Porcupine Newsletter Number 9, November 2001
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PORCUPINE MARINE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY NEWSLETTER November 2001 Number 9 ISSN 1466-0369 Porcupine Marine Natural History Society (www.pmnhs.co.uk) newsletter archive Porcupine Marine Natural History Society Newsletter No. 9 November 2001 Hon. Treasurer MEMBERSHIP Jon Moore Ti Cara Executive Officer Point Lane Julia Nunn Cosheston Cherry Cottage Pembroke Dock 11 Ballyhaft Rd Pembrokeshire Newtonards SA72 4UN Co. Down BT 22 2AW 01646 683679 [email protected] [email protected] Porcupine MNHS welcomes new members- scientists, students, divers, naturalists and Hon. Editor lay people. We are an informal society Frances Dipper interested in marine natural history and 7 Rutland Green recording particularly in the North Atlantic Hilton and 'Porcupine Bight'. Members receive 3 Huntingdon newsletters a year which include Cambs proceedings from scientific meetings. PE28 9NT 01480 830507 Individual £10 Student £5 [email protected] COUNCIL MEMBERS Mike Bailey [email protected] Ian Killeen [email protected] Roger Bamber [email protected] Jon Moore [email protected] Susan Chambers [email protected] Julia Nunn [email protected] Frances Dipper [email protected] Ivor Rees [email protected] Frank Evans [email protected] Shelagh Smith [email protected] Judy Foster-Smith [email protected] Peter Tinsley [email protected] Nigel Grist [email protected] Annette Little [email protected] Bridget Betts (Loveday) [email protected] Porcupine Marine Natural History Society (www.pmnhs.co.uk) newsletter archive CONTENTS Editorial 1 Council Minutes 2 Porcupine meetings 3 Other meetings 4 Book Reviews 5-7 PORCUPINE PROBLEMS : Information Requests 8-10 PORCUPINE PIECES Estuaries and Climate Change. Roger Herbert 11-12 Recent observations of the Mantis Shrimp Rissoides desmaresti from the Solent. Roger Herbert 12-15 New records of amphipods & leptostracans from the Forth Sea area with notes on their copepod parasites. Myles O’Reilly, Elaine Hamilton and Lee Heaney 15-24 The Porcupine Recording Scheme. Jon Moore 25 PAPERS FROM PORCUPINE 2001: Long-term Studies. Oportunities for long-term studies – monitoring marine Special Areas of Conservation. Eleanor Murray 26-29 Long-term biological monitoring in the Great Ouse Estuary. Mike Bailey 29-33 Subtidal benthic surveys of the Wash in the 1990s. Seamus Whyte 33-37 Porcupine Marine Natural History Society (www.pmnhs.co.uk) newsletter archive EDITORIAL Request for photographs If anyone has any interesting, Apart from Christmas and your embarrassing or funny photos of wife/husband’s birthday/wedding Porcupine people, meetings or field anniversary, the most important date trips from the past, they would be in next year’s calendar has to be gratefully received as we would like to Porcupine 2001, our AGM and illustrate our proposed History of meeting in celebration of Porcupine’s Porcupine (both the publication and 25th anniversary. So put it in your diary the talk at Edinburgh). Please let the NOW and see P.3 for details. Editor know! I am delighted that over the past few Request for Assistance months I have received responses to I would very much like to have an ‘Porcupine Pieces’ and ‘Information Assistant Editor! The job entails in Requests’ (More on Mantis Shrimps particular, chasing copy i.e chasing and Shrimp preys on unwary manuscripts from our annual meeting, fishermen) published in the July 2001 commissioning interesting articles, newsletter. I have also received an writing or requesting book reviews etc. unprecedented number of new This is a great way of making contacts observations and requests all of which and friends!! Please contact the Editor! are published here (see pp. 8-12). This is exactly what this Newsletter is all about so a big thank you to all who have taken the time to send in their material. These short articles and notes should be of interest to many Porcupines. Please keep them COPY DEADLINES coming!! Many of these observations also make very suitable material for Feb 1st for March/April issue inclusion in our Recording Scheme May 1st for July issue and will (when permission has been obtained from the authors) be included in the scheme. Roger Herbert has contributed a fascinating and topical report on Estuaries and Climate change (see P.11). In it he reports a very unusual Remember! Your requests for sighting of a juvenile Sun-fish (Mola information and shared mola) seen at the head of the estuary observations can reach a wide audience as they are published both in in Newport Harbour. Perhaps YOU the newsletter and on our web site have made equally interesting observations. Let me