News from the Helford Voluntary Marine Conservation Area

Large Helford Sea-hares

On Tuesday 16th October 2007 Tony Sutton was diving on the eelgrass bed at 5.7m depth in the Helford VMCA when he came across some exceptionally large greenish brown sea-hares (35cm) which attracted his attention. When he returned a few days later with his camera he was able to take some excellent pictures which indicated the species Aplysia depilans. Confirmation of this identification was established by Dr Paul Gainey when one of the animals was taken briefly from the water. More ...

Sea hare A. depilans photograph by Tony Sutton

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BEEP - New research to show dolphins still at risk

Despite the hopes of marine conservationists, 2006 was another bad year for dolphins and porpoises in Cornwall. 175 cetaceans were recorded dead on the beaches by the Marine Strandings Network of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT): a startling 70% increase on the previous year.

Dead dolphin at Porthtowan photograph by Jan Loveridge

At the end of 2005 the Government was celebrating the fact that the number of dolphin deaths was lower that year than for the previous four and they partly attributed this to the introduction of a ban on pair trawling within 12 nautical miles of the coast. But, CWT recorded more dead animals just in the first few months of 2006 than for the whole of 2005 put together. These terrible figures show that still not enough is being done to protect dolphins in the UK from their main threat – death in fishing gear. As predicted by the conservation sector, the ban has had little effect and from the CWT records of stranded animals on the beaches around Cornwall it is becoming obvious that it’s not only pair trawlers that are to blame, gill and tangles nets used by inshore fisheries are also responsible for killing dolphins and porpoises.

In the face of growing alarm about the survival of dolphins around the UK coast, researchers such as the CWT Marine Strandings Network had hoped to see the Government introduce more legislation to protect the animals. To their grave concern, however, the opposite has been the case. Funding provided by Defra for post-mortem examination of dolphins has been reduced and now only 100 animals, from the whole of the UK, will be studied by veterinary pathologists to find out how they died.  Cornwall has been allocated just 20 of these post-mortems for 2006/7, a worryingly small percentage of the total number of animals that strand in this part of the country.

In response to this, cetacean research scientist Nick Tregenza and members of the CWT Marine Strandings Network have developed a new research project called BEEP, the Bycatch Evidence Evaluation Project, which will examine evidence of bycatch in stranded cetaceans that are not submitted for autopsy.  Bycatch statistics are based solely on animals that undergo a post-mortemexamination by a veterinary pathologist.  As a result, a lot of valuable information from animals that are not subject to autopsy is lost or ignored, so the true scale of bycatch mortalities is totally under-estimated.  Therefore the BEEP is an important piece of research, particularly in light of the cut-backs.  It’s vital that the real death toll caused by the fishing industry is recognised so that effective action can be taken.

The research is being carried out by trained volunteers, many of whom have marine or conservation related backgrounds, and will be conducted in addition to the Network’s ongoing studies into cetacean sightings and strandings. Colleagues from strandings networks in Holland and other European countries will also be taking part in the research and it has already received strong support from the Institute of Zoology.  

The public has always been supportive of this work and often ask “What can I do to help?”  It’s now more important than ever for every stranded animal to be recorded for the new project so CWT are urging the public to report dead dolphins and porpoises as soon as they see them, so that trained volunteers can take the photos and records that are needed for this research. The 24 hour hotline number to call is 0845 201 2626. To find out more about the work of the Marine Strandings Network, visit www.cwtstrandings.org.

Ruth Williams

BBC get their feet wet to film Helford’s fantastic rockpools

Cornwall’s coastline is the most prominent natural feature in the county with dramatic cliffs and rocky coves, spectacular sea views, long stretches of sandy beaches and dunes. It is also home to a plethora of wildlife and that is why the BBC came to visit the Helford in the autumn to film some of our wonderful wildlife to share with the nation as part of their new series, Nature’s Calendar.

I had been asked on behalf of HVMCA to help the film crew to find and identify some animal life in the rich rockpools of Prisk Cove. So duly armed with buckets and nets, I met the film crew of 4 at Mawnan Church on a bright but chilly morning in November. The walk around the coast path to Prisk was the first thing to hit them, stunning in the watery autumn sunshine and the perfect opening shot for the film!

The tide was receding when we got down to the shore, revealing the secret world of the rockpools. I had warned the producer that November wasn’t the best time to find things on the shore, most sensible life was battening down the hatches ready for the winter and moving into slightly deeper water where the temperature is more moderated. But the sunshine still had warmth in it and after a relatively short search we had found a wide variety of marine life; shore crabs, the beefy looking Xanthus crabs, blennies and prawns, cushion stars and pipefish. The cameraman set to filming close ups and underwater shots of some of this colourful life, interspersed with informative chat between the presenter and myself, as the ‘expert’. This was a complete surprise to me and I was totally unprepared for a TV moment, so apologies to anyone who sees the final film when it is broadcast, I’m the scruffy looking one with very silly bright wellies on!!

Cornish suckerfish photograph by Ruth Williams

The producer desperately wanted to find a Cornish sucker fish to film, and after much searching we found several of these strange but colourful fish for him to choose from. Being a short piece of film we focused on three of the species found, the dog whelk, cornish sucker fish and a rather feisty velvet swimming crab!

The crew left after a successful few hours filming and I look forward to seeing the results which will be shown in this coming autumn’s series of Nature’s Calendar. Keep an eye open for it!

Ruth Williams
Marine Conservation Officer
Cornwall Wildlife Trust