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Strange creature off Paignton
The MCS have been sent this image taken near Paignton. What is it? Bigger than a sealion, reptile-like head, long neck. Join the Facebook debate to try and identify it.
Mackrel Wars
Scottish MEP Struan Stevenson has called for an immediate EU-wide blockade of Icelandic and Faroese ships and goods as a row over mackerel quotas escalates.
The move has been prompted by Iceland and the Faroe Islands’ refusal to back down after massively increasing their mackerel quotas to 130,000 tonnes and 85,000 tonnes respectively.
The amounts fly in the face of scientific advice and international agreements and could lead to serious over-fishing, causing immense damage to the Scottish fishing industry.
Weever Fish?
Is it safe to go into the water? UK press may over play the situation. Here are some facts about our most poisonous fish to help you make up your own mind.weever fish info
Don't let go!
Balloon
suppliers are always stating how biodegradable latex
balloons are. Well now you can watch a balloon degrade
on line at
our website.
Don't hold your breath, I think it will be some time
before it goes pop.Please
join the Not
a Happy Meal Facebook group now.
Fish on Line
If you are concerned about declining fish stocks and the welfare of our seas the Marine Conservation Society FISHONLINE
website can help you identify which fish are from well managed sources and/or caught using methods that minimise damage to marine wildlife and habitats.
Are
you interested in studying one of the marine sciences
or taking up a marine science related career?
Then
visit our website for information you may find useful: Enter
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Then please forward a copy on to them. To
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Your Seas Your Voice
- We need your votes
- Vote for an MCS site
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Where did Summer Go?
This is the digital version of the MCS South East
Newsletter. This format includes extra features
compared to the pdf
version allowing access to material
on our website and the World wide web as well.
In this issue: Beachwatch 2010, new MPZ's announced, Enduro Challenge 2010 and UK government failing in it's duties?
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20th August - New protected areas around the coast
Fifteen new protected areas have been created around the coast of Britain where fishing and offshore wind farms will be restricted.
The new Marine Protected Areas are the first offshore habitats in the UK to gain protection under EU laws. The sites were chosen because they all contain rare species that are in danger of going extinct.
The most well known are reefs off Lizard Point and Land’s End in Cornwall where there is a colourful array of sponges, sea squirts and corals. Trawling will not be allowed in the area and fishing will be limited to protect rare species such as the multicoloured cuckoo wrasse.
Margate and Long Sands in Kent, Red Bay in Northern Ireland and North Norfolk sand banks act as nursery grounds for many commercial fish species such as plaice and sole whilst also supporting sand eel communities that are a food source for seabirds, porpoises and seals.
The seas around Lyme Bay and Torbay contain sea caves where a diverse community of animals live including sponges, anemones, soft corals and sea squids. The outer Thames Estuary and Liverpool Bay are now protected areas because of the red throated diver.
More remote areas like North-West Rockall Bank and Wyville Thomson Ridge off Scotland are also important sand banks that may one day be developed for offshore wind.
August Bank Holiday weekend - Enduro Challenge 2010
The Enduro Challenge 2010 takes place on the August Bank holiday weekend. This year our Deutsche Bank team take on Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital and UBS in this cross channel triathlon from Tower Bridge in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The challenge will test both physical & mental endurance & consists of an 85 mile running relay from London to Dover, a 30 mile swim relay from Dover to Calais and then lastly 180 mile cycle relay from Calais to Paris. This will take the team of 6 approximately 32 hours!
This year the team is fundraising for Marine Conservation Society (MCS) one of its Charities of the Year.
27th August 2010 - UK Government judged to be failing British people on access to environmental justice.The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) today announces, in a joint action with environmental lawyers ClientEarth, that it has won a ‘David & Goliath’ legal battle against the UK Government at the United Nations (UN). In a landmark ruling, the UN has judged the UK Government to have failed in its commitments to the Aarhus Convention - an international agreement – thereby denying ordinary British citizens fair access to the courts in cases about the environment.
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The monthly meetings start at 8.00pm in the function
room of the Holland Club at the Imperial College of London
SW7 2AZ. The nearest entrance is in Prince Consort Road.
Parking within the grounds is expensive but free on single
yellow lines in the surrounding public roads, after 6.30pm.
The nearest underground train is South Kensington. Meet
in the bar from 7.30pm.
You don’t have to be an MCS member to
attend the meetings and there is no charge, although
we do raffle
a bottle of wine to help pay for the room.