know! E-MAIL ADDRESSES A big thank you all those who have sent me their e-mail address. Web site links. If anyone has Hopefully I will soon have collated suggestions for useful links to our web these and put together a ‘Porcupine site, please send them to Anne Group’ list so that you can instantly Bunker. receive updates on meeting etc. If anyone else has not sent me their address or has changed their address, please let me know. www.pmnhs.org.uk PMNHS Newsletter No. 9 November 2001 1 Porcupine Marine Natural History Society (www.pmnhs.co.uk) newsletter archive Summary of Minutes of the Council intertidal environment by Porcupine Meeting held on November 17th members. It was agreed that there 2001 at the Eden Bridge Club, should be another field meeting in Carlisle. 2002 with the same emphasis. The site and date would be determined by PRESENT: S Chambers, F Dipper, F the tide and access to a field centre. Evans, J Foster-Smith, J Moore, J Areas to be considered include North Nunn, I Rees, S Smith. Wales. J Nunn to make enquiries. CONFERENCE 2002: The APOLOGIES: R Bamber, M Bailey, A meeting is being held in Edinburgh on Bunker, B Betts (Loveday), A Little 14-16th March to mark the 25th anniversary of the society. The local ANNOUNCEMENTS: organiser, S Chambers, has several 1. A vote of thanks for S Smith for speakers. Publicity will be via the web organising the meeting and cooking a site, e mails to the membership, superb buffet lunch. Newsletter mailing and articles in other 2. David Heppell a founder member, newsletters. The field meeting on the now retired in Canada, is now morning of the 16th to Dunbar will be recovering from a serious illness and organised by S Smith. major surgery. It was agreed to send POSTER: There has been no him a get well greeting for his birthday progress on the poster. It is in the final this week via e-mail. stage of the design process and is FINANCIAL REPORT: Income dependant on available time of the since 1/1/01: £1705.87. Outgoings designer. Attempts will be made to ask since 1/1/01: £914.01 (newsletter No. her to complete the agreed lay-out or 9 expences still to come – ca. £420). to hand the project back to the The account is relatively healthy committee. The aim is to have the compared to last year. We have poster ready for the 2002 meeting. £2,607 in the current account as a result of a small profit from the last NEWSLETTER: It was agreed that the meeting and reduced costs for the next issue (to be published early Newsletter. December) will be the last before the WEB SITE: A request to March 2002 conference. Publication members for suggestions of good links dates will now be April, July and to other web sites will be included in November, with final copy dates being the next Newsletter. A section for one month earlier. 230 copies of the marine related questions will be next issue will be printed. It was posted on the web site in the near agreed that a maximum sum of £100 future. could be used to train the editor in RECORDING SCHEME: advanced use of Word. A general Currently there is no easy mechanism discussion re. obtaining fresh copy for observations to be sent to the took place. Porcupine Marine Recorder. J Moore proposed setting up an email message and circulating it to all potential recorders asking for interesting records and explaining why they are of value. The recording scheme will be advertised in other newsletters. FIELD MEETING 2001: The Dorset Field Meeting in conjunction with the Dorset Wildlife Trust was very successful because there was an element of interpretation of the PMNHS Newsletter No. 9 November 2001 2 Porcupine Marine Natural History Society (www.pmnhs.co.uk) newsletter archive MEETINGS, MEETINGS, MEETINGS, MEETINGS, MEETINGS the evenings and at week-ends. We PORCUPINE MEETINGS are able to take advantage of this and there will be an opportunity to see a rare archive Jacques Cousteau film for a small price. It is open to members of PORCUPINE 2002. THE PORCUPINE the public and all Porcupines and their MARINE NATURAL HISTORY guests will be welcome. SOCIETY ANNUAL CONFERENCE A conference dinner will be organised “Changes in Marine Biology over the in a local restaurant or hostelry for last 25 years” approx £20. EDINBURGH, MARCH 14TH –15TH The registration fee which includes tea 2002 (plus Field Trip on 16th) and coffee will be £25. The Porcupine Marine Natural History There is a wide range of B&B’s and Society was launched in the National hotels in Edinburgh. Accommodation Museums of Scotland 25 years ago information and a map will be sent with the aim of promoting marine following booking. Parking is available biology and having fun at the same in nearby car parks but these are time.