5 days, 62 volunteers and the largest spring tides of the Year- Shoresearch Week Goes OFF!

Thanks to all who came and joined me in my marathon 5 days of frantic shoresearching which included, Timed species searches, walkovers, Biotope Transect surveys and Quadrat surveys at all five of Cornwall's Voluntary Marine Conservation Areas. It has been an epic week- each day I have shared my favorite photos on Facebook but I plan to use the Blog to tell some of the stories of the week. Over the next few days I plan to upload my highlights of the week - a week I will certainly remember for a long time, not just for the incredible creatures we found, but for the incredible weather, the low tides, the lack of swell and for the incredible team of volunteers who shared in the experience, really helped me out and made it a really fun week!

me in action!

Nick and John 

Rob and the rock of dreams - more to follow..

This is the calmest and lowest I have ever seen the sea at Polzeath in three years of September surveys 

knees and backs were aching at the end of this week but we were all buzzing from having been privileged to have seen the sights we saw!

Rosie and the find of the day - can you spot him... more details to follow in the next posts! 

Rare seahorse found off Newquay

 a seahorse in its natural habitat photographed by Paul Naylor 

Thursday 18^th September 2014

Rare seahorse found off Newquay

Marine staff at leading local wildlife charity Cornwall Wildlife Trust were thrilled to hear that a Newquay fisherman has finally proven that seahorses are found on Cornwall’s north coast.

Daniel Gilbert skipper of Newquay crabber ‘Tizardleeon’ found the beautiful yellow seahorse clinging to a crab pot while working four miles north west of Newquay’s Towan Headland last Friday 2nd of September. 

Matt Slater, Marine Awareness Officer for Cornwall Wildlife Trust (formerly curator of Blue Reef Aquarium Newquay) said,

“In my eleven years working at the aquarium we had several anecdotal reports of seahorses being spotted by divers and fishermen in the Newquay area, and washed up dead on beaches but this is the first time that we have definite proof that seahorses live here. Sea horses are protected rare species that are globally threatened and it is very exciting to hear that they can be found in our local waters!”

Newquay is famous for its beaches and night life but many don’t appreciate its wonderful marine wildlife. Local people with a passion for the sea have come together to create Newquay Marine Group which champions this cause and promotes our wonderful marine life, and our small scale sustainable fishing fleet! Please visit the Newquay Marine Group facebook page for information on upcoming events and the latest news.

Photo by Danny Gilbert of the seahorse he found

Seahorses are bizarre looking fish related to pipefish and tropical sea dragons. They are poor swimmers and tend to stay in the same habitat for the whole of their life. Seahorses can live for up to eleven years and are slow growing. They are famous in that the males are the ones that get pregnant, incubating eggs, and carrying young in their fleshy brood pouch.

With their prehensile tails sea horses hold tight to seaweeds and sea fans while waiting for their prey to come past, believe it or not seahorses are deadly predators that feed on small shrimps using their long tube-like mouth and a powerful suction mechanism to pluck their prey out of the water so fast they are instantly turned to soup!

In Europe we have two species of seahorses, the spiny or long snouted sea horse Hippocampus guttulatus and the smaller short snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus, which is the species that was found by skipper Daniel Gilbert. Both species are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act and are Biodiversity Action Plan species, meaning it is illegal to interfere with or harm one.

Matt Slater continues,

“The fisherman Daniel Gilbert did exactly the right thing. On discovering the seahorse he called Cornwall Wildlife Trust straight away to report it and on our advice he took some photographs of it before returning it carefully in the place it was caught.”

“Our seas are mysterious and although we are learning more about them through our research there is still so much out there that we don’t know about. Fishermen spend more time on the water than any other group including most marine scientists so we really want to encourage them to send in more information on marine wildlife. We are really pleased that Mr Gilbert contacted us with the record and we urge all fishermen, divers and water users to do the same and to report any unusual sightings of marine life to Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Our new website ‘Online Recording Kernow and Scilly’ www.orks.org.uk makes it really easy to send in information and allows you to review what you have found and see what others are spotting!”

ENDS

Contacts:
Matt Slater, Marine Awareness Officer, Cornwall Wildlife TrustMatt.slater@cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk Tel (01872) 273939 ext 214

Photographs:

• Short snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus) found by fisherman Daniel Gilbert, photo by Daniel Gilbert
• Short snouted seahorse in fisherman Danile Gilbert’s hand, photo by Daniel Gilbert
• Short snouted seahorse, photo by Paul Naylor www.marinephoto.co.uk provided by RSWT

photo by Danny Gilbert

Proof that Marine Community engagement works!

