As a local area group we try to inform, entertain and educate people about the wonderful marine life in the seas around Britain. We do this through a programme of talks and events – both within our own lecture series, (see our diary) but also to other groups by invitation.

For some years now presentations have been moving to electronic format – Powerpoint(R) and the like, and we have struggled to borrow equipment (thanks to everyone who has helped out!), and with compatibility issues. While we have never yet had to cancel a presentation due to total incompatibility between a speaker’s talk and the equipment to hand, it has come pretty close on a number of occasions…

As a consequence it is a great relief to announce that we have been awarded National Lottery Funding to purchase our own digital projector, laptop and the associated software. While it will take us a couple of weeks to get fully organised, we hope this is the end of pre-presentation worries!

A big thanks to the Big Lottery Fund, and to Jo for co-ordinating our application.

This roundup has a focus on oceanography, physical and chemical processes in the worlds oceans. The chemistry and biology of natural seawaters are very tightly linked, with most reactions being biologically mediated. The physical side, however, dominates what chemical species marine biology has to work with, an interaction that scientists are now claiming to be able to model. Many marine systems are rather less than ‘natural’, with a range of human influences. In the oceanography section we look at the underlying science of these man-made changes, whilst in our pollution section we look at the dirty stuff…

We finish on a few general papers that don’t fit into the two main themes for the week – living underwater, mapping the salmon genome, dolphins and ichthyosaurs. Finally, if you can only conserve one thing, what would it be? – This is the root of a difficult question facing coral reef conservators. Do you concentrate on the core of the reef? – science is starting to show that the fringes of the reef (an other eco-systems?) are more genetically diverse, and may offer a stronger pool of organisms better able to survive ongoing climatic change…
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