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.
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30 December 2003
Approximately 500 - 750 Common Dolphins, Delphinus delphis, were seen in Falmouth Bay, Cornwall, between 11.30 am & 12.00 pm, heading towards the Lizard. The dolphins were seen made from the Orca-Seafaris boat by Keith Leeves, Suzi Gilpin, Caroline Curtis, Gary Hawkins, Dan, Phil & Dave Jarvis & others.

Report by Dave Jarvis on the Cornish Wildlife Mailing List

28 December 2003
A rorqual whale of over 30 tonnes is washed up dead on the sandy shore of the bay of Audierne, between Tronoën and the Torch, near Plomeur near Quimper, southern Brittany, France. Samples have been taken by Oceanopolis, Brest (Public Aquarium) who identified the species as a Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalis, that had recently died and measured  19.5 metres in length. 
Full Report

Report by Nicolas Jouault
on the Marine Mammals of the English Channel Smart Group

19 December 2003
A "superpod" of thousands of dolphins was spread over about two and a half miles off Nare Head, on the Roseland Peninsula, Cornwall. The species involved is the Common Dolphin, Delphinus delphis, of all age groups including calves and mothers. Other small cetacean species were possibly present. These superpods are a rare once in a lifetime event around the British coast, but very large pods have been seen off the Cornish coast in recent years, the previous one occurring at the beginning of the year. The superpod was accompanied by sea birds including Gannets feeding on Mackerel, and Guillemots.

First News Report by Franck Dupraz et Océane Grège via UK Cetnet

18 December 2003
Two Humpback Whales, Megaptera novaengliae, were seen near The Hague (Den Haag), Zuid-Holland. They were discovered by the local department of the lifeboat association who prevented the whales from swimming towards the coast. At dusk they lost the animals near ´s-Gravenzande, some 10 kilometres south of The Hague. The animals were estimated to be 8 and 18 metres long. They were not seen by any of the local sea-migration watchers; the Humpbacks were identified by the pictures made by one of the members of the lifeboat. The identification was confirmed by Kees Camphuysen.
This is the first record of living Humpbacks for the Netherlands. 
Full Report on UK Cetnet
Photograph

Report by Vincent van der Spek via UK Cetnet

Report by Jan Wouter via UK Cetnet

Report by Jamie Duffie via UK Cetnet

5 December 2003
A medium-sized Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus, was landed at Plymouth Fish Market. It was caught about 24 nautical miles east of Lizard Point, SW Cornwall in a mid-water pair trawl. Adult Bluefin Tuna are no longer caught regularly caught off England and the last one on record was caught in 1968. 

Report from Doug Herdson (National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth)
 on the Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Group

4 December 2003
Walkers along the coast at Bovisand in Devon were treated to a rare sight as a five metre long whale was temporarily stranded close to the shore in Heybrook Bay (next to Wembury Bay, east of Plymouth). It has been identified as a Northern Bottle-nosed Whale, Hyperoodon ampullatus, after originally being identified as a Pilot Whale. The malnourished whale was spotted by a walker, Steve Blackhouse, who quickly rang the Coastguard. Bottle-nosed Whales are rarely seen in the English Channel, normally preferring in waters up to 1,000 metres deep, off the continental shelf.
"Western Morning News" Report
Marine Mammals of the UK Smart Group
British Marine Life Rescue Report
BMLSS Cetacea
 

1 October 2003

The young eight months old Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaengliae, was washed ashore dead on the the coast of Katwijk, with the tail and a part of the right flipper missing, with some thin ropes, blue and red/orange in the wounds.

Links for News Reports:

Helford (Cornwall) Marine Conservation Area

Friends of Moray Firth (NE Scotland) News Page

Sussex at Sea News Page

Cornish Marine Wildlife News

Cornish Marine Sightings Archives 2003

Each month, at least one special marine image will be published from images sent to the BMLSS. This can be of the seashore, undersea world or any aspect of the marine natural world, especially the underwater life, but not restricted to life beneath the waves. Topical inclusions may be included instead of the most meritorious, and images will be limited to the NE Atlantic Ocean and adjoining seas, marine and seashore species and land and seascapes.

Montagu's Blenny, Coryphoblennius galerita, in a barnacle shell, photographed  by Robert Patzner in the Azores.  This small blenny is found on some Cornish shores.

