Many people are happy, and patting themselves on the back after finding the first baby sea horse at one of the leading breeding colonies in Dorset.

The tiny fry, what you call a tiny baby seahorse, discovered at Studland Bay is 4 centimeters in length.

Displayed sea horse is not from the dorset population.

The Seahorse Trust has claimed that the seahorses are an endangered animal, as many boats and mooring chains are taking big hunks and tearing up the seabed.

The Marine Management Organization, a government entity, has said that although research has been ongoing into the subject, there was no conclusive evidence that mooring chains are a threat to seahorses.

The Seahorse Trust is pushing for the protection of these amazing animals under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, which came into existence in 2008.

“The trust and its volunteer divers have seen adults, pregnant males and juveniles on the site before but never a baby (fry),” a representative of the Seahorse Trust has commented.
“It does not mean they are thriving, quite the reverse, they appear to be hanging on in there against the odds of hundreds of boats dropping anchors and mooring chains ripping up the seabed, destroying their fragile home.”

The main goal of the Seahorse Trust is to get those nasty moorings replaced with more environmentally sound ones which do not damage seagrass, and for boat users to switch to these new devices.

Hopefully the discovery of this new baby seahorse will prompt some more interest in the issue, and something will be done to help protect these magnificent sea creatures.

Angel Shark - credit Philippe Guillaume

Fishermen have managed to reel in an edangered species of shark off Plymouth and experts are saying that it could be the very last of its kind swimming about the UK waterways. It very well might be. The angel shark is classified as a “critically endangered” species, and has been believed to be extinct in the North Sea, and is very nearly so in other areas of the Mediterranean. It is thought that there are large pockets of them floating around the Canary Islands, and many environmentalist groups are pushing for urgent action to prevent this magnificent species of shark from disappearing off the face of the planet.

The extraordinary catch, identified as an angel shark, was brought ashore to the Barbican Fish Quay market this past Tuesday.

Some resident experts at the Marine Aquarium has said that this is the first time an angel shark has made an appearance in a UK fish market since 1998.

In April of 2008, the UK Government granted the angel shark full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. This means that it is illegal to fish them, trade them, export them, and sell them. However, the animal has yet to be added to the OSPAR Priority List of Threatened and Endangered Species, even though the proposal to get it on there was deemed appropriate the by Study Group on Elasmobranch Fishes, the general motion was quashed and the nomination rejected.

The fisherman who reeled in the shark, got into contact with the aquarium to tell them of the mistake – that they had inadvertently reeled in an angel shark which was about 1.2 meters in length.

An employee of the aquarium, John Crouch, explained: “Globally this species is listed as critically endangered and it was thought to have been fished to extinction in the North Sea in the 1990s.”

“This may well be the last of its species ever to been seen in UK waters.”

He went on to explain that this species of shark are especially vulnerable to accidental fishing, such as bottom trawling, because they generally prefer to make their homes in shallower waters closer to shore and are sometimes caught by any number of fisheries in the area.

He went on to add: “The angel shark is especially vulnerable due to its very long life span, around 35 years, and the fact that they do not mature until they are in their teens.”

“That’s a very long time to evade being caught when each fishable part of the North Sea is trawled seven times each year. It is thought that there are still populations of this species around the North of Africa and off the Canary Islands which is perhaps where this one came from.” John went on to explain that most of the native shark species have seen a recent decline of 90 percent since the 20th century began due to overfishing and hapless fishermen.

Alligator Snapping Turtle

A fisherman, Steve Bellion aged 23, was out at Earlswood Resevoir angling for carp when he caught a little more than he bargained for. He managed to reel in a 57 lb (27 kg) reptile!

He dragged it to shore where it was easily identified as an 80 year old alligator snapping turtle. This is a rare catch indeed, as these turtles are generally only found in the eastern corners of the United States.

This has solved a rather puzzling mystery for the local fishermen. There has been many a tale told for a decade, of a giant creature biting through lines and roughing up ducks.

