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| MARINE
LIFE 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
23
May 2016
A large
cliff fall occurred of the chalk
cliffs at Seven
Sisters (west of Beachy
Head) on the East Sussex coast. Over ten metres of the land crashed
thousand of tonnes of chalk rocks into the sea when the tide
was high. The friable chalk is subject to
erosion and sudden cliff
falls can be treacherous for cliff walkers and also for rockpoolers
searching the chalk platform underneath.
Cliff
Fall Reports facebook
Coastal
Topography Gallery flickr
Birling
Gap Cliff Fall 2014
 16
- 23 May 2016
A
pod of about six Killer Whales, Orcinus
orca, including a three month old calf,
were spotted and photographed
off the Caithness
(NE Scotland) coast by wildlife watcher Karen
Munro on 16 May 2016.
The
pod were identified as a pod who spend the winter around Iceland feeding
on shoals of Herring.
The pod was spotted by Alan
Airey (Seawatch) in the Moray
Firth on 23 May 2016 and
was found by North
58 Sea Adventures to comprise of one bull,
three females, one juvenile and a calf. In
the last few years the same pod of whales have visited the Moray Firth
annually.
Moray
Firth Orca
Moray
Firth Dolphins
15
May 2016
A most
unexpected sighting of a juvenile Bowhead
Whale,
Balaena
mysticetus, occurred in shallow waters
at Long
Rock Beach, near Penzance,
Mount's
Bay, Cornwall. It is a species of right
whale usually only found in icy Arctic seas and there has only been
one
previous report last year. This juvenile
whale was about 7 metres long, but they can
grow up to 18 metres, and after the Blue Whale
they are heaviest animals (up to 90 tonnes) on the planet, with the longest
baleen
plates and the largest mouth. The
whale
was first spotted by regular marine mammal observer and medic, Dave
Jarvis of British
Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), and
first recognised by whale researcher Marijke
De Boer on a Marine
Discovery Penzance boat.
A brief
video footage shows the double blow of this whale species which together
with its distinctive shape confirms its identity. The
head is distinctive and this whale lacks a dorsal
fin.
28
April 2016
A spectacular
discovery of the skull and antlers of Red
Deer were recovered from the 3500 year
old petrified fossil forest
revealed on the low spring
tides on the shore at
Borth,
Ceredigion,
on the
Cardigan Bay
west coast of Wales. Researchers from the
University
of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Lampeter, confirmed
that the find was preserved at the same time of the forest.
Submerged
Forest at Borth (exposed)
Photograph
by Bicky
Submerged
Forests of Wales
 24
April 2016
A
most extraordinary and unexpected discovery of a dead young male Narwhal,
Monodon
monoceros,
washed
up in the River Schelde
at Bornem in Antwerp
Province, was the first found on mainland European shores for over a century.
Only
the male Narwhals
have the single (usually) long ivory tusk. It is a toothed
whale almost always discovered in small
pods north of the Arctic Circle, so it was 1000 miles off course.
FORUM
NEWS
Marine Wildlife
of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Mailing Groups
.jpg)
Marine
Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean
Yahoo
Group
New
Group:
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Glaucus
British
Marine Life Study Society
facebook
Page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/glaucus/
This
is designed for quick less important chatty news items. Photographs can
be uploaded quickly which is only possible on the Yahoo Group by going
to the web page.
Images can be
uploaded to flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/glaucus/
Wet
Thumb (Marine Aquariology) Forum Link
|
Lots
of marine wildlife reports from Shetland on facebook
Photographs
include undersea, sea mammals and birds.
Click
on the image to connect |
All
reports by Andy Horton unless the credits are given
to
other observers or reporters.
Cornish
Marine Wildlife (Ray Dennis Records) 2009
|
PICTURE
GALLERY
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.
Mauve
Stinger
Pelagia
noctiluca
Photograph
by Mark Thomas
A splendid
study of one of the smaller jellyfish medusae
that inhabit the seas around the British Isles during the summer. This
colourful example shows the oral
arms and features of this jellyfish
clearly, even though the tentacles seem to be contracted.
Unusually this short lived (up to six months) Mauve
Stinger does not have a bottom stage
in its pelagic
life style and reproduces planula
larvae that develop directly into ephyrae,
young medusae. It has a reputation as a strong stinger, but reports vary
from mild to extremely painful with lasting marks. As an open water species
it is more commonly found off the south-western shores of Britain. I do
not have any reports from the southern North Sea. It is reported when the
jellyfish is found in bathing waters or is washed ashore, sometimes
occurring in enormous numbers.
BMLSS
Pelagia
Shoreham
Beach
looking
towards Southwick
with Brighton in the
background.
June
is the best month of the year for the flowering
plants
of the shoreline above the high water mark.
