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A very rare fish, a Boar Fish,
Capros aper, was
recently found alive on the beach at Littlehampton.
It was left
alive in a rock pool and presumably swam away
when the tide returned. These are very rare fish in shallow
coastal waters but are abundant on the edge of the Continental
Shelf at depths of 100 metres in the southwest approaches to the
English Channel and are probably found at
similar depths off Ireland and southern
Scotland. Certainly, also abundant off
Portugal, and perhaps even in shallow water there. Some are
thriving in the British Marine Life Study Society’s private
aquarium, Shoreham-by-Sea, but it is rarely seen in public
aquariums, and the only known display of this fish was for
several years at Mevagissey Harbour Aquarium There are records
of many being caught by Cornish fishing boats since 1825 when
one caught in Mounts Bay was sent to the British Museum as a
very rare fish, as well as several being found stranded on
Cornish Beaches since that date.
In July and August, 29 Striped Dolphins were
found dead on the coast of Valencia, Spain. It was discovered
that they had a virus known as cetacean
 measles.
This is similar to a virus which caused a high death rate among
Risso’s dolphins in The Mediterranean last winter. An epidemic
decimated Striped dolphin populations in The Mediterranean in
the early 1990s, and experts hope that this will not occur
again. Many cetaceans in the Mediterranean have very low
immunity levels due to pollution.
A Second Portuguese Man-of-War was washed up
on Porthmeor Beach on Wednesday 18th August, 2 days after a
previous stranding. The second creature was still alive and is
now on display in a special tank at The Blue Reef Aquarium at
Newquay, where it is being fed mysid shrimps. It is being kept
in a secure tank so that it poses no threat to visitors, for if
anyone comes into contact with its tentacles they would receive
painful stings which leave lesions and ulcerations.. Some
swimmers have died from a sting after going into severe
anaphylactic shock. Anyone stung should immediately remove any
tentacles and immerse the affected area in either hot or iced
water for 20 minutes. Vinegar should not be used as it can make
the sting worse.
Marine biologists are searching for an
electronic shark tag which is missing– but still transmitting.
The device had been fitted to a 2 metre Porbeagle Shark and was
detached remotely on Newquay Beach on Sunday 22nd August, but
someone found it before the scientists got to its location. As
it is still transmitting, the scientists have tracked it
travelling to Wadebridge and back to Newquay, and they are
appealing for it to be returned. The device has stored data that
is important to their scientific work so the recovery of the tag
is a priority and they are urging the finder to contact them.
There is a £50 reward for its safe recovery.
The largest number by far of sightings during
August was of Basking Sharks. There were 121 reports, mostly
from Pendeen on the north coast around to Mount’s Bay, although
odd ones were seen off Falmouth and Dodman Point. The largest
number seen was 86 in Sennen Bay on the 6th.
Harbour Porpoises were reported 32 times,
mostly around Penwith, but there was a sighting of 15 in
Watermouth Bay near Bude and also sightings as far east as Nare
Head on the south coast.
Bottlenose Dolphins were reported 20 times,
11 of them being the pod of about 8 mostly in the St. Ives area
and the rest were of a single or a pair. 10 reports of
Common Dolphins included a pod of 200 seen
off the Isles of Scilly and another pod of 120 seen off
Porthgwarra, other pods were of 3 to 15 dolphins. Risso's
Dolphin were reported 3 times, probably 2 pods, because pods
were seen off Boscastle and Porthgwarra on the same day, and the
other sighting was off The Rumps, not far from Boscastle.
Single Minke Whales were seen off Porthgwarra
on the 20th, off Gwennap Head on the 28th and in Mount’s Bay on
the 30th. A Fin Whale was seen off Porthgwarra toward the end of
the month. There were 6 reports of Grey Seal, from Cape Cornwall
to Falmouth, three of which were of several seals hauled out on
Black Rock at the entrance to Falmouth Harbour on various days.
Compass
Jellyfish were seen off St. Ives on three
different days.
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