14th September - Richard Harpham – Big 5 Kayak challenge
The Big 5 Kayak Challenge is about a small team taking on five distinct and unique expeditions, paddling some of the most challenging water on the planet and they are also now ambassadors for the Marine Conservation Society.
“We saw the good, the bad and the ugly of the marine environment during our previous expeditions,” says Big 5 Kayak team member, Aisling Ni Chuinn, “so it seemed appropriate to get involved with this great charity.
We have been lucky enough to experience the most amazing marine wildlife at close quarters, including eagles, humpback whales, porpoises, dolphins, bears, orcas and seals”.
Expedition leader, Richard Harpham, has been travelling around the UK promoting the Big 5 challenges and the MCS campaign “Your Seas Your Voice” and on Tuesday 14th September, Richard will be presenting at the MCS South East Local Group meeting to speak about the experiences that he has had whilst exploring our amazing oceans. FREE, but a donation will be appreciated on the door.
12th October - TBA
4th November - "Scarier than Jaws!" and the MCS AGM
Huxley Lecture Theatre, Zoological Society of London Thursday 4th November 6pm
Rupert Murray, director of the iconic End of the Line film about overfishing in the world's oceans. He'll show extended clips and unseen out-takes from the film exclusively to an MCS audience. This is the talk that was cancelled in April this year.
9th November -TBA
14th December - Social evening at the Holland club.
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28th May - 5th September - ‘The Deep’, a special exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. Plunge into the abyss 11,000 meters down in the ocean. Less explored than the surface of the moon. See bizarre creatures, astonishing images and real specimens, some on display for the first time. Admission, £8 for adults.
18th September – London Beachwatch. There will be a joint event with Ocean Conservancy and the Bank of America at Cutty Sark, Greenwich followed by a beach clean with Thames 21 and MCS. Details to follow.
18-19th September – MCS Beachwatch are coastal environmental initiatives organised by the MCS involving local individuals, groups and communities in caring for their coastal environment. The MCS Beachwatch project is now in its 18th year with thousands of volunteers taking part every year, making Beachwatch the most influential fight against marine litter in the UK. Check the MCS website for details of where you can help out.
4 November - "Scarier than Jaws!" and MCS AGM
6pm Huxley Lecture Theatre, Zoological Society of London
Rupert Murray, director of the iconic End of the Line film about overfishing in the world's oceans, will be speaking at a special event in London on the evening of the 21st April. He'll show extended clips and unseen out-takes from the film exclusively to an MCS audience. You're invited!
Rupert is working on an exciting new film project, and MCS supporters and friends can hear first hand about this and listen to him reflect on The End of the Line, using selected excerpts from what the Sunday Express described as ‘Scarier than Jaws – a must-see documentary!’.
Advanced booking is essential.
Free Public Lecture Series, Autumn 2010 15/10 - 19/11/2010
‘Seas for Life’
Our oceans, their future and their biodiversity
Birkbeck Institute of Environment, University of London
in conjunction with the Ecology and Conservation Studies Society
15 October ‘Vulnerable ecosystems in the deep ocean and threats from human activities’
Professor Alex Rogers, Conservation Ecology, Dept. of Zoology, University of Oxford.
22 October ‘The Chagos Archipelago – What does the future hold?’
Rachel Jones, Deputy Team Leader, Aquarium, Zoological Society of London
‘Lundy Island – an underwater jewel in the Bristol Channel; and the urgent need for British Marine Reserves’
Paul Biggin, Chairman, Marine Conservation Society South East Group.
29 October ‘Living Seas, The Wildlife Trusts' vision for marine conservation’
Kirsten Smith, North Sea Marine Advocacy Manager, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, York.
5 November ‘There’s more to sea than water: plankton biodiversity and our changing world’
Professor Peter H Burkill, Director of SAHFOS, University of Plymouth.
12 November ‘The great ocean conveyer belt; benevolent current system or sleeping monster?’
Dr Agatha De Boer, Ocean and Climate Scientist, University of East Anglia.
19 November ‘Islands’ in the abyss - exploring life at volcanic vents on the ocean floor’
Dr Jon Copley, School of Ocean & Earth Science, University of Southampton
The Ecology and Conservation Studies Society welcomes new members. Details of the Society and application forms will be available at the door, and on our website
For lecture notes, dates and times goto Birkbeck Lectures 2010 on our website
or
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/environment/prospective/ecss Birkbeck's own site
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Oceanic Centre |
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If you’re in the Southampton area, Dr. Ken Collins of the Southampton Oceanographic centre arranges talks at 7.30pm on the first Thursday of each month. Times and subjects can be found on his website www.soc.ac.uk
4th November - Deep sea ridge biology - Claudia Alt
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Marine Life Identification Courses:
Please note the some changes to dates detailed in red.These popular courses have finished for this year but another four will be organized for June to September 2011. They include learning about the identification and basic biology of most of the marine species to be found by divers in UK waters. Saturday afternoon is spent under Swanage Pier, our very own underwater classroom, studying the marine life and some specimens are taken back to the lab for closer scrutiny under the microscope.
