PORCUPINE MARINE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY NEWSLETTER Spring 2013 Number 33 ISSN 1466-0369 Porcupine Marine Natural History Society Newsletter No. 33 Spring 2013 Hon. Chairman — Andy Mackie Hon. Secretary — Roger Bamber Department of Biodiversity & Systematic Biology, ARTOO Marine Biology Consultants LLP, Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, Ocean Quay Marina, Belvidere Road, Cathays Park, Southampton SO14 5QY Cardiff CF10 3NP 023 80 829 763 029 20 573 311 [email protected] [email protected] Hon. Membership Secretary — Séamus Whyte Hon. Treasurer — Jon Moore EMU Limited, Ti Cara, Victory House, Unit 16, Trafalgar Wharf, Point Lane, Hamilton Road, Portchester, Cosheston, Portsmouth PO6 4PX Pembroke Dock, 01476 585496 Pembrokeshire SA72 4UN [email protected] 01646 687946 [email protected] Hon. Records Convenor — Roni Robbins ARTOO Marine Biology Consultants LLP, Hon. Editor — Vicki Howe Ocean Quay Marina, Belvidere Road, White House, Southampton SO14 5QY Penrhos, 023 80 829 763 Raglan NP15 2LF [email protected] 07779 278841 [email protected] Hon. Web-site Officer — Tammy Horton Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems, Newsletter Layout & Design National Oceanography Centre, — Teresa Darbyshire Waterfront Campus, University of Southampton, Department of Biodiversity & Systematic Biology, European Way, Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Wales, Southampton SO14 3ZH Cathays Park, 023 80 596 352 Cardiff CF10 3NP [email protected] 029 20 573 222 [email protected] Porcupine MNHS welcomes new members- scientists, students, divers, naturalists and lay people. We are an informal society interested in marine natural history and recording particularly in the North Atlantic Ordinary Council Members and ‘Porcupine Bight’. Members receive 2 newsletters a year which include Peter Barfield [email protected] proceedings from scientific meetings, plus regular Paul Brazier [email protected] news bulletins Anne Bunker [email protected] Sue Chambers [email protected] Membership fees: Individual £18 Student £10 Fiona Crouch [email protected] www.pmnhs.co.uk Angie Gall [email protected] Julia Nunn [email protected] http://www.facebook.com/groups/190053525989 Dawn Powell [email protected] @PorcupineMNHS Cover Image: Ormer (Haliotis tuberculata), Guernsey (Porcupine Field Meeting, April 2012) – Fiona Crouch Editorial Have you ever watched “Octonauts”? I am guessing that unless you have children under the age of 7 it is unlikely. “Octonauts” is a well-made animation about a random collection of creatures (undersea adventurers) who live in an ‘octopod’ and travel the worlds’ oceans with a mission “to explore, rescue and protect”. I have to admit to enjoying it and I also think it is a wonderful introduction to the natural marine environment. Through a series of episodes viewers are introduced to a variety of marine animals and habitats from the vampire squid that lives in the midnight zone to a male sea horse about to give birth on a coral reef. So what is the relevance of the “Octonauts” to Porcupine? Watching this programme and listening to my two young sons talk about the marine environment with interest and enthusiasm has prompted me to think about how we connect, excite and educate people of all generations about our natural environment. The aims of Porcupine are: • To promote a wider understanding of the biology, ecology and distribution of marine organisms; • To stimulate interest in marine biodiversity, especially from young people; • To encourage interaction and exchange of information between those with interests in different aspects of marine biology, amateur and professional alike. So my question to you is “how well is Porcupine doing in working towards its’ aims?” If your answer is “ok” or “I don’t know” then I suggest we aren’t doing that well and we should ask ourselves “what do we need to do better?” or “what else should we be doing?” This issue certainly demonstrates how active Porcupine is as a Society with field trip reports from our 2012 trips to Guernsey and north Cornwall, further papers from the 2012 Porcupine Conference and notice of the Bioblitz in Strangford Lough in 2013. We have a wonderful diversity of articles from website reviews, short notes and sightings as well as papers on sea defences to crawfish so thank you to all contributors. What we are missing are contributions from students and graduates and this is an area where I think Porcupine “could do better”. I wonder if our connection to a younger generation of keen and interested amateur and professional marine people needs some work? This is something all of us can take some responsibility for so please do talk about Porcupine and spread the word about what we are - an informal and friendly society interested in marine natural history and recording. PMNHS Newsletter No.33 Spring 2013 1 Photo: Angie Gall ANNOUNCEMENTS new species records (Didemnum vexillum, Perophora japonica) and extended distributions for others. More information concerning these species within the Lough would be very timely. The goals of the project are: • To collect a large number of species records from a range of intertidal and subtidal sites around the lough. • To record the presence and distribution of non-native species. • To target historical recording sites such as ‘The Dorn’. Blitz the Lough! 