Alligator snapping turtle

The ancient Alligator Snapping Turtle, identified as being female, was transferred to the West Midland Safari Park, where it is going to be held in quarantine for the customary 30 days and checked over by the veterinary team there.

Alligator Snapping Turtles can live to be 160 years old, making it one of the longest living creatures to be hauled to shore in the area.

Once it has finished being checked over, it will be transferred to a vivarium with a male of the species.

“They have been known to attack small domestic pets or children, but I don’t think this one would have drifted to far from the water.” stated the director of wildlife at the safari park, Bob Lawrence. At first glance it seems that the turtle is in perfect health, as it should be after gorging itself on the local wildlife.

He went on to add that this really brings to light the danger of introducing foreign species into Britain’s waterways, much the same way that American signal crayfish have created quite a dip in the UK’s national crayfish population.

The fossilised skull of a gigantic predator has been found off the English Channel coast of southern England.

The skull is 2.4 meters long and scientists believe it once belonged to a 16 meter long pliosaur which probably weighed an impressive 12 tons.

The pliosaurs were a type of ocean dwelling reptiles that dominated the seas roughly 150 million years ago.

The man behind the discovery is fossil hunter Kevin Sheehan from Dorset who gradually uncovered the remains of the fragmented skull over a number of years.

“In 40 years of collecting, I have often been green with envy at some of the finds other people have made“, said Sheehan. “But now when someone shows me a find, I can say ‘That’s not a fossil, this pliosaur, that’s a fossil’.”

The fossilised skull is 90% complete and clearly shows the jaws of a powerful predator.

“These creatures were monsters”, says Dr David Martill, a palaeontologist from the University of Portsmouth. “They had massive big muscles on their necks, and you would have imagined that they would bite into the animal and get a good grip, and then with these massive neck muscles they probably would have thrashed the animals around and torn chunks off. It would have been a bit of a blood bath.”

Martill suspects that the skull may belong to a species of pliosaur that haven’t been unearthed until now.

“This is one of the largest, if not the largest, pliosaur skull found anywhere in the world and contains features that have not been seen before“, he explains. “It could be a species new to science.”

The skull has been purchased by the Dorset County Council and will be displayed in the county museum.

Europe’s first artificial surf reef is now undergoing its final adjustments to be ready for the start of the UK surf season in September, and it is already attracting surfers.

”Even as the finishing touches are made to the reef body boarders have already been surfing the hollow, powerful barrels that it was intended to produce,” says Paul Clarke of the Bournemouth Surfing Centre. ”It will put Boscombe on the map as the top south coast surfing spot. The water here is between three to five degrees warmer than around the rest of the country which makes the season longer as the water is still warm into the autumn.”

Dr Kerry Black, managing director of ASR Ltd, designed the Boscombe surf reef after travelling the entire Pacific Rim measuring 44 of the world’s best surf breaks to recreate a world-class wave.

Large geo-textile bags pumped hard with sand have been fixed to the sea bed 225 metres from the shore where they will mimic the effects of a natural reef. A reef does not create waves, but it pushes the naturally occurring waves upwards and shapes them into the powerful barrels coveted by surfers. The Boscombe artificial reef is expected to double the height and number of good surfing days. On days with good swell, the reef is expected to provide grade five waves.

”Like any major construction project, there are extensive checks to be undertaken before we can say the project is complete, says ASR Ltd technical director Shaw Mead. ”We are now starting to make all those checks thoroughly and according to the agreed specification and I remain confident that we will finish in September as scheduled.”

The £1.4 million project is part of the £8 million Boscombe Spa Regeneration Project funded through the sale of a seafront car park to a company that will use the space to build flats.

After being boosted by the recent heat wave, massive amounts of zooplankton is now attracting record numbers of basking sharks into British and Irish waters.

Last year, 26 basking sharks were reported from the most southerly headland of Cornwall during a 10 week long period. This year, 900 sightings have been recorded since the beginning of June.

“Last year we had a really poor year because of the weather. But even though temperatures have obviously picked up, we never expected to see the sharks in such large numbers,” saysTom Hardy of Cornwall Wildlife Trust, coordinator of the south-west basking shark project.

