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Posted: 25-07-2013 20:56 Post subject:

[quote="hunck"]Not so little - upwards of 6" I reckon.

The turtle we saw was maybe slightly larger than your average pet tortoise, so what, about 8-10 inches across the shell?

Posted: 30-07-2013 17:24 Post subject:

North Berwick drivers warned over hidden puffins

Motorists in an East Lothian town have been asked to check for disorientated young puffins - known as pufflings - hiding under their vehicles.
The Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick said pufflings regularly wander into the town by mistake after leaving their burrows for the first time.
They often settle underneath cars after searching for somewhere dark to hide.

North Berwick lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth, which houses large puffin colonies on its islands.
Staff at the seabird centre said puffins around Scotland's coastline are due to leave their breeding burrows and return to the sea over the next few weeks.

However, some pufflings become disorientated by the lights from neighbouring towns.
The Seabird Centre has, in previous years, been alerted to numerous lost pufflings - including one that was found wandering along a corridor in North Berwick's Marine Hotel.
"Where's the bar?!" Cool

Another was found hiding under a vehicle in the local supermarket car park.

The centre's chief executive, Tom Brock appealed for drivers in North Berwick and the surrounding area to be vigilant and to contact the Seabird Centre or the Scottish SPCA if they discover a lost puffling.
Mr Brock said: "This is a key time of year for our puffins as they head out to sea after the breeding season. However, as pufflings literally fly the nest, their parents leave for sea without them. The young can become disorientated and head into town.

"My request to people along in and around North Berwick to look under your car - you may find a cute young puffin. Puffins are wonderful seabirds and an important part of our marine ecology. They are also very popular and an important part of Scotland's growing wildlife tourism economy."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-23493852

Posted: 08-08-2013 00:43 Post subject:

Posted: 08-08-2013 02:49 Post subject:

It is my understanding that Wolves have made a slow but steady return to Western Europe since the fall of the Iron Curtain. If they are in what once was Western Germany (and they certainly are), then there is now reason to believe they can't make it to the Netherlands.

Posted: 14-08-2013 14:47 Post subject:

Posted: 03-09-2013 13:51 Post subject:

Five-foot shark swims up river in Essex countryside
Footage of a five-foot shark swimming in a river in the Essex countryside has emerged after a man spotted a fin sticking up out of the water during a walk.
[video]
By Alice Philipson
11:12AM BST 03 Sep 2013

Jody Gibbons was enjoying a stroll along the banks of the River Stour with his father Gary on Sunday when he spotted the creature.
The marketing executive said he wanted to make sure he filmed the Essex shark because he feared his friends would not believe what he had seen in the little village of Cattawade.

The sighting comes after one of the biggest sharks ever seen in British waters was caught off the Isle of Wight last week. Measuring 14 feet and weighing 550 pounds, the Threasher shark was spotted about a mile south of St Catherine's Point.

Mr Gibbons, of Lawford, Essex, spent more than an hour with his college lecturer father watching the shark, filming footage in which the shark can clearly be seen swimming past in shallow water.
Experts who have looked at the footage said they believed it could be a Starry Smooth-hound.

Mr Gibbons, 27, said: "As we walked past and saw a big fin sticking up out of the water and thought 'that must be a big fish'.
"That thought quickly became 'that's a massive fish' and then I realised it was a shark. I really could not believe what I was seeing.
"We have walked along there so many times before but never had I seen anything like that before."

He has given a "conservative" estimate that the Essex Shark was at least four-feet long but thinks it may have been as long as five foot.
He added: "It was an amazing sight to see and I knew I had to film it, otherwise my friends would not have believed a word I was saying.
"The water was quite shallow where we saw it and its fin was sticking out of the water – it was like a scene from Jaws.
"You do get people fishing here and there is a beach further up the river but it's surprising to find a shark."

Mr Gibbons, who works for Fred Olsen travel agents, informed the Environment Agency and the RSPCA of his sighting.
"We got really close to it and could see it was as long as some metal railings in the water so we had a good gauge to work out how big it was," he said.
"I really was shocked and amazed – I did not for one minute expect to see something like that in the river.
"It was just fascinating watching it swimming around."

The Smooth-hound Shark is more commonly found in coastal waters around the country and is not usually known for swimming further up rivers.
David Warner, commodore from the nearby Stour Sailing Club, said: "We have had sharks in the lowest point of the river before but not up where it was seen."

According to the Shark Trust there are 35 species of shark that can be found around the coastal waters of Britain.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10282891/Five-foot-shark-swims-up-river-in-Essex-countryside.html

I know that river! I've sailed a small boat as far up as Manningtree, and hired a row boat a couple of times up at Dedham, but my total shark count is nil! Sad

I've often anchored a big sailing craft further downstream, near Harwich, and even allowed swimming from the boat, but again we never spied so much as a fin, but this shark must have passed that way to get upriver.

