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.
Puffins
on the Isle of May
The
Isle
of May is a National
Nature Reserve in the Firth
of Forth on the east coast of Scotland.
During the height of the breeding season, over 200,000 seabirds of twelve
species nest on the island, including Puffins,
Black-legged
Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Guillemots, Shags, Terns and
Eider
Ducks. There are 68,000 pairs of
Puffins
on
the Isle of May compared with only 10,000 in 1982
and less than ten in 1959.
Researchers from the Centre for Ecology
and Hydrology, which has been monitoring the island's puffins since
1972,
recorded a drop from 69,300 pairs in 2003
to 41,000 pairs in April 2008.
Boat
trips are from Anstruther.
RSPB
Isle of May (John Bulpitt FRPS)
Puffin
Decline
Marine
Protected Areas Mapper (UKMPA)
Photograph
and Comments by Niall
Corbet
with
further research by Andy Horton
The
shallow water around the Isle of May is dominated by Kelp
Forests, Laminaria hyperborea. The
algal grazer, the Edible Urchin, Echinus
esculentus, was prevalent in the Kelp
zone which extended to the greatest depths of 13 metres on the east coast
of the island. Cnidarians were varied and prevalent
especially the common species the Dahlia
Anemone, Urticina felina,
and the smaller Sagartia
elegans. Wrasse
were the most common fish seen: the Ballan
Wrasse, Labrus bergylta, and
Goldsinny,
Centrolabrus
rupestris.
Seasearch
Isle of May Reports
Dive
Sites: Isle of May
flickr
BRITISH
MARINE LIFE GALLERY
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Shore
Topography Series
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 250K in
size.
Sea Stacks on the Isle
of May
Photograph
by Niall Corbet
The
Isle
of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately
8 km (5 miles) off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is just 1.8 km long
and less than half a kilometre wide. The island is owned and managed by
Scottish
Natural Heritage as a National Nature Reserve.
The
rocks on the Isle of May are a "fine grained basalt
of a dark-grey colour with tinges of green and Greenstone" (Source: Wikipedia).
The island is treeless and rugged.
NB:
I think the stacks are most likely to be of sedimentary rocks like Carboniferous
Limestone. The
geology of the island is varied.
Scottish
Geology: Midland Valley
Scottish
Sea Stacks (Suite 101)
Isle
of May: Historical Perspective
A stack
is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column
or columns of rock in the sea near a coast. Stacks are formed when part
of a headland is eroded by hydraulic
action*, which is the force of the sea or water crashing against the
rock. The force of the water weakens cracks in the headland, causing them
to later collapse, forming free-standing stacks and even a small island.
Stacks can provide important nesting locations for seabirds, and many are
popular for rock climbing.
*Rainwater
may also be contributory.
Sea
Stacks (Wikipedia)
Isle
of May Geograph
The
Isle of May supports a breeding colony of Grey Seals, Halichoerus
grypus. The site is the largest east coast breeding colony of grey
seals in Scotland and the fourth largest breeding colony in the UK, contributing
approximately 4.5% of annual UK pup production.
JNCC
Special Areas of Conservation Allocation
Establishment
of Marine Environmental High Risk Areas (MEHRAs)
BMLSS
Seals
flickr
British
Coastal Topography
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