Showing posts with label Shetland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shetland. Show all posts

Thursday, 24 August 2017

Scientists discover a new flower of Shetland


By Kenneth MacdonaldBBC Scotland Science Correspondent
16 August 2017

Scientists have discovered a brand new flower in Shetland.

It is a beauty.

A delicate golden bell of a flower, its throat flecked with tiny, blood-red spots - colours echoing the Lion Rampant.

It is a discreet beauty, though. Each flower is only slightly larger than a 50p piece.

Discreet and unique, because this is a new flower of Scotland. Or, more precisely, Shetland.

The flower was discovered by a team from Stirling's department of biological and environmental sciences led by post-doctoral researcher Dr Violeta Simon-Porcar, working with associate professor Dr Mario Vallejo-Marin at Stirling and Dr James Higgins at Leicester University.

It is being referred to as "Shetland's monkeyflower", because it is larger and its flowers are more open than previous monkeyflowers.


Thursday, 4 April 2013

Bearded seal on Shetland

April 2013. Following the recent sighting of a walrus on the Orkney Islands a few weeks ago, a bearded seal, usually only found in the Arctic, has appeared on Shetland.

The bearded seal has been seen intermittently over the last week or so, mostly near the salmon farm in Basta Voe, on the island of Yell.

Although normally only found in the Arctic, there have been a few sightings in the UK, mostly on Shetland, and including sightings in both 2010 and 2011.

Bearded seals can reach nearly 9 feet in length and weigh as much as440 kg. They feed on Molluscs and anything else they can find on the bottom of the sea that they sift through using their whiskers.

Our thanks to Nature Shetland for their help with this information. 



BEARDED SEAL ON SHETLAND - PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE PETRIE

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

£47.5m Shetland 'black fish' scam details revealed

Details have been revealed of a £47.5m "black fish" scam which involved more than a dozen skippers and a fish processing company on Shetland.
The scam allowed the fishermen to land more mackerel and herring than they were allowed under EU quotas.
Scales at Lerwick-based processing company Shetland Catch Ltd were set to underestimate the weight of the fish being landed by the boats.
Seventeen skippers have previously admitted their part in the scam.
Earlier this month they were ordered to hand over almost £3m in confiscation orders.
They are due to be sentenced next month.
The BBC had challenged the reporting restrictions which had prevented the reporting of the extent of the false declarations to the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency, and the method used to make the undeclared landings.
Proper weight
Weighing scales at Shetland Fisheries were linked to computer screens showing the weight of fish landed.
The screen in the main floor of the fisheries, which was viewed by SFPA officials, was set to give a lower weight of fish than had been landed.
The proper weight was displayed on a screen in the engineer's room, in a part of the operation which was off limits to SFPA officials.
The SFPA had launched an investigation due to suspicions of widespread illegal landing of pelagic fish.
Accountants found that Shetland Catch Ltd's outgoings could not be supported by declared earnings.
Confiscation orders
The company has been taken over since its involvement in the scam, which took place between February 2003 and March 2005.
The 17 skippers have been ordered to pay back sums ranging from £2,700 to £425,900. The confiscation orders are:
Laurence Irvine, 66, of Aviemore, Symbister, Whalsay - £210,700; Gary Williamson, 52, of Norvag, Symbister, Whalsay - £118,500; William Williamson, 64, of Westerlea, Symbister, Whalsay - £213,200; George Henry, 60, of Noonsbrough, Clousta, Bixta - £51,300; John Stewart, 56, of 57 King Harald Street, Lerwick - £41,300, and Colin Leask, 38, of Vaarhjem; Simbister, Whalsay - £12,000.
David Hutchison, 66 of Ankerhus, Hillhead, Symbister - £140,900 Robert Polson, 48, of 17 Breiwick Road, Lerwick - £371,300; Thomas Eunson, 56, of Westwinds, Symbister - £140,500; Allen Anderson, 55, of Solvei, Symbister - £2,700; John Irvine, 68, of Braeside, Symbister - £236,000 and Allister Irvine, 63, of Karinya, Symbister - £120,600.
Victor Buschini, 51, of Cuckoos Nest, Kiln Lane, Hambleton, Poulton Le Flyde, Lancashire - £341,000, and Hamish Slater, 52, of 8 Strichan Road, Fraserburgh - £425,900.
George Anderson, 55, of Harbourview, Symbister - £40,700; Alexander Masson, 65, of 89 Strichen Road, Fraserburgh - £283,000 and Alexander Wiseman, 60, of 3 Sandyhills Gardens, Banff - £196,000.

Friday, 10 September 2010

Bid to save whale off Shetland 'could take weeks'

Animal welfare experts have said it could take weeks to free a humpback whale which has been caught up in creel ropes off Shetland.


The 25ft-long creature was spotted tangled in ropes attached to buoys off the shore near Vidlin, on the east of the islands.

Bad weather has forced Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish SPCA to postpone a rescue operation.

The rescuers are now waiting for calm seas.

They would then attempt to bring a boat alongside the whale and cut the ropes.

The rescuers have been in touch with experts in the United States who said the whale could survive for two or three weeks.

In 2000, a 7ft leatherback turtle was rescued after it became entangled in creel ropes off Shetland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-11247024
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