CONSERVATION ISSUES - SEPTEMBER 2005

At 5 p.m. on August 25th a Harbour Porpoise was found stranded by lifeguards, near Perran Sands Holiday Park, at Penhale Sands. British Divers Marine Life Rescue were called and when they arrived the porpoise was being supported in the water. The porpoise was a female about 4ft long and in moderate condition with no injuries except minor scratches to the tail and pectoral fins. As the animal was already in the water and was responding well, a re-float attempt was made. It swam off strongly out into the surf and remained in the area for about 20 minutes before stranding itself again. The tide was coming in fast,so it was decided to transport the porpoise down the beach about a mile, where the tide was not so strong. After allowing the animal to recover, a second re-float attempt was made using specialist re-float equipment. A team of medics carried the porpoise out into the surf, where it’s condition was maintained for a period of time before the support mat and pontoons were removed. Sadly, the porpoise responded poorly and the support mat was placed back underneath it so that it could be taken ashore. A Marine Mammal Vet now recommended euthanasia as the best course of action, and the porpoise was given a lethal injection. It was pronounced dead shortly after 9 p.m.   

There was an amazing sight on Wednesday 17th August, ten mile west of Ramsey Island  off the Pembrokeshire coast where there was a feeding frenzy on large numbers of mackerel, herrings and plankton. There were six Fin Whales, seven Minke Whales, 50 Common Dolphins and about 4000 Gannets and 5000 Shearwaters taking part in the frenzy. The Fin Whale is the second largest animal in the world, only the Blue Whale is bigger. Some of the Common Dolphins were riding on the Fin Whales as if they were ships. The Fin Whales varied in size , the biggest being 50 to 55 ft long. This unique occurrence was witnessed by a group of conservationists with the Sea Watch Foundation, including the founder Dr. Peter Evans who said, “It was amazing, You may think, because I have spent so many years doing this work I would become so blasé, but it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life”. A week earlier, a school of 1,500 dolphins was seen in the same area.

On 4th August a large and very rare Cowrie , a Triton, Charonia lampas, was caught 7 miles east southeast of The Lizard, and taken to the Blue Reef Aquarium, Newquay. A few of these have been taken off Guernsey and larger specimens are taken farther south in the Bay of Biscay.

Bottlenose Dolphins were reported 27 times during August, all on the north coast except 4. There were 4 other reports of unidentified dolphins. There were 6 reports of Common Dolphins, a single animal off Pendeen but pods of 30 to 50 in the other sightings. Two reports of Risso’s Dolphins , were 2 off Kennack Sands and 15 off The Scillies  Harbour Porpoises were reported 9 times, from Pendeen on the north coast to Portscatho on the south, largest group was 4. Two unidentified small cetaceans were probably also porpoises. Basking Sharks topped the list of number of reports there being 33, from Boscastle on the north coast to The Manacles on the south. Nearly all the sightings were of one or two sharks, but a huge number were off Trevose and The Rumps area from 2nd Aug to 9th reported 3 time during that period, of as many as 100 sharks.  There were nearly as many reports of Ocean Sunfish, 32 reports of 1 or 2 fish from Port Isaac on the north to Pentewan on the south. Of the 18 reports of Grey Seals , 6 was the biggest group. Leatherback Turtles were seen 3 times, at Tresco, Nare Head and Mounts Bay, and Minke Whales were seen 4 times, off The Wolf Rock, Godrevy, Gwennap and well off St Ives. Other creatures seen or caught were the Triton mentioned above, a Box Crab, measuring about 3 ft across, and a Blue Shark which swam under a Gig out practicing in Mounts Bay.  Divers off north Cornwall reported seeing 4 John Dory’s on one dive, but they were well separated.

There were 4 cetacean strandings during August, all Harbour Porpoises, all on north coast from Perranporth to Carbis Bay. Two Basking Shark carcasses were found, again north coast, at Porthtowan and Boscastle. Grey Seals were the major part of the casualties, 10 being found, again all on the north coast, from Bude to Upton Towans Hayle. One other casualty was a Leatherback Turtle seen floating off Botallack by naval helicopter crew, on August 1st, reported to BDMLR and recovered by volunteers and the RNLI. It was taken to Polwhele for autopsy. Not particularly big, the carapace being 135cm (4’5”) long by 80cm (2’7½”) wide. It had no identity tag, so not the one they thought it might be, that was being monitored as it progressed across the Atlantic.

Conservation Officer Raymond Dennis

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