Friday 2 December 2011

White Beaked dolphins

Just received an interesting sighting of a White-beaked Dolphin observed by surveyors bow-riding their vessel about 15 miles south of Worthing (9th November 2011). Followers of this blog may remember we had a small group of white beaked dolphins sighted some miles off shore between Eastbourne and Dieppe back in April this year.

This species often bow-rides so it is interesting that both local sightings of these dolphins were bowriding. This species is not normally recorded in the English Channel.

3 comments:

Mike Deacon said...

Any chance of 'rescuing' this little feller again? The reason he is here is as you have indicated, is he seems to have acquired a taste for our endangered sea trout for which this river is nationally famous. With the current drought conditions and extremely low water levels, the sea trout that should have already run up the river above Barcombe, are stuck below Lewes waiting for the rain to come and lift the water levels so that they can get up into the feeder streams (which currently are practically dry), for their annual spawning in December/January, and he is causing a lot of damage.
This spawning run is further threatened by The South East Water Company recently applying to Defra to further reduce levels from the minimum flow of the River Ouse from 20 Million litres per day to 5 million litres per day to fill their reservoirs at Ardingly Arlington and possibly Barcombe too. http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9398917.Only_two_months_of_water_left/

Surely as a marine mammal he belongs in the sea where there are currently masses of herring whiting and cod for him to munch on along with his mates. As I doubt he is getting enough to sustain him properly from the river.

Could you please advise me how to apply to have The British Divers Marine Life team get him back where he belongs.

Many Thanks, Mike Deacon

Mike Deacon said...

Any chance of 'rescuing' this little feller again? The reason he is here is as you have indicated, is he seems to have acquired a taste for our endangered sea trout for which this river is nationally famous. With the current drought conditions and extremely low water levels, the sea trout that should have already run up the river above Barcombe, are stuck below Lewes waiting for the rain to come and lift the water levels so that they can get up into the feeder streams (which currently are practically dry), for their annual spawning in December/January, and he is causing a lot of damage.
This spawning run is further threatened by The South East Water Company recently applying to Defra to further reduce levels from the minimum flow of the River Ouse from 20 Million litres per day to 5 million litres per day to fill their reservoirs at Ardingly Arlington and possibly Barcombe too. http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9398917.Only_two_months_of_water_left/

Surely as a marine mammal he belongs in the sea where there are currently masses of herring whiting and cod for him to munch on along with his mates. As I doubt he is getting enough to sustain him properly from the river.

Could you please advise me how to apply to have The British Divers Marine Life team get him back where he belongs.

Many Thanks, Mike Deacon

Mike Deacon said...

Any chance of 'rescuing' this little feller again? The reason he is here is as you have indicated, is he seems to have acquired a taste for our endangered sea trout for which this river is nationally famous. With the current drought conditions and extremely low water levels, the sea trout that should have already run up the river above Barcombe, are stuck below Lewes waiting for the rain to come and lift the water levels so that they can get up into the feeder streams (which currently are practically dry), for their annual spawning in December/January, and he is causing a lot of damage.
This spawning run is further threatened by The South East Water Company recently applying to Defra to further reduce levels from the minimum flow of the River Ouse from 20 Million litres per day to 5 million litres per day to fill their reservoirs at Ardingly Arlington and possibly Barcombe too. http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9398917.Only_two_months_of_water_left/

Surely as a marine mammal he belongs in the sea where there are currently masses of herring whiting and cod for him to munch on along with his mates. As I doubt he is getting enough to sustain him properly from the river.

Could you please advise me how to apply to have The British Divers Marine Life team get him back where he belongs.

Many Thanks, Mike Deacon