Record breaking numbers of basking sharks are being reported from the other side of Irish Sea as well. In June alone, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group reports having seen no less than 248 basking sharks.

“In a three-day period we tagged more than 100 sharks in just one bay in north
Donegal,” says Simon Berrow of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. “You only ever see five or six of these creatures on the surface, which doesn’t reflect what’s going on under the water.”

From the Isle of Man, 400 sightings have been reported since early May.

‘”We saw a lot more in May than is usual and after a couple of quiet weeks sightings are picking up again,” said Fiona Gell, marine wildlife officer for the Isle of Man government.

Very little is known about the basking sharks, but the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group is currently carrying out a pioneering tagging project in hope of furthering our understanding of these basking giants. Simultaneously, the 47 wildlife trusts found across the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney are working to identify basking shark hotspots.

This Sunday, a mile-long super pod consisting of over 1,500 dolphins was encountered by eight lucky Sea Trust volunteers off the coast of Pembrokeshire, UK.

The volunteers were doing a small boat survey when suddenly confronted with what they first thought was a blizzard in the distance.

“As we approached, we realised that the ‘blizzard’ was thousands of gannets* spreads out over a mile or more,” said Sea Trust founder Cliff Benson.

The enormous pod, consisting of adult dolphins and their offspring, formed a veritable wall as they hastily rushed thought the water, probably in pursue of fish.

“They just kept on coming pod after pod passing by the boat some came and looked at us but most just kept on going”, said Benson. “The gannets were like an artillery bombardment
continually diving in with an explosion of spray, just ahead of the line of dolphins.”

According to Benson, the pod was most likely the result of many smaller pods that had joined together to follow a huge “bait ball” of fish.

In August 2005, a similar super-pod was filmed off Strumble Head, and last weeks spotting of a second one has caused Benson to suggest that super-pods might be a regular phenomenon in these waters.

* Gannets are a type of large black-and-white birds.

Sea Lamprey spawning sites have been discovered in the River Wear at Chester-le-Street, County Durham, by local anglers. After being alerted by the fishermen, the Environment Agency found no less than 12 spawning sites, known as redds, measuring up to a metre across.

“We were thrilled to discover lampreys back in the River Wear as these rare blood-suckers show us that the water quality in the river is very high“, says Environment Agency fisheries officer Paul Frear. “Lampreys are extremely selective with their spawning sites and will only nest where the water quality is optimal. Today, only three species of this blood-sucking creature remain in Britain and their habitats are protected by an EC directive.”

The lamprey feeds by attaching itself to another animal with its suction-cup like mouth and, once in place, gradually rasps away tissue from its host. The largest specimens are roughly 100 cm long, but most lampreys are smaller than this.

If you see a lamprey or a lamprey redd (nest) in the UK, please report the sighting directly to Paul Frear by e-mailing him at paul.frear@environment-agency.gov.uk.

As reported earlier, invasive sea lampreys have caused serious problems in North America where they lack natural enemies.

Picture is from North America where the lamprey have caused serious problems.

A moray eel species native to warm tropical waters have been caught in the considerably colder waters found off the coast of Cornwall, UK. (picture here)

After catching the 4 feet (120 cm) long fish, West Penwith fishermen brought it to the Newlyn Fish Market auction where it was purchased by fish dealer John Payne of Marisco Fish in Penzance.

”I thought it shouldn’t be there, realised it was rare and it shouldn’t be swimming in these waters so I decided to buy it. It is a one off and first of its kind found in these waters”, said Payne who plans to stuff the eel and keep it in his shop.

Rory Goodall of Cornwall Wildlife Trust has never heard of a tropical moray eel being caught this far north before. “They are not rare in the Mediterranean but I have never heard of them being seen here so it’s possible that they have never been caught in the British waters before”, he said.

Moray eel of the species Gymnothorax meleagris.
Copyright www.jjphoto.dk.

The European River Otter (Lutra lutra) which was once almost eradicated from British waters is beginning to make a come-back thanks to improved environmental care and the reintroduction of captive-bred specimens.