Flowers:
Silver
Ragwort, Red Valerian
Kidney
Vetch, Starry
Clover, Sea Campion
Thrift,
Childing Pink, Tree Mallow
Click
on the images for the original photographs or links to more images
flickr
MARINE
LIFE of the NE Atlantic GALLERY
Shorewatch
Biological Recording
Gallery
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Shore
Topography Series
The
name of the particular coast should be included and any other interesting
information including 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
1 Mb in size.
Bay
of Laig, Isle of Eigg
Inner
Hebrides, SW Scotland
Photographs
by Niall Corbet
Fascinating
coastal topography and the white quartz
sandy beach from the Bay
of Laig on the north-western side of the island of Eigg
with a cloudy view of the Rùm
Cuillin mountains on the nearby island of Rùm.
The strange smooth rock shapes are sculptured Valtossandstone
through
erosion over
the millennia, and by concretion.
This is in contrast to the sharp jagged shape of An
Sgùrr the inselberg
peak of volcanic pitchstone
on the basalt island.
Classic rock pools are covered by the high tides.
Geology
of Eigg
Wildlife
is rich and varied on Eigg because of the different terrestrial habitats
in an island area of 11.8 square miles surrounded by sheltered seas with
a rich marine life
including whales and dolphins.
Nature
on Eigg
Birds
of Eigg
Plants
of Eigg
Click
on the images for the original photographs or links to more images
flickr
British
Coastal Topography
.jpg)
facebook
British
Coastal Topography
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
First
enquiry by EMail
to Glaucus@hotmail.com
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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.
Click
on the album for more links (On-line link)
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| PUBLIC
AQUARIA NEWS |
| Public
Aquaria List |
| CETACEAN
NEWS |
|
? What
to do if you find a stranded whale or dolphin ?
|
If
you find a LIVE stranded or injured whale or dolphin on the beach you must
send for help QUICKLY. A whale or dolphin stranding is an emergency and
the speed of response by a professional rescue team is perhaps the most
crucial factor in determining whether or not an animal can be returned
to the sea alive.
|
ENGLAND
|
WALES
|
SCOTLAND
|
|
0300 1234
999
|
0300 1234
999
|
0131 339
0111
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|
CORNWALL
|
JERSEY
|
GUERNSEY
|
|
0845 201
2626
|
01534 724331
|
00 44 1481
257261
|
Would you know what to
do if you found a whale stranded on a beach?
Each year anywhere between
five and 50 whales, dolphins and porpoises are washed up on Britain's beaches.
British
Divers Marine Life Rescue, a volunteer charity, was set up in 1998
to rescue them.
BBC
News Report
LINK
TO THE STRANDINGS PAGE
|
|
PUBLICATIONS
&
WEB PAGES
BOOKS
PUBLICATIONS
NEW
BOOKS
Shallow Seas (Collins
New Naturalist Library)
by
Peter Hayward (Author)
The
Marine World: A Natural History of Ocean Life
The Marine World
Includes
sections on all but the most obscure marine groups, covering invertebrate
phyla from sponges to sea squirts, as well as plants, fungi, bacteria,
fish, reptiles, mammals and birds
Incorporates
information on identification, distribution, structure, biology, ecology,
classification and conservation of each group
by:
Frances Dipper (Author), Marc Dando (Illustrator), Mark Carwardine (foreword)
544
pages, 1500+ colour photos, colour & b/w illustrations, colour tables
Wild
Nature Press
Click
on the book pictures for more information
The
Essential Guide to Beachcombing and the Strandline
This
richly
illustrated guide will become a steadfast companion for beach visitors
wishing to identify what the sea washes up
By:
Steve Trewhella (Author), Julie Hatcher (Author)
304
pages, colour photos, b/w illustrations
Wild
Nature Press
ESSENTIAL PURCHASE
*****
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Encyclopaedia
of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland
http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/index.html?item=about
Marine
Fauna of Norway
http://www.seawater.no/fauna/e_index.htm
WET
THUMB (Marine Aquariology)
EFORUM
PAGE
BMLSS:
Marine Life Articles in Publications (Link)
|
SOCIETY
INFORMATION
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. In
future, I expect the publication to be in an electronic format.
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EMail Address
EMail
address for messages to the British Marine Life Study Society
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Membership 2016
Please
join the facebook
group for free. Formal membership of the Society has ceased. Back
copies of previous issues are still available.
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Bulletin
Details
For
technical reasons, TORPEDO is no longer being sent out by EMail. It is
simply easier to view the bulletins on the web pages.
Subscribe/Unsubcribe
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BMLSS-Torpedo
The
Bulletin is designed to be viewed on Internet Explorer using medium fonts
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Viewing
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27 May 2016
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Copyright
2016 ©
British Marine Life Study Society
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