Fishbase Portfolio by Robert Patzner Coryphoblennies galerita (Fishbase) BMLSS Blennies

Grey Seal  Photograph by Kevin Robinson, CRRU Cetacean Research & Rescue Unit (CRRU)

Colonial hydroid Nemertesia ramosa from Skomer Island, SW Wales Photograph by Hanna Nuuttila BMLSS Cnidaria

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 150K in size.

Shore Topography Portfolio
 

Click on the album for more links (On-line link)
 
 

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.

Plymouth

Talks Series 2003

  Facilities are available for schools, linked to the national curriculum. 

All talks are on Tuesdays and start at 7:00 p.m.
at the National Marine Aquarium, Coxside, Plymouth Devon.
Admission – Adults £2.50; Children and NMA members £1.50, inclusive of refreshments will be available.

Please reserve your place by calling the Aquarium on 01752 275204
 

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Unless otherwise stated, seminars are held on Fridays at 4:15 pm
in the SAMS Conference Room ** Followed by the Friday R&R **
 

For more details on the forthcoming talks, please contact Murray Roberts  or Anuschka Miller  Tel: 01631 559 000  Diary

For information contact Dr Hamish Mair  or Anuschka Miller  Tel: 01631 559 000
 

A series of monthly talks on marine conservation topics
These talks are open to the public, admission is free.
 

The Marine Life Talks are held on the first Thursday of the month at 7.30 pm, please arrive at 7.15 pm to be met in Reception. Southampton Oceanography Centre is reached via Dock Gate 4 (between Town Quay and Ocean Village). Please confirm that the talk is taking place before arriving unannounced. 

21 August 2003

'Atlas of cetacean distribution in north-west European waters' 

Click on this text for the full information including ordering

Price £17.00 from the Natural History Book Service (www.nhbs.com),
or phone +44 (0)1803 865913. 

More Information

Download Page

BMLSS Man's Impact on the Marine Environment

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SHRIMPING FOR FOOD AND FUN

Local shrimper Peter Talbot-Elsden, from Southwick (Sussex), has produced a small booklet called “Shrimping for Food and Fun” about catching the brown shrimp around the coasts of Britain. The shrimps are caught in nets and the book features the various methods, firstly the push-netting seen over the sand in shallow water in spring off the Sussex coast. The famous Morecambe Bay shrimps were originally captured by cart shanker shrimping with a horse and cart in deeper water off the Lancashire coast, later replaced by a tractor. At Formby, they experimented with amphibious vehicles after World War II. Nowadays, most commercial shrimping on the east coast around King’s Lynn trawls from small boats using a net off the stern. Shrimps are often cooked on board.

A complimentary issue of this booklet was sent to BMLSS members. 

The 28 page book contains 40 photographs of shrimping through the ages. It is available through Bookworms of Shoreham and other booksellers and museums at £3.50. 
The booklet is also available through the British Marine Life Study Society, but at £4 including postage and packing. 

Disappearing 
Giants
The North Atlantic Right Whale
SCOTT KRAUS and KENNETH MALLORY
Bunker Hill Publishing
in association with New England Aquarium
ISBN  1 59373 004 7

ICE ISLAND
Expedition to Antarctica's Largest Iceberg
Gregory S. Stone
Published by New England Aquarium

GREAT BRITISH MARINE ANIMALS	by Peter Naylor
published by Sound Diving Publications	ISBN  0 9522831 4 X
Available from

 
MOLLUSC  WORLD

Published by the Conchological Society

The British Marine Life Study Society are responsible for producing the journal GLAUCUS, which is the first publication exploring the marine life of the seas surrounding the British Isles available to the general public. 

We also publish the quarterly SHOREWATCH Newsletter and
the TORPEDO Electronic News Bulletin. 

The Glaucus 2002 CD-ROM was sent out to Premier BMLSS members in January 2003. 

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Change of EMail Address
 

Please note that the EMail address for messages to the British Marine Life Study Society has now changed

from bmlss@compuserve.com  to  Glaucus@hotmail.com

Messages to the first address will not receive any guarantee of a reply and from year 2003, the old EMail address is expected to fall into disuse. 

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Membership 2004
Plans have not ye been finalised for the publications and subscriptions for year 2004. An explanation was sent to members just after Christmas. 
 

These pages are not designed for the default settings on the Page Set-ups of your browser. I recommend viewing in Microscope Internet Explorer 6 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 other web page editors, 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.

Some of the images may not display if you have changed your directory for downloaded files. The images may also not display properly if your settings on your EMail software do not allow you do this automatically. When received in Pegasus the format is changed slightly, but the bulletin is still readable.