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 An
angler's catch made off the coast of County Clare in southwest
Ireland breaks a number of records. The remarkable capture has
prompted admiration but also controversy, with some anglers
saying the trophy should have been returned to the water to help
conservation. The haul was made by Mr Waldis, aged 70 from
Switzerland, whose mackerel bait snared a 12ft 9ins bluntnose
six-gill shark which weighed 1056lbs (480kg) It sets a new
record for the heaviest rod-caught fish in British or Irish
waters, overtaking a 968lb Bluefin Tuna caught in 2001, and is
more than double the weight of the heaviest rod-caught fish
within the UK, a Porbeagle Shark of 507lbs taken off Orkney in
1993.
The sea louse, a parasitic copepod, is widely
distributed among wild fishL species along the
Norwegian coast. The parasite is found in large
numbers on
the Lumpfish, or Lumpsucker,
Cyclopterus lumpus,
which is now considered to
be
one of the primary hosts of the parasite. The lumpfish in turn
infects several types of farmed fish when it comes into the
coast during the spring months.
The sea louse Caligus
elongatus is a
parasite that attaches to the skin of fish. It can cause sores,
which at worst may prove fatal to the fish. It has been found on
more than 80 different fish species in most of the world’s
oceans.
 The lumpfish at left was infected by more than 600 sea
lice. Sea lice are found on so many different north-Atlantic
fish species, it is highly likely that they can transmit from
wild fish to farmed fish, and is also likely that they can
transmit between different farmed fish species.
Other fish that
are usually covered with parasites, are Ocean Sunfish, but the
parasite usually found on them are
Lepeophtheirus nordmanii.
Strands of the Pearl Chain,
Apolemia uvaria,
have been seen this year. First sighting was a
foot long chain by a young lad Gillan Goodall at Whitesands Bay
on July 3rd. Much longer chains up to 4 metres were seen at
Gunwalloe Fishing Cove on several days late June and early July,
and more chains up to a metre long were seen on the 9th & 10
July at Porthkerris Cove. Although these strands are detached
from the main body of the syphonophore they are still able to
give you a nasty sting. Keep clear, you do not want to be stung
by one of these!
 On July 25th a fisherman 25 miles south of
Plymouth came across a brownish plankton bloom in which there
were several sausage shaped jellyfish-like creatures about 4” to
6” long, purplish with at least one greenish stripe down their
length. These were probably one of the Comb Jellys, possibly
Beroe cucumis, (shown at left).
There were 14 reported sightings of Basking
Sharks during July, from St Agnes on the north coast to The
Manacles on the south. Maximum number in one place was 7 off
Godrevy.
Ocean Sunfish were seen all around the coast from Godrevy to Plymouth with 19 reports, all of single fish except a
report of two off Gwennap Head on the 16th.
Bottlenose Dolphins
were reported 14 times from Godrevy to Falmouth, and 5 other
sightings of unidentified dolphins were probably also
Bottlenose. The Falmouth sightings would have been the south
coast pod, for the north coast pod was seen elsewhere at the
same time.
Common Dolphins were only seen 4 times, small
pods off Penzance Harbour and Gwennap Head but 18 were seen
playing in the The Carrick Roads on the 4th. Harbour Porpoises
were reported 17 times, all between Cape Cornwall and Lowland Point near
Coverack, with 10 seen off Gwennap Head the largest group on the
30th.
Risso's Dolphins were only seen twice, 3 off Gwennap Head
on the 18th and 2 off St. Loy on the 21st. 18 reports of
Grey Seals ranged from Crackington Haven on the north coast to Falmouth on the south, with the largest group
of 10 off Godrevy.
There was a sighting of an unidentified shark
off Godrevy and two reports of Portuguese-man-of-War as well as
the Pearl Chain sightings
mentioned above. No doubt the most
amazing sighting for July was the Albatross seen off Gwennap
Head on Sunday the 26th by the Seawatch Team
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