Through Cornwall Wildlife Trusts Your shore Project , and PANACHE project huge numbers of adults and children have been educated about the wonderful marine life around our coasts.

John Hepburn (from the Wembury Voluntary Marine Conservation Area) recently wrote in to to provide us with an example of how our marine events are raising the awareness of Cornwall's youngsters!

Do people learn at the VMCAs?
 The simple answer is yes, as the following story shows.
 The Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Trust takes disabled children day sailing from Mayflower Marina in Plymouth in the Tamar and Sound in “Cornubia,” a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter, restored and recreated as a classic yacht.  The day’s not just about sailing – only enough for them to work together to the best of their capabilities to improve their confidence and team-working ability.  The day’s also about learning about the marine environment and maritime activities.  The children start the day looking at life on the pontoons using a microscope connected to a TV, which is also used later in the day to examine plankton which they have trawled for.  They also get a guide to help them spot and record the marine life they may see.  In order to demonstrate that people are learning during the day they answer two questions at the beginning of the day, and again at the end:  “On a scale of 1 – 9, how much do you think you know about the ocean and what lives in it?” and, “How much do you think you know about what people do with the ocean?”
 Doubletrees School in Par (www.doubletrees.cornwall.sch.uk) caters for those with severe and complex learning difficulties.  With funding from the West Cornwall Youth Trust (http://westcornwallyouthtrust.org) they are able to send several groups a year on these trips. Last year one group’s reply to the first question at the beginning of the day was two 9s, an 8 and a 7.  “Wow, where did you guys learn so much?”  “We’ve been to Polzeath, we learnt about everything there.”  So there you have it – proof that Polzeath works!
As a footnote, at the end of the day, the student with 7 went up to an 8.  One of the teachers, who also assessed herself as a 7, went down to 5, having learnt that she didn’t know as much as she thought she did!

Doubletrees students deploy the plankton net! - Photo John Hepburn 

Brittlestar larvae and Calanus copepods were found! Photo - John Hepburn

Looe Island, a magical place

Go on.... you know you want to make a visit!! 

This years annual Looe Island survey and campover for Looe VMCA volunteers and CWT marine staff was once again a magical couple of days. Thanks to John and Claire for welcoming us all and thanks to Abby for her fantastic organisation skills! 

Unfortunately due to the mega shoresearch weekend I was too knackered to make the sleep over but got there in time for a huge low tide and to take part in the annual transect survey! Having 2 teams of low water surveyors really made it a pleasure as the onerous quadrats can otherwise make it extremely difficult to fit in an entire survey into one tide! 

Thanks for your help to Cheryl Wiseman, Martin gregory, Sue Pybus and Cat Wilding for your fantastic company and skills! 

The shore on the sheltered side of Looe island is incredibly rich in seaweed and a myriad of incredible creatures can be found among them. There are deep cracks in the rock full of sea squirts and pink plates and the pink encrusted slates on the lower shore hide a myriad of creatures. 

Sue and Cat  on the lower shore - note the fantastic weather!! 

Juvenile squat lobster - this is the second one we found this summer with this unusual white stripe down the back- the other was found on the night rockpooling at Marazion a few days before! Note the massive eyes!! Galatea squamifera

this tiny pheasant shell can be identified by its shape and its white calcified operculum 

Toothed crab - Pirimela denticulata - note the large spine 'tooth' on front of shell. Only the second one I have ever seen! 

Closeup of a worm pipefish

Snorkelling on the Hannafore side of the island the channel is full of non native seaweeds - large stands of Sargassum muticum and big clumps of harpoon weed Asparagpsis armata.

Crabs and Critters at Helford Passage

To finish off the Mega Shoresearch weekend in style the Shoresearch volunteers and I drove up to the Helford for a public event called 'Crabs and Critters'. The sun came out and the weather was fabulous. Approximately 40 people joined myself and the Shoresearch volunteers to explore this muddy but highly producive shore on Bar beach next to Helford passage. It was amazing how many species were found and a stream of excitable kids clutching crazy creatures kept myself and the Helford marine conservation group volunteers busy answering loads of questions! Top finds included a beautiful greater pipefish (I think found by Maddie Lydon) some MASSIVE velvet swimming crabs, a very strange looking hermit crab - Pagurus prideaux that lives inside a cloak anemone. Beautiful Calliactis parasitica - hermit crab anemones. Strange jelly like blobs were common in the shallows - I am still trying to find out what these are! 