2013 • To target priority habitats (maerl beds and seagrass beds) and priority species. Join us for a week of marine recording on • To provide species records to the Centre for the shores and in the sublittoral of beautiful Environmental Data & Recording (CEDaR) at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. the National Museums Northern Ireland, who then makes the data available to other users. How many species can be found in seven days? • To provide an informal forum for the exchange Strangford Lough is one of two Marine Nature of knowledge concerning identification of Reserves in the United Kingdom (Skomer marine species and habitats. Island is the other, Lundy Island is now technically a Marine Conservation Zone), with • To have fun! many important intertidal and sublittoral habitats, and on-going conservation concern over the decline of Modiolus beds and associated species. Strangford Lough is the largest sea lough in the British Isles – 24km long and 4-8km wide, linked to the Irish Sea via a channel known as the ‘Narrows’ (8km long, 1-2.5km wide). Currents run at up to 8 knots in this channel. Habitats include maerl, seagrass, Modiolus reefs, bedrock, boulders, gravel, sand, sandy Logistically, it is an easy area to survey and mud, mud, marinas and a few small wrecks! host a field trip, as Portaferry, the principle Depths range from wide intertidal mud flats in town on the Ards Peninsula, has a Marine the north of the Lough to steep current-swept Station Laboratory (Queen’s University bedrock and boulders at 66m in the channel. Belfast). The Laboratory can accommodate up to 40 scientists, and is available at NO COST Historically Strangford Lough has been a to any participant. significant research area for marine biologists, with ~1500 marine species recorded. It will be There are facilities to project from laptops so of an interesting challenge to update this list course it would easily be possible for photos/ with more recent records (find as many as we video taken during fieldwork to be shown to can in a week!!), to recognise any species that everyone for discussion and identification. The have apparently ‘disappeared’, and to increase laboratory has running sea water available via the number of species found in the Lough. taps. All other equipment should be brought by each participant, although individual A recent survey (2012) for non-indigenous arrangements could be made to supply materials. marine species has resulted in a number of 2 PMNHS Newsletter No.33 Spring 2013 The good tides in August are early in the Accommodation: There is a wide range of morning: accommodation to suit any requirement. No responsibility will be taken for arranging Tuesday 20th 06.50 (0.3 m) accommodation for attendees. A list of Wednesday 21st 07.40 (0.1 m) accommodation is available at www.nmni.com/ Thursday 22nd 08.30 (0.1 m) CEDaR/MarineBlitz. Friday 23rd 09.10 (0.1 m) Please note that this is a bank holiday weekend. Make sure that you book your Saturday 24th 10.00 (0.2 m) accommodation in good time. Sunday 25th 10.40 (0.4 m) Monday 26th 11.20 (0.6 m) Travel: There are good transport links to Northern Ireland via ferries and airports. There are also easy links to travel through the Republic of Ireland. Details for travel are available at www.nmni.com/CEDaR/ MarineBlitz. Booking: To book your place please fill out the booking form which can be downloaded from www.nmni.com/CEDaR/MarineBlitz and send to: Dr Julia Nunn, CEDaR, National Museums Northern Ireland, Cultra, Holywood, Co. Down, BT18 0EU. There will be no charge for any intertidal visit – participants will be expected to make their own arrangements for transport to each site. Car sharing will be arranged on an ad hoc basis. Blitz the Lough! 2013 For those who enjoy diving and exploring the shore, the tide times mean that you can do both! As well as morning intertidal trips A marine recording week to be held in to a variety of shores, there is also a chance to take part in Seasearch diving and subtidal Strangford Lough, Co. Down collecting. The Lough is normally sheltered Tuesday 20 August – Monday 26 August from bad weather. Seasearch diving will take place on Saturday 24th to Monday 26th. It is likely that up to six dives would be organised over this long weekend period (3 days) for volunteers. The third day will be shore dives.