Welsh Wonders

It’s the beginning of the second volunteer period for SWF staff members, and with several line-transect surveys and dolphin sightings under our belt the 2012 season has been a success so far!

This week saw the arrival of two new volunteers; Marta a general volunteer has joined us from Spain, and Heidi, a master’s student from University College London is working with SWF studying how recreational boat disturbance affects social cohesion in bottlenose dolphin groups.

On Thursday SWF volunteers and staff were treated to an amazing display of bottlenose dolphin behaviour on a line-transect survey from Aberystwyth, heading north towards Pwllheli. A group of 18 bottlenose dolphins was sighted near Llanystumdwy; as we travelled towards them they started to socialise and play around our research boat, the Ma Chipe. A wide variety of behaviour was seen including tail-slapping (shown in the photograph), leaping, bow riding, chin-slapping and some percussive behaviour. Whilst the dolphins were swimming and diving alongside us we heard whistling coming from some adult individuals. Out of the 18 dolphins sighted, we had a total of 4 calves and 2 juveniles.

During the survey we also saw 4 harbour porpoises and 4 grey seals that were bobbing around in open water. At one point we crossed a cold water reef, where we saw several types of jellyfish through the water, including moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) and the barrel or root mouth jellyfish (Rhizostoma octopus). Needless to say all the SWF team were extremely happy with the day’s survey, particularly after the incredible encounter with the bottlenose dolphins and the variety of marine life seen- who knew Welsh waters were so diverse!

Sea Watch Team

SWF AGM 2012

During the past bank holiday weekend, Sea Watch Foundation held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in New Quay, which was a great success. The weekend consisted of various meetings and interesting talks presented by Sea Watch staff, regional and volunteer coordinators:

Peter Evans

 – discussed the wide variety of work that Sea Watch Foundation carries out across the UK.

Daphna Feingold

– talked about the Cardigan Bay bottlenose dolphin research project and some of the important project outcomes.

Danielle Gibas

– spoke about the Sea Watch sightings database for the UK and its advances.

Colin Bird

– talked about Orca Watch planned for the 19^th- 27 ^th May in the Pentland Firth, NE Scotland (see http://www.caithness-sea-watching.co.uk/6.html for more details).

Colin Speedy

– discussed his interesting work with basking sharks in the Hebrides.

Robin Petch

– spoke about sightings, especially around Whitby and the initiation of a photo identification catalogue of minke whales.

Katrin Lohrengel

– talked about her Vodaphone World of a Difference sponsorship and volunteer recruitment in North West England.

Rachel Lambert

– discussed the role of Sea Watch volunteers and their work carried out here in New Quay.

On Sunday morning we jumped on board the Dunbar Castle II for a boat trip along the beautiful West Wales coast line to Ynys-lochyn and back, carried out in line-transect mode. Thank you to Danielle for arranging such beautiful weather and the numerous bottlenose dolphin sightings for us!  Four adult bottlenose dolphins were sighted and photographed before leaving the harbour, followed by three additional sightings during the trip (four adults and two calves, followed by three adults and one calf, followed by two adults). A grey seal was also sighted during the trip. Later four bottlenose dolphins were identified to be Ghost, Floppy, Vitally and Comb.

After an eventful weekend the Sea Watch volunteers have started another busy week in the office in an attempt to dodge the rainy Welsh weather. On Wednesday afternoon we had the pleasure of hearing another fascinating   and gory talk given by Rod Penrose from the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), which aims to record information on the cause of cetacean, marine turtle and basking shark strandings along the UK's coastlines using post-mortem examinations (see www.ukstrandings.org for further information).

On Friday Rod Penrose brough a stranded sub-adult harbour porpoise found at Pwllheli to show Sea Watch volunteers. The suspected cause of death was from a bottlenose dolphin attack due to broken ribs, although further post-mortem examination is required to confirm this 

Sea Watch Team

Artistic Dolphins Sighted!

