Dolphin sightings

Not many dolphin sightings this year so far. Here are two recent sightings for May.

On the 2 nd May, 2 bottlenose dolphins were observed off Selsey Bill, heading east.

On the 10 May, 1 bottlenose dolphin was observed heading west at Splash Point, Seaford Bay. There were numerous small silvery fish in the water which attracted a lot of attention from terns that made spectacular dives into the sea to catch them. This may also have been what attracted the dolphin.

School beach survey

Today I worked with a great school group on Shoreham Beach Local Nature Reserve. The course (secondary school level) focuses around a practical beach survey.

The course started with an introduction to the nature reserve and its links to the surrounding area through coastal geography - using archive materials and maps. This focused on the Cretaceous period when the chalk and flint were formed and the end of the last ice age when much of the shingle beach material was deposited in the English Channel. This was then shaped by natural process including longshore drift. We also discussed the fascinating maritime history and other key historical facts. Most people are surprised to discover that Shoreham was far more important than its more well known neighbour Brighton until the Victorians made the seaside popular and accessible through rail travel.

The pupils were taken down to the beach to study the rare vegetated shingle habitat. The class was divided into two groups. The first group undertook a beach plant profile survey starting at the top of the beach and recording the plants in each 1 metre square until they reached the shingle crest (about 40m at this point). We used a 20 m tape and 1 m canes to create the metre square (the usual quadrat would not work because of the size of the plants).

While this was happening the second group was being led around the reserve to look at examples of shingle plant adaptation to this harsh exposed habitat.

The pupils also recorded the wildlife that they saw. Unfortunately it was a very windy day and so most of the mobile wildlife (bees etc) where not visible. We did see two butterflies (a red admiral and a painted lady) woodlice, snails and this lizard.

When the survey was completed, the groups swapped activities. This is the result of the two survey.

The pupils used this data and the adaptation observations back in the classroom to answer questions about the vegetated shingle habitat.

The pupils also used their experiences on the beach to suggest threats to shingle beach habitats both global and local and propose solutions.

The pupils also brought back one pebble from the beach for further study. We discussed the pebbles and the reasons why the flint pebbles were different colours, shapes. We also discussed fossils, uses of flint through the ages and myths and folklore relating to shingle pebbles. (The pebbles were returned to the beach at the end of the day). It was a very enjoyable day and a great bunch of kids.

Shoreham Beach Visit

Visited Shoreham Beach to create a shingle plant survey activity for an upcoming course. It was sunny, but quite windy. Single and small groups of swallow flew along very low over the beach heading west to east.

After I had completed this activity, I visited Shoreham Beach First School to present a talk about the vegetated shingle plants as part of a series of science week activities the school children were working on.

Seal tagging update

The Seals continue to behave normally and are providing some fascinating data. This image shows the movement of common seals in first week.

Much of the seals movement occurs within the Chichester area as expected. Often referred to as Chichester harbour this is infact an area of estuary spread out over 74 square kilometres with sand banks and four separate channels. Seals have been tracked as far east as Selsey Bill and also crossed to the Isles of Wight. The seals continue to be monitored and I hope to provide further update soon.

Solent Seal Tagging Project

An exciting new project is taking place this year to increase our knowledge of common seals in the Solent and Eastern English Channel. The main leads in the project will be the Wildlife Trusts South East Marine Programme and Chichester Harbour Conservancy (the latter is the site of a small resident population of common seals). The first step has been to collate all the currently existing seal sightings from various sources including my records as Sussex County Recorder for Sea Mammals. Common Seals have recently been made a Biodiversity Action Plan Species because of their numbers in the UK have declined dramatically in recent years.

A small population of approximately 15 - 20 harbour seals live in the Solent area and are considered regionally unique and therefore very important. Very little is known about the Solent seals, their resting, feeding and breeding sites remain a mystery. With out a knowledge of these important sites, little can be done to ensure they are protected for the benefit of the seals. Transient seals seen in East Sussex, sometimes entering the river systems of the Adur and Ouse, may come from this Solent population.

As part of this project, 5 of the seals were tagged in March using the latest seal monitoring equipment. The tagging operation was undertaken by the world leaders in seal tagging, the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), under a Government approved licence. The tags will remain on the seals until they moult in July / August time. Previous tagging operations have been very successful and seal behaviour has not been affected as a result. The tags will transmit using mobile phone networks and will give information on location, dive depth, dive duration and periods spend resting on land.

As part of this project I have been developing an outreach programme which will be delivered to local school. I was able to go along on the first day of tagging to observe and take pictures for the outreach programme. First hand observations and tagging data show that the seals are behaving as normal and that their behaviour has not been affected at all.

(A porpoising seal leads the way)

We are also hoping over the next year to build up a photo identification library which we can use to identify individual seals (unique markings) and monitor their movements.

Brighton Science Festival 2009

I attended the Brighton Science Festival again this year with a joint display with the Friends of Shoreham Beach Nature Reserve (FoSB). The Shoreham Beach Display included information about the Reserve and FoSB activities, events and achievements. A large part of the display was taken up by a marine litter display "Turning the Tide on marine Litter" and a display of marine litter including the time it takes for each item to biodegrade. (See below)

We shared the room with another display about creating art from marine litter.

My display focused on sea mammals again this year, particularly dolphins and seals, both of which have been recorded at Shoreham.

As well as UK and Sussex Cetaceans (Whales, Dolphins and Porpoise) the display included information about local seal sightings and a satellite tagging programme on Solent and South East Channel Seals.

I will be involved in this project as Sussex County Recorder for Sea Mammals and to develop an education pack to accompany the project. I hope to be able to provide updates on this project in future entries.

A major focal point for my display was the life sized inflatable bottlenose dolphin. This year I also ran three demonstrations in the demonstration hall, the scenario for the demonstration was a re-enactment of a dolphin rescue with audience participation.

Dolphins may be stranded for many reasons so I chose a different scenario for each demonstration, one of them being entangled in marine litter debris, which again linked to the FoSB display. About 100,000 marine mammals, seabirds and turtles are killed by debris each year.

Moving the dolphin from the display room to the demonstration room was a difficult operation, avoiding people and navigating along various narrow corridors.

The demonstration started with a introduction to dolphin adaptation and anatomy, as this is knowledge the audience would need to know to affect a rescue.

The demonstration followed the series of things one should do to help give first aid e.g. check it is breathing (how often!), keep it wet (dolphins can very quickly die of heat exhaustion), dig holes around the flippers if possible to alleviate the damage that gravity causes (dolphins can’t swim if they damage their flippers) and so on (see above)

The re-enactment also demonstrated how a dolphins adaptations to aquatic life work against them if they become stranded on land.

Being a demonstration involving children, each scenario has a happy ending. The dolphin was helped back into the sea and walked around until it was able to swim unaided. But in reality, even after much effort, a happy ending is not guaranteed.

Stranded Porpoise

Yet another dead stranded porpoise has been washed ashore near Worthing in West Sussex, yesterday afternoon. It was an adult common porpoise, partly decomposed. It is worrying that we have now had 3 reported in the same area over the last two months.