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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6 February 2005
I found a beautiful creature dead on Climping Beach (west of Littlehampton); it looked like a dolphin, but it did not have the long snout. The Harbour Porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, was a blue/light grey in colour. It was not damaged and looked as though it had only recently died. It was just under a metre in length. The condition of the Porpoise seemed perfect, not a mark on it, no damage at all. Just lying there, glistening on the beach, eyes open, mouth a tiny bit open. 

17 January 2005
A Thresher Shark, Alopias vulpinus, was seen just off the quay at Mevagissey, Cornwall. It was circling and feeding on a shoal of anchovies, flicking its tail about and small fish could be seen flying into the air. Unfortunately by the time the fishermen who observed this told Chris Gilbertson, of Mevagissey Aquarium, the shark had stopped feeding and moved away.

13 January 2005
Hundreds of Sea Cucumbers were amongst the wreck of animal remains discovered on the Dinas Dinlle beach west of Llanwrog (south-west of Caernarfon), north-west Wales. 
 

They were scattered all over the strandline and shore with other remains including the common Mermaid's Purses (egg cases of the Dogfish: a small shark) and the decaying carcass of a dead Seal. Sea cucumbers are an unusual animal washed up between the tides. They belong to the taxon (Class) Holothuroidea, are similar to starfishes and classified in the same Phylum Echinodermata. 
Gulls scavenged for anything edible, but they showed no interest in these creatures. 

The sea cucumber looks like Thyone fusus can be found as far north as Norway grows up to 20 cm.

9 January 2005
A post storm check of Thurlestone (south Devon) beach for stranded cetaceans or oiled birds revealed my first ever UK sittings of by the Jack-by-the-Wind-Sailors, Velella velella, several hundred, some as just the chitinous float and sail. I have never noticed them before in Britain but I saw millions on beaches in SW Corsica last May. There was no sign of the predatory Violet Sea Snails, Janthina sp., often (rarely in the UK) associated with this creature or tropical seeds but three species of Cuttlefish were present in reasonable numbers.
Lots of Large (Turban) Topshell, Gibbula magus, and Necklace (Moon) Shells Polinices sp. were washed up on Slapton Sands, Devon.

2 January 2005
A juvenile Bottle-nosed Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, was discovered on a remote north Cornish beach at Gwithian, near Hayle. This is unusual as it is usually Common Dolphins, Delphinus delphis, that are washed up, often killed in fishing nets with a total of 220 recorded in 2004. 
In this case it seemed to be heavily scarred with fresh "rake marks", wounds inflicted by the sharp teeth of one or more other dolphins, which may have attacked the individual. This behaviour has been seen in Bottle-nosed Dolphins off America.
It is not known why they occasionally attack one another but fatalities appear to be
confined to fights between males. If the post-mortem confirms that this was the case, it will be the first recorded incident of its kind in the UK.
Link to Photographs

1 January 2005
A Sunfish, Mola mola, was washed up on the beach at West Runton, near Sheringham, north Norfolk. 
 

Although this fish is frequently seen off the south and western coasts of Britain during the summer and autumn, sightings and strandings in the North Sea are much less common.

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.

The 'jaw' shown in the current glaucus looks more like a tail of a ray with those rows of large dermal denticles. Suggestion by Dr. Gerald Legg (Booth Museum of Natural History, Brighton, Sussex) QUERY THREE Would anybody like to suggest how large this Lobster was when it was alive? Photograph by Chris Lloyd

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.

Photographers submitting pictures should indicate if they wish them to be considered for inclusion as confirming permission takes work and time and can delay publication of the news bulletins. 

Shore Topography Portfolio
 

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

PORCUPINE MARINE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Offers of talks and/or posters, either on the theme or on any appropriate subject, are welcome now. We shall attempt to accommodate talks of from 20 to 30 minutes into the programme. Please specify equipment requirements.

Speakers so far include:
 

Wednesday 27th April, 7.00 pm - 8.30 pm

Earthwatch Lecture at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London

Grey Whales & Orca - Feeding Habits & Health

© Chris Newman

Our oceans are powerful indicators of the state of our planet and the incidence of climate change.  There is currently much public interest in whales and their environment, but the information is often poorly reported or interpreted.  Join us to hear about our research into two charismatic species, the coastal grey whale, which can weigh between 30 and 40 tonnes, and the killer whale, the most fearsome predator of the world's oceans - research which also tells us about the health of the oceans they inhabit.

Admission is free but by ticket only.

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Marine fish & invertebrates
of Northern Europe
Frank Emil Moen & Erling Svensen

In May 2004 the English edition of the very popular Norwegian Marine Fauna (Dyreliv I havet) was published. Prof. David Bellamy has written the foreword. 

More than one thousand underwater photographs  and 608 pages with updated information on marine fish and invertebrates from nearly all marine phylum in Northern European waters. The largest newspaper in Norway, Aftenposten gave the Norwegian edition 6 out of 6 points in a book review. It is in use at all major higher marine biology studies in Norway. 

The English edition is translated by Prof Fredrik Pleijel and Dr. Sabine Cochrane. 
The book is available from Aquapress in the UK, Skandisk, Inc. USA and KOM in Norway .

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 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 2005
Plans have not yet been finalised for the publications and subscriptions for year 2005. 
 

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