To round the event off in style we were lucky to be able to meet with Lynda and Simon Filmer, local fishermen who showed us a fantastic pair of large brown crabs! It was a great chance to introduce Cornwall Wildlife Trusts new project Cornwall Good Seafood Guide, which highlights the abundance of sustainably harvested seafood in our county. Lynda and Simon talked to us all about how they catch shellfish using pots and nets and we all saw first hand the power of the edible crabs pinch! 

Thanks to Jake, Chloe and all the volunteers who carried out a timed species search and walkover survey, and thanks to the volunteers from Helford Marine Conservation group for a most enjoyable day! 

Lynda and Simon Filmer of Filmers fish and me with a massive crab!  

Pagurus prideaux in a cloak anemone - a rare find on the shore! 

unidentified jelly blobs 5cm across - eggs? 

Toby with a decorator crab

candystripe flat worm

Calliactis parasitica anmeone (small one) usually these are found on Hermit crab shells

The Lydons with their catch! 

Night Rockpooling at Marazion!

Midnight Madness at Marazion! Photo copywrite Alan Barker

 What an amazing experience! Despite light drizzle our volunteers only Night Rockpooling session at Marazion causeway was far better than expected! Setting out in our wetsuits and high viz vests and head torches anyone looking on must have wondered what we were up to! Crabs were out and about everywhere and seemed very surprised to be disturbed by crazy humans with torches!
Standing in the shallows our torches attracted hoards of tiny mysid shrimps, prawns and juvenile fish. We were soon joined by inch long adult atlantic cuttlefish. these guys are absolute beauties and although we had seen some on the day time survey we were treated to far more sightings on the night rockpooling!

The survey highlighted once again the incredible diversity of life on this shore and proved that night rockpooling allows you to build a much more full picture of the species present. Particularly species that are more active at night such as fish, crustaceans and cephalopods!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KAGnqnXGWs&feature=youtu.be

Shore crab in Torch light, Matt Slater 

Atlantic or little Cuttle Sepiola atlantica (approx 20mm total length), Matt Slater 

Star Ascidian Bottryllus shlosseri - a colonial sea squirt (each star approx 5mm across), Matt Slater

Dahlia anemone glowing blue in LED torch light, Matt Slater

A tiny baby tompot blenny found beneath a large boulder. (length approx 2 cm). Matt Slater

A beautiful sea slug Eubranchus farrani found by Jake Meyers and Trudy Russell. (Length approx 10mm), Matt Slater

Decorator crab Macropodia spp (Width approx 4cm), covered in sea weed for camoflague. Matt Slater

Mega Shoresearch Weekend 2014 longrock Marine day

The first event of our Mega Shoresearch weekend was a survey and public event at Long Rock near Penzance.

Here an extensive reef of Mylor slate lies just outside the current boundary of the Mounts Bay Proposed Marine Conservation Zone. We were joined by Local marine expert David Fewick and Rob Seabold of Natural England as well as a host of keen volunteers and the slippery rocks of this impressive reef were surveyed! 

Holes bored in Mylor slate by Piddocks - photo by Margaret Gardener

The slate is bored in many places by burrowing bivalves called Pidocks, themselves a rare speices to find on our coasts which have very particular geological requirements! Just to the West of the reef lies a fantastic eel grass bed which although taking a beating by our winter gales is still hanging on in there! 

the tide rapidly came in and sadly I didnt make it out to the piddock holes so will definately need to visit again soon! 

Cat worm Nephtys hombergi  found in mud

Cat worm Nephtys hombergi  Proboscis extended - Fearsome! 

Thin Tellins were common in the mud

Despite a windy and wet afternoon we werent deterred and thanks to a fantastic new waterproof heavy duty gazebo, and the loan of Lawrence Smiths fantastic luxury gas bbq we were able to feed and water all the shoresearch volunteers and our PANACHE seasearch divers who carried out an evening shoredive near the causeway. 

Sarah and the food!!  - thanks to Loz  from Ocean high Paddleboarding for lending us his EPIC GAS Barbecue! 

PANACHE Shoresearch and Seasearchers at Mounts bay