Another eventful week has passed for the Sea Watch Volunteers! We managed to complete two line-transect surveys this week on Wednesday and Thursday with Dunbar Castle II. Wednesday was a beautiful day with nice weather and calm seas. We started our day with an encounter just outside the pier at New Quay Harbour, we followed the animal for about 15 minutes before continuing our line-transect.  In total we encountered 17 dolphins(!) during our line-transect which took us from outside Aberearon to the outskirts of Cames Head close to Cardigan. 

One of the groups we encountered consisted of 10 animals with adults, playful juveniles and calves, giving us a show of some aerial and percussive behaviour. Thursday started the same way as Wednesday with an encounter just outside the pier. We headed towards Cames Head and finished the last part of the line-transect from Wednesday, but due to rainy weather we had to cancel the line-transect and head back, giving us time to enjoy the splendid view of the coastline in Cardigan Bay. 

Now it’s Friday and we are all preparing for the annual general meeting (AGM) of Sea Watch Foundation, which will take place this weekend in New Quay. 

Sea Watch Team

Dolphin Spotting on the Dunbar Castle II....

Last week was an eventful week for the Sea Watch Volunteers! On Tuesday, we had our very first line transect survey of the season on the Dunbar Castle II. Despite some choppy seas and rainy weather we had a very successful survey. We gathered lots of useful data and in total sighted 13 dolphins, including 3 calves which caused a photographing frenzy! Two of the dolphins spotted included Bond and Chris, both of whom are old friends of Sea Watch and members of the Adopt a Dolphin scheme.

Later in the week Hanna, a former member of the Sea Watch Foundation, gave a very interesting talk on the C-CATS Project, in which she is now involved. C-CATS or the Cardigan bay Cetacean Acoustic Tracking Study is a unique approach to acoustic monitoring that will be the first of it's kind to be conducted. Hanna is part of an interdisciplinary team of research scientists working in collaboration with the German Oceanographic museum and the University of Wales, Bangor, to conduct a unique acoustic cetacean monitoring project utilising both passive acoustic monitoring systems and a mobile hydrophone array to track cetacean movements through the water column. This project will be conducted in the waters off target rock, New Quay over the next few months. 

For more information on the C-CATS project or to follow the C-CAT blog, check out: http://www.ccats-ccats.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Sea Watch Team

The Beginning, Sea Watch 2012…

The start of the season is upon us, and the new Sea Watch volunteers are in training!

           

Luckily (for this time of year!) the weather has been good so far, with minimal rain meaning Cardigan Bay is looking rather beautiful in the spring sunshine. Training has been underway; learning how the office works, about surveying techniques, and of course the all important land watches, where Sea Watch volunteers perch on the harbour wall scanning the bay for marine mammals, in particular the bottlenose dolphin. My first land watch, I have to say was a little chilly and sadly unsuccessful in spotting any marine mammals. However, second time round the volunteers spotted 4 bottlenose dolphins, including one calf! The volunteers held out in the last 5 minutes of the watch, despite the rain to ensure the data was viable. Fingers crossed they appear on my next land watch!

           

So what’s planned for the rest of the season I hear you ask….? Well hopefully this summer will see some sunshine and bring lots of dolphins to Cardigan Bay! Sea Watch volunteers will be hanging around on New Quay’s sea wall marine mammal watching and answering any questions you might have, as well as participating in boat surveys collecting bottlenose dolphin data. This years National Whale and Dolphin Watch Campaign will be the 27-29^th July, as part of this, Sea Watch will be providing lots of information, games and activities on the New Quay pier!

Sea Watch Team

Reluctant Goodbyes

When the phrase “6 weeks” was mentioned the time seemed to stretch before us, but as all good things must come to an end it has crept upon us and soon our goodbyes must be said. Those first few days seemed a very daunting prospect to the five new volunteers due to the sheer number of tasks ahead. However, we couldn’t have asked for a better start as during our first week the weather was fantastically calm so our first few days consisted of learning the ropes on two boat trips as well as office training. Being thrown in at the deep end did have its advantages though – the sightings of bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises were absolutely worth the hours spent surveying Cardigan Bay. To be honest, that original excitement of a cetacean sighting hasn’t decreased one iota!

