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The bodies of two highly unusual marine
mammals have washed ashore in the Isles of Scilly recently, both
were found on the western shores of St. Agnes within days of one
another. The first was a very rare 12 ft Sowerby’s beaked whale,
a deep water species which feeds off
Squid and Cuttlefish and just days later a Risso’s Dolphin calf
less than a ¼ mile away. Despite the sad death of both animals
it provided a unique opportunity for local scientists to examine
them.
The Sowerby’s whale was too big to be taken
for a post-mortem examination, but members of The Cornwall
Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network collected measurements,
photographs and skin samples to be analysed by the Institute of
Zoology. The dead calf was taken to the mainland for post-mortem
tests at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency at Truro.
Mr Ross Newhan a keen “birder” from Maidstone
in Kent, had visited the Isles of Scilly for pelagic bird
watching trips on several occasions, but he had a pleasant
surprise on his recent trip when he was aboard MV Sapphire just
2 miles off the Islands with camera ready for unusual birds.
There was a slight disturbance in the flat calm water not far
from the boat and a Humpback Whale surfaced and dived. “We were
waiting for it to surface again when it did a series of three
dives.” said Mr Newman “We were all looking at the right patch
of sea, which was flat calm, when it leapt right out of the
water. Fortunately I was the lucky one who pressed the button at
the right time”.. Humpbacks are migratory species that feed on
shoals of small fish. They can reach 50 years of age, 18 metres
in length and weigh up to 40 tons
 A
Cuvier’s Beaked Whale was seen off St.Martins Isles of Scilly on
the 28th August, by the crew of MV Scillonian III. They are
found both in the Atlantic and The Pacific but strangely they
are grey or blue-grey in the Atlantic but mustard to dark rust
brown in the Pacific.
A 3 ft Lobster was caught off The Eddystone
Reef in early September. The fisherman was so impressed by its
huge claw, which is 18” long, that instead of
taking it to the market he donated it to The Blue Reef Aquarium
at Newquay. The curator said the claw is so heavy, Eddy, named
after his previous home area, struggles to lift it. All lobsters
are born with a cutting and a crushing claw. Their prey includes
crabs which are grabbed by the legs using the cutter claw while
the crusher breaks open the shell. Other prey includes mussels,
clams, sea urchins, starfish and marine worms. They are also
cannibalistic.
There were 139 reported sightings of Basking
Sharks during September, all between St. Ives and The Lizard.
The largest group was of 33 off Land’s End on the 13th. Harbour
Porpoises came second in the number of sightings with 52 between
Pendeen and The Lizard, the largest group being 18 off Gwennap
Head on the 19th. It’s unusual to find Minke Whales in third
position with 17 sightings; all but one were off Gwennap Head
where three were seen in one day, the other was off the Brisons.
Next came 16 reports of Grey Seals off Gwennap and Cape
Cornwall, and 15 reports of Bottlenose Dolphins which were seen
from Penzance to St Ives except one, when a pod of 10 were seen
in The Carrick Roads Falmouth.
There were also 15 reports of Ocean Sunfish
between Land’s End and Penzance. Common Dolphins were seen 14
times, the largest pod
being about 50 off Gwennap Head and Risso's
Dolphins were reported 5 times, 4 of these sightings were also
off Gwennap Head, the other was off The Manacles. A
Portuguese-man-of-War was seen off Prussia Cove and a Moon
Jellyfish off Carn Guthensbras Three strings of the
siphonophore,
Apolemia uvaria
also turned up for the first time this year off Cape Cornwall on
the 13th of the month.
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