Underwater Photography Course: 18-19th September - Cancelled
A weekend course aimed at those just starting out with underwater cameras but also for those who want to improve their knowledge and skills.
Marine Ecology Course: 10-11th October
This is a follow-on course from the Marine Life identification course and covers marine habitats, communities and their environment.All these courses are held at Leeson House Field Studies Centre, Langton Matravers, near Swanage, Dorset. The cost £75, includes course notes and refreshments during classroom sessions.
N.B: All these courses also qualify as Seasearch Specialist courses. The courses all include a dive under Swanage Pier (our underwater classroom) or a shore walk for non-divers, to carry out practical coursework. For more details and booking information please contact Gerry Casey on 01923 231575 or gerrycasey.mcs@btinternet.com Booking forms for these courses are downloadable from our website at www.marine-conservation.org.ukWe are also prepared to travel to other locations around the country to run the marine life and ecology courses should it be required. Please contact Gerry Casey for details. Top |
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Information about this project including dates and
venues for training courses and surveys in 2010 can
be found on the following website www.seasearch.org.uk
which is regularly updated. The training courses
cover the Seasearch Observer and Seasearch Surveyor
qualifications with the aim of getting individual
divers and dive clubs involved.
At present there are 16 Observer courses and 6
Surveyor courses arranged at a number of locations
around the country. There are 8 specialist courses planned for this
year so far including sponges, seaweeds, nudibranchs
and fish ID (see the Seasearch website) as well
as well as the 5 MCS SE Group specialist courses
at Swanage throughout the summer (see above).Should you wish to organize a Seasearch course
for your dive club then contact Chris Wood on chris@seasearch.org.uk
who will put you in touch with a tutor in your
area. You can also join in with a course as an
individual. If you are on the Seasearch distribution
list, information of cancellations and last minute
spaces on surveys will be emailed to you.
Seasearch dives are organized at a variety of locations
around the UK and details will be found on the
Seasearch website. Below are some of those to be
found in the south east area:
Hants and IOW Seasearch
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
run Seasearch courses. They also organizes ‘Shoresearch’,
a project for non divers with an interest in
gathering data of marine life found along the
seashore as
well as Seasearch dives at weekends and week
days for those of you near the coast. These include
dives around the Isle of Wight. For dates and
further
information contact Amy Dale on amyd@hwt.org.uk
or phone on 01489 774444.
Projects here are organized by Kathryn Dawson
and Peter Tinsley from Dorset Wildlife Trust in
the Kimmeridge Bay area. Contact Kathryn Dawson
on kdawson@dorsetwildlife.co.uk or phone on 01305
217979. Dorset Autumn 2009 Newsletter
Sussex Seasearch
For Sussex Seasearch courses, survey locations
and booking, please contact Chris Williams, Natural
England on Christian.Williams@naturalengland.org.uk
or phone on 0300 060 0324.
The Kent Wildlife Trust organizes a number of Seasearch
courses in the Kent area. These include Observer,
Surveyor plus some specialist courses. Survey
dives follow on throughout the year but are dependant
sea conditions and water clarity.
For more details of survey locations and dates
please contact Bryony Chapman at bryony.chapman@kentwildlife.org.uk
or phone on 01622 662012.
The
East Anglian Seasearch group is run by Dawn
Watson and Rob Spray and can be contacted on divemouse@btinternet.com
or phone on 01728 600598. The group runs courses
and dives throughout the year. Also visit their
website at: East Anglia Seasearch Website
MCS Members Dives 2010
Last
year’s dive program covered most of
the UK coastline as well as some further a field.
Details of these dives can be found on the dedicated
website www.mcsuk.org/mcsaction/diverspages/mcs+members+dives
This site also includes reports from these dives
and will give details of the 2010 schedule.
If you would like details of future dives, booking
details and updates via email then simply enter
your details on the following mailing list: chris@seasearch.org.uk
or phone 07776 142096. Occasionally spaces come
up at the last minute and these will be emailed
out to everyone.