 

After the exciting first week, it settled down into regular routines of important office-based tasks (sightings, data recording and entry, photo ID matching, and public awareness responsibilities), land-watches and boat-based surveys when the weather was calm. With all of these jobs to keep us busy it really is no wonder that the time has gone so swiftly. The age-old saying “Time flies when you’re having fun” is definitely true in this case.

With the end of season tasks beginning in earnest one can’t help feeling that the normally cheeky office atmosphere has gradually developed an edge of sadness. However, the office is still as busy as ever as all of the jobs are being completed and the office is undergoing a frenzied cleaning operation which will leave it sparkling for the next group of lucky Sea Watch volunteers. 

 

The last 6 weeks working as a research volunteer have been one of the best experiences for all of us. Favourite parts include the friendly and helpful atmosphere in the office, learning all about the work Sea Watch undertakes and becoming part of it, spending time with the other volunteers and of course spotting the cetaceans (especially the calves and newborns) on survey. 

If these experiences sound like something that you would be interested in then please visit our research volunteer page to find out more details!

By Ollie (volunteer)

Boats, behave! A review of the Marine Code of Conduct

Sea Watch seeks to educate and inform the public about various aspects of marine mammal conservation in the UK. Read on for an explanation of one of these topics, the Marine Code of Conduct.

 

Because of the magnificent wildlife that is found within the UK waters, an increasing number of wildlife boat tours are being offered and the public is taking advantage of these opportunities. This may not seem like a big problem, for why shouldn’t we go and watch the wildlife that is on our door step? However, boats can cause disturbances to marine mammals in addition to other threats they face, like water pollution and accidental capture in fishing nets.

Injures that are caused by boats can be fatal to marine mammals. Boats can cause trauma to marine mammals by accidentally bumping into them, causing head injuries, which can lead to internal bleeding. Any boat that is powered by a propeller can cause serious injuries to marine mammals by causing deep cuts that are unlikely to heal, like the one seen in the photo below.

Over the years there has been an increase in the number of marine mammal strandings on beaches in the UK and one of the main reasons for the strandings is trauma, usually caused by boats.

Noise from boats can also cause stress to the animals as well as disturb the frequencies that they use to carry out daily activities. Dolphins, porpoises, and whales use sound for locating and communicating with one other as well as for finding food and detecting predators. When the noise of a propeller blade interrupts this frequency then it can cause stress to the animals, especially pregnant mothers or those with young calves.

So, is there a way to stop harm or disturbance to marine mammals? Fortunately there is a Marine Code of Conduct in place, which is there to inform people about the safest and best way to watch or interact with marine wildlife and hopefully help minimise any disturbances.

Some of the rules included in the code are:

• If you sight dolphins at a distance, continue forward at a steady speed, slowing to 6 knots or less when they are within 1km
• Do not approach or steer directly towards dolphins; let them approach you
• If you see dolphins, do not make sudden changes in speed or course
• Do not attempt to touch, feed or swim with them
• Take extra care to avoid disturbing animals with young
• Avoid any unnecessary noise near the animals
• Do not stay longer than 15 minutes within 300m of the animals

For more information please see the Marine Code of Conduct page on our website. The code of conduct applies to all vessels including motorboats, yachts and even kayaks and canoes.

Signs like this help educate the public and boat operators about the code of conduct. 

If you go on a wildlife boat tour, you can look out for the WiSe Scheme sticker to make sure that your tour is sticking to the code. This means that the crew on the boat are aware of the code and have been given training in how best to interact with the marine wildlife.

There is no reason why boats and dolphins should not be able to co-exist if care is taken to observe the code of conduct.

By Abby (volunteer)