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On 3rd March this year a Bearded Seal,
Erignathus barbatus,
was spotted as it hauled
itself up onto some dry rocks at Loch na Keal, on The Isle of
Mull in the Inner Hebrides. This seal was well out of its normal
habitat for it is usually found
in the Arctic, and is the largest of the northern phocids. They
can reach 2·5 metres in length and weigh 340 kilograms and are
usually solitary animals. They have never been the object of a
major seal industry, but the Inuit, who live in the Arctic, hunt
them for meat, leather and oil.
 On
9th June a 3 metre Thresher Shark was seen leaping out of the
water south of Shag Rock off Plymouth Sound. This is the first
report of a Thresher this year and the first since the only
report of last year on July 12th. There were also reports of
Threshers in July of 2006 and 2005.
There was a mass stranding of Common Dolphins
in various Cornish creeks on June 9th. Mainly in the Porthcuel
River, but also some up the Fal near King Harry Ferry and in
Gillan Creek near The Helford River mouth. Twenty eight dolphins
died and some were taken for post mortem. Others were
successfully returned to open water by rescuers from RSPCA,
BDMLR, The Wildlife Trust, and members of the public.
There was much speculation about the reason
for the stranding, some suggested that Naval Sonar was possibly
the cause, others that a Killer Whale may have frightened them
ashore, others thought that they were chasing fish and were
caught out by a receding tide. An email arrived later in the
month from a Captain David Williams of Deafwhale Society. He
remarked that the answer was so obvious, that whale experts the
world over should hang their heads in shame for not
investigating the most logical reason. Pod beaching has been
going on since the beginning of recorded history so any new
ideas, like Navy Sonar and live explosions, should be eased to
the back burner, not the major factor. Cetaceans he said were
the greatest divers the world had ever known, yet no one had
ever asked the question of whether or not they suffer diving
related injuries. The logical explanation he states is
barotrauma from exposure to rapid and excessive pressure waves
generated during undersea earthquakes. He points out that 90% of
all seismic activity on the planet occur underwater in the back
yard of whales. He says that lightning fast explosive vertical
movement of the sea bed can generate pressure waves in excess of
14,500 pounds per square inch which roar toward the surface at
1,500 metres per second. This would cause barotraumatic injury
to the whales or dolphins in the region, killing outright those
near by and injuring others to the extent that they would no
longer be able to dive due to ear and sinus injuries. There was
an earthquake in the western approaches of the English Channel
on May 24th, and knowing that dolphins would likely be feeding
in that area, he had predicted that there would be dolphins
stranding on Cornish shores during mid June.
 A
tiny creature was found in a dive boat after the divers
had surfaced, so had probably been brought aboard by one of
them. It was a pale orangey yellow and only 3 to 4 mm across. It
was first thought to be a crab between the larval stage and full
size, but now believed to be a very juvenile sea spider
Pycnogonum littorale.
There were 53 reports of Basking Sharks
during June, from St Agnes on the north coast to Looe on the
south. The largest number being 24 off Pendeen on the 2nd June.
Of 22 reports of Bottlenose Dolphins, 14 were of the north coast
pod, 3 of the south coast pod and 5 of the pair, moving from
Drakes Island on the 3rd June down to St Ives on the 24th.. 8
other reports of dolphins were probably Bottlenose.
There were 3 sightings of Common Dolphins,
largest pod 50 off Porthoustock, and 3 reports of Harbour
Porpoises off The Lizard, Tater du and Brisons. A single Risso's
Dolphin was seen off Marazion and 2 Minke Whales, both off
Porthgwarra on different days. 6 Ocean Sunfish, one in the
Carrick Roads the rest from Porthgwarra around to Hayle.
Grey Seals were also reported 3 times,
singles at Gull Rock, Nare Head and Hayle and 6 at Black Rock at
the entrance to Falmouth Harbour.
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