Wildlife sightings 2008

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Sunday 6th April

Rockpooling in the snow; a new volunteer warden's experience!

Last Sunday, the lack of range firing and the low spring tide meant we could go rockpooling on an event hosted by the warden at Charnel. After a cold and windy walk, the first creature spotted by a keen eyed rambler was a Sea spider in a rockpool at the top of Charnel Beach. Sea spiders, not easily found on the seashore, are slow moving, suctorial feeders, preying on bryozoans, hydroids or sea anemones. Close by under a rock was a Brittlestar with all five of its long, thin, articulated and extremely flexible arms.

The warden then pointed out the Beadlet anemone, of which there were many, most of which were closed up looking like red buttons. Later on we spotted some Snakelocks anemones with their green, purple-tipped tentacles waving in the water. These snakelocks have a nasty sting so are best kept well away from.

Gradually moving further down the shore towards the sea, peering into rockpools and gently turning over rocks to look beneath them various types of crabs were uncovered; Shore crab, Velvet swimming crab with its red eyes, an edible crab, broad clawed porcelain crab and a hairy crab which nipped the person who picked it up! The warden then challenged us to find a Hermit crab and less than a minute later a rambler found one living in an empty Purple topshell.

Many different types of seaweed were seen including one harbouring Purse sponges. A particularly beautiful seaweed sighting underwater was Magic seaweed, which looks bright blue when underwater and brown when raised out of the water!

Saturday 28th March

We are finding many eggs around Easter.
Many years ago ‘sea wash balls’ were used by fishermen in the bath (hence the name)! They look quite unusual washed up on the shore but they are actually the empty egg cases of the Common Whelk; one of the UK’s largest sea snails.

The Whelk with a shell length of 11cm is a ‘seabed cleaner’ and feeds on dead matter, bivalves and worms. From autumn to spring they lay thousands of eggs and within each of the small capsules are 10 embryos. The most dominant of these embryos feeds on the other nine before hatching out after two months as a tiny juvenile and living for up to ten years. Lovely!

Mermaid’s Purses are the egg cases of skate (with a long curving spike at each corner) and dogfish (with curling tendrils). When newly laid they are translucent olive brown and developing embryos can be clearly seen. Washed up on the beach, they dry, harden and darken. We are recording findings as part of a national survey so please let us or the Shark Trust know what you discover.

Winkle Eggs are found often on the undersides of seaweed on the shore line and the eggs are contained in the jelly mass. The winkle is a gastropod with a spiral shell and is often the most abundant in the intertidal region.

Tuesday 25th March

A Common Dogfish eggcase has been recovered and appears to be fit and well and living in one of the tanks in the marine centre. The egg case would have been laid by the mother some time from November and the curly tendrils at the end of the egg case would have been used to stabilise the egg upon some seaweed or coral. At the moment the tiny foetus is wriggling around sat on top of it's yolk sac feeding and will continue to do so until it is ready to hatch, usually about 8-9 months after being laid. Once hatched, the tiny shark will be nocturnal, measure a mere 10cm long and ready to fend for itself feeding upon bottom dwelling animals such as small crabs and worms.

Thursday 20th March

A mass of creamy coloured eggs was discovered on Charnel in March, and identified as Lumpsucker eggs.  Now in an aquarium in the marine centre it is hoped is that they will hatch.

Lumpsuckers can be bluish, greyish or greenish in colour, with the male taking on a reddish belly during the mating season. Its stockily built body is rounded and humped, with a large, wide head. Bony plates, which make up 4 rows of bumps along the length of the body, offer protection. Fused pelvic fins form a powerful sucker just behind the chin, which is used to cling to rock surfaces. Females grow up to 60cms in length, males to 50cms.

Much of their time is spent in fairly deep water, eating bottom living crustaceans, worms and fish. However, between February and May, pairs meet up in shallow water where, on a rocky ledge sometimes above low water mark, the female lays a mass of eggs before returning to deeper water. The male is left to protect the eggs for the 1-2 months it takes them to hatch. Whilst keeping scavenging animals away, his main duty is to keep the eggs oxygenated by fanning them with his fins or pushing his head into the mass – indentations caused by this can often be seen. Any eggs that become rotten may be eaten. Without a powerful sucker to cling to the rocks wave surge would cause problems.

Egg masses can be pink, brown, red or pale yellow, and contain up to 136,000 eggs. Found from N Norway to Portugal, the eggs can be dyed, pickled and sold as an alternative to caviar!

Tuesday 5th March

A female Short-snouted seahorse was recovered from the deck of a fisherman’s boat in Portland recently.  She will be rehabilitated at the centre before being released at the same location once the weather calms.

The short- snouted seahorseis one of two species found along the south coast of Britain, parts of Ireland and Channel Islands.  The other is the Spiny seahorse, which has a longer snout and delicate spines along the back of the neck, giving the impression of a 'horse’s mane'.