Now, anglers and fishing clubs are calling for more research, governmentally funded fences, and – in some cases – even the right to cull otters. Some fishing clubs have already closed down after having their stocks devoured by otters, while others have been forced to lower their fees since they have less fish to offer than before. Clubs are also spending thousands of pounds on restocking their ponds.

Until the 1970s, otters were hunted in the kingdom using special otter hounds, and the population also suffered greatly from the consequences of habitat destruction and pollution. The use of pesticides proved especially fatal and in the 1970s the population was almost completely gone. Thanks to pollution control, habitat restoration, and a ban on otter hunting, the UK has however once again became a favourable country for this aquatic predator and the reintroduction of captive-bred have proven highly successful. Otters are now living even in urban rivers.

Dr Tony Mitchell-Jones, a mammal specialist from Natural England, said that otters had been released into the wild at the rate of more than seven a year between 1983 and 1999, but that no captive-bred otters had been released since then.

When the last large-scale survey was carried out in 2003, the European river otter was found in more than five times as many areas as in 1979.

On June 9, a meeting will take place in Hemel Hempstead were representatives of the Angling Trust, the Environment Agency, Natural England, and the Countryside Council for Wales will discuss the issue of otters competing with anglers for fish. The Angling Trust has announced that they will exact government support for special otter fences in an effort to quieten calls for a cull.

Mark Lloyd, the chief executive, said: “What we need is public funding for fencing because fisheries are important economic units that provide people with their livelihoods. What has to be stressed is that anglers are not anti-otter. If I see one when I’m fishing on a river it makes my day.”

Nick Pottle, secretary of the Lakeside angling club, near Lowestoft, said: “Our lake is now all but empty of fish, we have two families of otters that have cleared the fish out. The Environment Agency say we must put up a fence to stop the otters at our expense as we would not qualify for a grant. That is the end of our club.”

The Angling Times, a journal for sport fishers, are calling for more research into otter predation. Richard Lee, its editor, said: “The slaughter of these animals has been driven underground. It is already going on. If you watch £20,000 worth of stock disappear in just a few days – what are the owners going to do? We are desperate for research so the issue is fully understood. We don’t want random culling. But we want to stop fisheries’ owners taking the law into their own hands. We need some proper research with all the options on the table.”

One of the reasons behind the belligerent situation may be another man-made environmental problem: the disappearance of the eels. During recent years, the number of eels has fallen dramatically in British waters. Eels are the otter’s staple diet and as long as there are plenty of eels the risk of otters attacking trout, salmon, pike, and similar species is low. However, as the eel population wanes the otters are forced to look elsewhere for food – causing confrontations between them and fishermen who do not like to see vast amounts of highly prized fish species ending up in the belly of an otter.

Many anglers refuse to publicly discuss otter hunting, fearing that public opinion will turn against them if they openly call for culling. On of few anglers openly arguing in favour of culling is Ian Chillcott, one of the country’s leading coarse anglers and a fishing writer. “Fisheries are being absolutely destroyed by these cuddly, little murdering blighters”, Chillcott said. “Livelihoods are being ruined but everyone is afraid to use the word ‘culling’. No one wants widespread mass slaughter, but there is a need for very targeted culling. It has to be done in a controlled way and not indiscriminate. No one wants to get rid of them, just for them to be better managed.”

Mitchell-Jones does not think that licensed killing of otters will take place anytime soon.

“Things are looking much better for the otter but it is not yet back everywhere it should be. Control of otter populations is likely to be discussed at the meeting tomorrow. I’m not going to prejudge the situation but there is a presumption against the licensing of killing of protected species unless there are extremely good reasons for doing so. For culling, you would have to show that the control would contribute to the solution of a problem.”

In the mean time, there are indications of some landowners and fishermen taking the law into their own hands. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act it is an offence to kill an otter, punishable by a £5,000 fine or six months in prison. Otters can only be hunted with a special licence and not a single one of these licenses has been issued. Despite this, some anglers have told reporters of otter hunting taking place in the British countryside.