cm to 60 cm in size were washed
up on Studland beach in Dorset.
|
|
The
British Marine Life Study Society web pages are available for permanent
reference on the CD-ROM.
The
Homepage can now be accessed by typing in:
http://www.glaucus.co.uk
Sub-directories
cannot be accessed directly through this domain.
Please
send any reports of missing links and images to: Glaucus@hotmail.com
FORUM
MARINE
WILDLIFE
of
the NORTH-EAST ATLANTIC OCEAN
EFORUM
PAGE (LINK TO)
Forum
for discussion about the marine life of the North-east Atlantic Ocean,
including the North Sea, English Channel and all the seas around the British
Isles including Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands,
Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal.
 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).
Smart
Groups was out of operation for one week in June, but it is now working.
The Message Archive "Search Messages" facility is promised to be working
again during July 2002. |
|
DIARY
In
chronological order, the most recent events are at the top of the page.
Events open to the public, free or for a nominal charge only are included.
Most Seminars need to be booked in advance
BIOSIS
Conference Calendar for Zoology
(Major
Link of all biological conferences around the world)
SAMS
Seminar Series
The Scottish
Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory,
Dunbeg, Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA
Tel: 01631 559000 Fax: 01631 559300
Email: mail@dml.ac.uk
For more details/how to find SAMS
see our website: http://www.sams.ac.uk
Unless otherwise stated, seminars are
held on Fridays at 4:15 pm
in the SAMS Conference Room
** Followed by the Friday R&R **
| 12
July |
David
Nairn
(SAMS / UHI) |
Mechanoreception
in halibut larvae |
| 9
August |
Aditee
Mitra
(SAMS / UHI) |
Of
Microbes and Models..... |
| 23
August |
Dr
Kate Willis
(SAMS) |
Toxicity
of sea lice medicines to non-target marine copepods. |
| 6
September |
Sarah
Swann
(SAMS) |
Fish
otoliths – a mine of information? |
|
|
Southampton
Oceanography Centre
|
Marine
Life Talks 2002
|
Southampton
Oceanography Centre
|
| 4th
July |
Camouflage,
commensalism and critters
-
Alex Mustard |
| 1st
August |
Marine
life of SE England - Lisa Browning |
| 5th
September |
Walking
the dog whelk - Simon Bray |
| 3rd
October |
|
| 7th
November |
Fishy
tales - Peter Henderson |
All
welcome, entry by free ticket only. Children under 12 must be
accompanied
by a responsible adult. Please send s.a.e. to:
Daphne Woods at SOES, Southampton Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14
3ZH.
Stating
the DATE, TITLE of the TALK, and NUMBER of tickets required. Entrance to
Southampton Oceanography Centre is through Dock Gate 4, please ask for
a map if required. Free parking on site, wheelchair access and facilities
for those with disabilities.
For
further information contact Daphne on 023 8059 5075 or
email
dw1@soc.soton.ac.uk
|
Diary Page
(Link)
GATEWAY:
LINKS TO OTHER SITES
The
British Marine Life Study Society Web Site has been included as an Encyclopaedia
Britannica Recommended Site and included on the BBC
On-line Internet Guide.
There
are more entries on the GATEWAY pages of the BMLSS
Web Site. The logos for the various organisations have been removed to
reduce the size of this file.
Quick
reference links:
PUBLICATIONS
NEW CD-ROM
This CD-ROM has
not been extensively tested yet. It proves an interesting introduction,
but not a comprehensive guide. For the practical method of trying to put
a name to an plant or animal you find in the wild, it is not inclusive
enough.
Available through
the Kent Ornithological Society.
NOW AVAILABLE WITH
THE CD-ROM
THE SPECIES
DIRECTORY OF THE MARINE FAUNA AND FLORA OF THE BRITISH ISLES AND SURROUNDING
SEAS.
Edited
by C. Howson and B. Picton
Ulster
Museum & the Marine Conservation Society 1997.
About
£27.50 (including CD-ROM 1999)
The
project to collate the species that live in the seas off Britain is an
ongoing project. The Directory is a list of all the species grouped systematically
according to their scientific names, with a comprehensive bibliography.
The 1997 edition, not available until 1998, is the latest list and is useful
on the rare occasions (about once a week for me) that I have to look up
a vagrant, unusual species that is not listed in the usual identification
books.
Now
available with the CD-ROM, this proves useful list of all the species for
professionals, but it could be improved to make it more useful, e.g. facilities
for biological recording and an interchange with Recorder 2000.
MCS
books On-Line
BMLSS:
Marine Life Articles in Publications (Link)
PHOTOGRAPHS
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. They should not
exceed 100K in size.
 Click
on the album for more links (On-line link)
Shore
Topography Portfolio
|
| Printing
the two column version of Torpedo (from issue 28)
These
pages are not designed for the default settings on the Page Set-ups of
your browser. I recommend viewing in Internet Explorer 5 and altering the
right and left hand columns in the Page Set-up menu to 9 mm (from 19 mm).
The
page set-up can also be amended in Netscape Composer, and this has the
advantage of enabling the specified number of pages to be printed and the
information about the file (name, path, date) to be deleted. |
FULL MEMBERS 2002
British
Marine Life Study Society membership information was sent out with the
Shorewatch
newsletter in January 2002.
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you are unable to view this file with all its images through your EMail
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