Posted: 07-09-2013 17:31 Post subject:

Rare triggerfish caught off Falmouth
12:00pm Saturday 7th September 2013 in News .

The dish of the day for one Falmouth chef was to be savoured this week, after he speared a rare fish not usually seen in UK waters.
Patrick Weeks, head chef at the Gylly Beach Cafe, caught a triggerfish while spear gun fishing off the reef in the bay, around 20 metres from shore.
Initially he thought it was a bream, only to take a closer look and discover his catch was rather more unusual.

Triggerfish are native to California and have only been spotted in UK waters since 2009.
They tend to only be seen at the end of a hot summer, when the water is warmer.
Patrick said: “I was quite worried it was going to be some endangered species but it’s not, just rare to here. This is the rarest fish I’ve ever caught.”

No chef could resist trying out a new ingredient and Patrick had plans to enjoy his catch at the dinner table, adding: “They’re supposed to be really good eating, so I’m looking forward to it.”

It proved to be a lucky day of fishing for Patrick, who also caught a bass and a John Dory on the same trip Cool

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10652641.Rare_triggerfish_caught_off_Falmouth/?ref=mr

Posted: 09-09-2013 07:42 Post subject:

Welsh fishing catch sparks rare sturgeon alert

Fishery officials say sea anglers need to be on the lookout for the rare sturgeon fish, after one was hooked off the Pembrokeshire coast.
The fish was caught by two boys fishing off Hobbs Point near Pembroke Dock.

It is only the second time in the last decade that a sturgeon has been spotted in UK waters - the last time also in Wales near Port Talbot in 2004.
As a protected species, officials say if other sturgeon are caught they must be released immediately.

"We are sure from the only photograph taken of the fish at Pembroke Dock that it was a sturgeon and that it may be the forerunner of others arriving here." said Steve Colclough, of the Institute of Fisheries Management (IFM).
"Where it came from is at present a mystery."

The IFM said it was releasing the picture of the fish caught in Pembrokeshire to raise awareness among the angling and commercial fishing communities.

Famed for caviar, Mr Colclough said it is illegal to keep a sturgeon and anybody catching one should return it quickly unharmed and alive to the water and then report it.
"Before putting it back they should note as many facts as possible - its length, overall condition, signs of damage or disease, the data on any tag attached to it and take a good photo.

"A yellow tag would show the fish had probably migrated from the Gironde river in France where the European sturgeon is now being bred and released."
The fish would normally stay in the Gironde until they were about 10 years old and they might then migrate to the open sea.
"If they came to Wales they would most likely be caught in estuaries and still be juvenile fish. Normally they would live 50 or 60 years and grow up to three-metres long (about 10ft)," added the IFM expert.

The IFM said if anyone did see another sturgeon off either the Welsh of English coast, it should be reported to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-24007739

Posted: 12-09-2013 08:29 Post subject:

Rare leatherback turtle chomps jellyfish in Falmouth Bay: PICTURES
12:00pm Wednesday 11th September 2013 in Falmouth/Penryn .

Wildlife watchers in Falmouth Bay were treated to a rare sight last week, a giant leatherback turtle plodding through the water hunting for jellyfish.
The turtle species is the largest in the oceans with the one spotted measuring close to four feet in diameter and six feet in length.

The pictures were taken by Laura Richardson on a trip out with AK Wildlife Cruises on board the Free Spirit on September 4 and by staff from Orca Sea Safaris onboard Seaquest.

Amanda, from AK Wildlife Cruises said: “We have had an incredible amount of wildlife over the last two weeks; we just wish the summer was longer.”

Caroline from Orca said: “What an incredible sight in our waters, the sea state was like a mirror, from a distance we were expecting an encounter with a Basking Shark. To our amazement the Leatherback Turtle surfaced.
Its shell was at least two metres. It spent some time swimming gracefully alongside Seaquest of Falmouth feeding on the abundance of jellyfish. A breathtaking experience for all onboard."

The rare sighting in the wild was described as an “enormous privilege” by Matt Slater, the marine awareness officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
“It is very exciting when we get a sighting.
There are only a few sighted each year and there have not been any in this area, they are normally seen off Land's End o[r] the Isles of Scilly.
“They are brought in by their food source, jelly fish, and the warmer temperatures at this time of year.”

He added that they are unique in that they can raise their own body temperatures, allowing them to hunt in colder water, making them the only sea turtle off the UK coast. Leatherbacks are the largest of all living turtles and can be easily distinguished from other sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/fpfalmouth/10667245.Rare_leatherback_turtle_chomps_jellyfish_in_Falmouth_Bay__PICTURES/