Thousands of seabirds and hundreds of dolphins seen feeding
August 2011. Marine scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, have witnessed a remarkable feeding frenzy of seabirds and dolphins off the Land's End peninsula in southwest Cornwall.
The observations were made as part of the SeaWatch SW project. This involves continuous dawn-to-dusk monitoring of all marine wildlife from Gwennap Head at the southwest tip of the UK mainland. The project is now in its fifth year, but this is the first time during the survey that such a large gathering of animals has been recorded feeding in the area.
10,000 Manx Shearwtaers
Project co-ordinator, Dr Russell Wynn, was on duty at the watchpoint for the first 17 days of the survey from 15-31 July. Russell said: "the number of seabirds and marine mammals involved was staggering. In a single hour we counted over 10,000 Manx shearwaters passing the watchpoint, with several thousand feeding offshore accompanied by hundreds of plunge-diving gannets".
250 Balearic Shearwaters
A total of 250 Balearic shearwater sightings were also recorded at Gwennap Head in July, which represents up to 1% of the World population of this Critically Endangered seabird and highlights the increasing importance of southwest waters for this species.
Whales and dolphins
The seabird flock was joined by hundreds of common dolphins, tens of harbour porpoises and small numbers of Minke whales and Risso's dolphins. The survey team are now combining their visual observations with detailed seafloor maps and tidal flow measurements to investigate why these feeding frenzies are concentrated in certain areas. They are also collecting acoustic records of the dolphins and porpoises, which will enable them to assess nocturnal activity.
Dr Wynn added: "to see all these animals pursuing mackerel and smaller baitfish in such a small area was spectacular. The different types of data we have collected will now help us to assess how tide and topography influence the location of these foraging hotspots".
Container ship aground
However, a recent incident has highlighted the vulnerability of these large feeding aggregations to oil spills. On 3 August, a 9000-ton container ship ran aground just offshore of the rocky coast a few miles north of Gwennap Head.
Helen Booker, Senior Conservation Officer at RSPB said: "this near-miss highlights the continuing threat from pollution to our internationally important seabird populations in the western English Channel, which is one of the busiest shipping highways in the World. Luckily there was no leakage of oil during this latest incident, otherwise with such large numbers of feeding seabirds and cetaceans in the area we could have been facing an environmental catastrophe".
Marine Protected Areas
The RSPB has also this week expressed concern about the UK Government's potential failure to recognise seabirds as important features in the designation of marine protected areas.
Tony Whitehead, Public Affairs Officer for the RSPB in the south west said: "Finding Sanctuary have led talks over the past two years on the identification of important marine areas. The place where these huge flocks of seabirds have been feeding has been much discussed.
"However, we are worried that the UK government may not include the needs of mobile species such as seabirds in the designation of sites. This fails these wonderful creatures and we are strongly urging the UK government to include them."
SeaWatch project
The SeaWatch SW project involves intensive monitoring of seabirds, marine mammals, basking sharks and other marine life off southwest UK between 2007 and 2011. The project is run by scientific researchers supported by a large number of volunteer observers, and is being undertaken in partnership with RSPB and several other conservation organisations. Daily sightings from the Gwennap Head watchpoint can be viewed on the SeaWatch SW website: http://www.seawatch-sw.org
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/bait-ball-feeding.html#cr
Tuesday 9 August 2011
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The facts were made as part of the SeaWatch SW project. This engages relentless dawn-to-dusk supervising of all marine wildlife from Gwennap Head at the southwest tilt of the UK mainland. The task is now in its fifth year, but this is the first time throughout the review that such a large accumulating of animals has been noted feeding in the area. Land Texas we can raised here!
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