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Balloon Releases – A swift plummeted to the ground recently entangled in a spent balloon and its string into the garden of Fran Crowe, an artist based in Sudbourne in Suffolk. Luckily the bird was still alive and after being released from the latex balloon was set free again. Ironically, Fran is a supporter of MCS and its campaign ‘Don’t Let Go’. |
It appeared that the balloon had been released the day before during a charity event for Marillac Care in Brentwood, a nursing home for people with physical disabilities.
MCS and Fran Crowe immediately got in touch with Marillac to explain how their balloons had almost killed the swift and could have injured many others. (Full report on the MCS website).
Just a reminder that MCS are continuing to campaign against mass balloon releases used for other charitable events. The campaign is called ‘Don’t Let Go’. Although not against using balloons to promote events, when released, many find there way into the sea where they can be eaten by turtles and sea birds, causing serious injury and death. The amount of balloon debris found around our coasts has tripled in the last ten years. A coloured leaflets and posters with details of this campaign are available from the MCS head office.
We
have had some success with Clinton Cards who have
agreed to add warnings to their packaging and place
signs around their checkouts, warning about the possible
dangers to wildlife posed by balloons.
But
there has been no response from the CEO of McDonalds
who's balloons we continually find along the
North Kent coast during beach cleans.
Please
join the Facebook group "not
a happy meal" which
will be used to place pressure on companies to take
the balloon issue seriously. Numbers will count
here, the more people who join the more likely a
company (not just McDonald's) will take notice if
they think it could affect their income. Top
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Have you seen these Species? |
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Information on the following species
is required: See website for extra info + pictures
Have you seen the Carpet Sea Squirt?
The Carpet Sea Squirt (Didemnum vexillum) was only
confirmed in British waters in 2008. However, there
are strong concerns that it will quickly colonise a
much wider area as it has been found to do in other
countries such as New Zealand and the USA.
Along with other problems, based on current predictions
this species could cost mussel farming between £1.3
and £6.8 million over the next ten years. Other
impacts include potentially clogging fishing equipment,
biofouling boats and smothering native reef habitats.
It grows at a phenomenal rate smothering all other
native life forms.
It was found in Holyhead Harbour in North Wales in 2008
and more recently in marinas of the Clyde and on the
Argyll coast. In March this year it was found at marinas
in Gosport, Lymington and Cowes.
Other species to look out for: the Crawfish, Any sightings,
past and present are required and there is a survey
form on the ‘Seasearch’ website.
Seahorses – The Seasearch project is calling on
all divers to look out for and record sightings of
all pipefish and seahorses they see on their dives around
the UK. In last couple of years there has been a big
increase in diver sightings of the snake pipefish and
both species of seahorses.
Formerly rarely seen, the snake
pipefish has become
abundant at certain times of year, especially on North
Sea coasts, but unusual numbers of juveniles have been
seen in the Atlantic as well. A recording form can be
downloaded from the Seasearch website.
Jellyfish: A UK jellyfish survey has been set up by MCS.
Survey forms are obtainable from head office as well
as an A4, colour identification sheet.
Jellyfish are vital food sources to turtles, of which
a number of species are being sighted around the British
Isles; see ‘Basking Sharks and Turtles’ below.
Fanshell: MCS are still conducting surveys into sightings
of the large Fanshell (Atrina fragilis). Location, size,
numbers and damage are required. A leaflet is available
from head office. The fanshell lives partially buried
in soft mud and sand around the coasts of Britain, the
Mediterranean and the east Atlantic. These shells, related
to mussels and clams, can reach up 480mm in length.
Basking
Sharks and Turtles: Very little is known about these
magnificent animals, so should you be out and about,
on and under British waters during the year, ‘Basking
Shark and Turtle Watch’ Sighting Report Cards are
available from MCS, along with a report on the findings
so far.
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The MCS head office website at www.mcsuk.org will give
up to the minute information on events and news in the
marine world as well as details of the local groups in
the UK. The South East Group website can be found on www.marine-conservation.org.uk
The South East Group and MCS Head Office now have links
on ‘Facebook’ should you wish to contact
other members.
For more information about any of the above please contact
Paul Biggin (Chairman SE group) on 01923 662248 or e-mail
at paulbiggin2@googlemail.com
Details for the Marine Life courses run by the South
East Group can be obtained from Gerry Casey (Course coordinator)
at gerrycasey.mcs@btinternet.com
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Society Of Underwater Photographers |
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For
those of you with an interest in underwater photography
details of the British Society of Underwater Photographers
(BSOUP) can be found at www.bsoup.org They also hold meetings
in the Holland Club at Imperial College on the third Wednesday
of each month. The evening consists of talks on a number
of subjects and a competition of member’s photos.
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