River Dee's pearl mussels get a helping hand – or gill

They were hunted to near-extinction. Now a £3.5m project aims to let the Scottish molluscs flourish again

Tracy McVeigh

Saturday 13 August 201622.48 BST

The sun shines on clear river water running through a valley in the Cairngorms, bringing the stones on the river bed into colourful focus. Here and there are dark shadows, half-buried clusters of dull black shells, lined and gouged by decades of shifting water and gravel: the pearl mussels of the river Dee.

The pearl mussel is one of the most ancient invertebrates on the planet, a freshwater shellfish that has helped to shape the history of Britain. One pearl mussel in every 1,000 or 5,000 – no one can be sure – lives up to its name and contains a lustred treasure. Julius Caesar’s biographer, Suetonius, cites a desire for pearls as one of the reasons why the Romans invaded Britain in 55BC.

But pearl hunting, pollution and habitat destruction have almost led to the mussel’s extinction. It has been illegal to pearl fish and to sell or buy a Scottish pearl since 1998, but their numbers remain perilously low. This week or the next, some of the remaining female mussels along all 86 miles of the Dee will spawn – all at once. On just one day a year, they release millions of tiny larvae, or glochidia, into the water.

Read more

Common dolphin rescued from the River Dee

Dolphin refloated after stranding upriver

September 2013. After reports and photographs appeared on the internet appeared to show a common dolphin in the River Dee, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) service became concerned after the dolphin was reported to be mid-way to Chester. 

Common dolphins prefer deeper waters and rarely enter rivers, but this animal may have

been chasing fish into the Dee estuary and up the river. Once there, it may have experienced problems getting back out due to the high flooding tides associated with the local waters, especially on spring tides as currently.

BDMLR volunteers, along with members of the Coastguard and helpful members of the public, tracked the dolphin from the shore as it swam all the way up to Chester, and then turned back seawards. After a long day and many miles, it was seen heading out towards Flint in the estuary as daylight failed at around 9pm and the teams were stood down.

The following day BDMLR received a call to say that the dolphin was sadly back in the River close to Saltney. BDMLR volunteers, members of the Coastguard and locals again monitored its progress from the river banks and it repeated the journey of the previous day, swimming strongly and exhibiting feeding behaviour as had been observe on previous days. It reached the Connah's Quay area in late evening as the flooding tide entered the river and so was unable to swim back into the open sea.

Stranded

The next day it was again reported back in the river moving towards Chester, and subsequently the dolphin stranded about two miles away from Saltney.

An inshore lifeboat from Flint was called and the dolphin was made comfortable on board by a BDMLR team.

About 6 miles out to sea and in at least 18 metres of water, the female dolphin was put over the side of the lifeboat in a sling stretcher, with a couple of RNLI on either side to gently rock the dolphin as per BDMLR protocol. This helps to restore the animal's equilibrium and recirculate any fluids that may have built up on one side. However, as the dolphin had not been stranded long, it gave all the right signs for release and as BDMLR medic Steve O'Connor on the lifeboat says, 'went off like a rocket' after a few minutes.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/dee-dolphin.html

Dolphin Leaps Out Of River In Rare Sighting - via Simon Reames

A dolphin has been photographed leaping out of the water 20 miles from the sea in the River Dee in North Wales.

The stunning picture was taken by a member of the Environment Agency's flood defence maintenance team and the mammal is now being monitored by the charityBritish Divers Marine Life Rescue and the coastguard.

The dolphin, nicknamed Dave, was originally spotted by members of the public at Connah's Quay docks but then swam up river to Saltney, near Chester.

The coastguard said the dolphin was happily swimming up and down and doesn't seem to be in a rush to go back out to sea.

But they have said they are worried about the size of crowds gathering on the banks of the river and are warning people that harassing a dolphin is a criminal offence.

They said they are aware of reports of someone trying to go into the water earlier to swim with the dolphin.

An Environment Agency spokesman told Sky News the sighting was extremely rare but that it was a good sign of the water quality in the area.

He said the mammal probably started swimming up the river at high tide to chase and feed on fish.

Video