This mystical animal is usually found amongst the seaweed in rocky areas during the spring, summer, and early autumn from 1 to 25 metres in depth. During the winter they are known to migrate to deeper waters to shelter from stormy waves.

Although classed as fish, these fascinating animals have a plated body and prehensile tail allowing them to attach to seaweeds.  Unusually, females have the easy life; they lay their eggs into the male’s pouch where he incubates and gives birth to tiny independent young!

Unfortunately, seahorses are threatened with habitat loss through damaging fishing techniques and anchor lines ripping up seaweed holdfasts.  In addition seahorses are considered, ‘marine curios’ and taken from the wild overseas for the tourist industry and prized in Chinese medicine. 

In April, UK seahorses will finally be granted protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, against being injured, killed or taken from the wild.  This legislation will also cover their habitat. Whilst we are always interested to hear about marine sightings, we would like to discourage removal of any species from their habitat. 

Tuesday 11th February
A visiting family found a Boar Fish at Kimmeridge on Sunday afternoon while rockpooling. They spotted the inch and a half long fish as it swam about, trapped in a shallow rockpool by the falling tide. Boar Fish are rarely seen in inshore waters as their usual habitat is in deep-water canyons along the continental shelf. Occasionally they are brought inshore by the upwelling of deep water. This is not the first time a boar fish has been found at Dorset Wildlife Trust's marine reserve at Kimmeridge - one was found here about 12 years ago and kept briefly at the Marine Centre before being taken to the Sealife Centre at Weymouth. Another was found about 2 years ago washed up on the beach at Bournemouth and was put back into the sea.

The Boar Fish was struggling to swim when first found but has recovered at the Marine Centre and is feeding well. At the moment we are keeping the fish to see if it recovers fully. We're not sure how well it will survive if released as this is not its normal habitat.

Tuesday 5th February

DWT marine wardens at Kimmeridge have been called out recently to identify two dolphins within the Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve. The Risso’s dolphins were unfortunately both dead and washed up at Worbarrow Bay and Charnel.  

Risso’s Dolphins are generally easy to identify via scratch markings on their bodies; usually the result of scarring from other dolphins or fights with squid.  Their colouration becomes paler with age and their head is very bulbous with no beak.  Their mouth also slopes upwards resembling a smile. An average adult measures 2.6-3.8m long and although abundant on all our coastal waters, these two are the first ever to be documented in the Reserve.

We are lucky to have such amazing animals in our waters. It’s a shame that, all too often, they wash up dead on our beaches, often accidentally trapped in large offshore Pair Trawl nets. We hope that the government sees through its commitment to a new Marine Bill which will bring in greater protection for marine wildlife.

The Wildlife Trusts are currently running a ‘marine reserves now!’ campaign to lobby the Government to renew their commitment to our seas.  Signatures are being collected online at www.wildlifetrusts.org.

Monday 15th January

A Wet and Windy New Year! Storms have been a feature of the New Year and seaweed and litter are in abundance on the beach and mixed in with this material are some interesting finds.

There are large numbers of cuttlefish bones, varying in size from 3cms to 25cms. Whilst the majority are the common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis  there were a number of Sepia elegans and Sepia orbignyana. These are smaller than the common cuttle with a more slender outline. They are offshore species rarely seen in coastal waters and the cuttlebones are rarely recorded.

Several By-the-wind-sailors, (Velella velella) have been washed up, including 2 very small ones recently. Starting life as plankton and metamorphosing before reaching adult stage at a tiny 8-10cm long this jellyfish looking animal is actually a colony of filter feeders (classed as a hydroid), with a central mouth on it's underside and ring of tentacles around the disc. Characterised by their bright blue colouration and iridescent tipped sail, the By-the-wind sailor feeds on small crustaceans and fish and any other species it entraps within it's stinging tentacles. It is normally found in tropical and semitropical waters but a long duration of southwesterly wind deposits them upon all southwest beaches throughout the year.

More goose barnacles have also been appearing - Lepas anatifera, a common species, Lepas pectinata, a not so common one, and a type of Buoy barnacle yet to be identified. The goose barnacles were found attached to floating pieces of litter. These are all animals that drift the ocean currents at the water’s surface feeding on tiny creatures and plankton. Once blown ashore they are unable to survive.

Sadly three dead dolphins have been washed up in the last week. A common dolphin at Sandbanks last week, one at Worbarrow Bay and one at Durley Chine in Bournemouth. A dolphin was reported in difficulties at Swanage on Sunday entangled in netting. It swam off before it could receive medical treatment. Several dead porpoises have also been found along the coast in the last month.

Oiled guillemots, razor bills and gulls have been found along the coast at Swanage, Chesil, Weymouth and Worbarrow Bay over the last week. There is no evidence that the oil is from the Ice Prince, which sank last week off the Dorset Coast. Possibly some ships have taken the opportunity to flush their tanks and released oil into the sea. The birds have all been treated by the RSPCA.