Above: 2024 MCS Christmas quiz, background photo SS Carnatic by Lewis Bambury.
Pit your wits against our quizmaster over a range of general knowledge topics – a chance to unwind from Christmas Shopping and other seasonal stresses!
Our third annual visit to Conger Rock was on Saturday 21st September, the early morning start being made very much more bearable by the rare appearance of some sunshine! Our walks are nice social occasions, but also allow us to check on the state of the honeycomb worm reefs which can grow to be substantial structures close to extreme low water.
The photo above by Lewis shows one of the honeycomb worm reefs with Conger Rock, and other members of the group, in the background. The reefs close to Conger Rock were rather smaller than on previous years, few being more than 10cm tall. More substantial reefs, up to 40cm tall were present closer to the the extreme low water mark.
The reefs are relatively short-lived structures – probably reaching a maximum size, with a height over half a meter, and extending for many tens of meters, after four or five years growth. After this time the rate of erosion from winter storms starts to dominate over the slow growth of the reef, perhaps as the founding worm population gets older, or simply that the larger reef size becomes unstable in the face of winter storms.
The Bioblitz allows many disciplines to work together to identify and document the various wildlife species present in the Wyre Estuary Country Park and wider district, running for 24 hours from 12:00 on the Friday to 12:00 on Saturday; this year’s event was run over the 14th and 15th of June. In addition to the identification activity this year there was a marquee tent open to the public on the Saturday for local wildlife and environmental organisations to have stands, and Lancashire MCS were invited to use one of these as well as helping with some of the identification. So on the Saturday Kathy, Hilary and Lewis managed the stand and, after helping set things up, Barry helped with some of the microscopy.
As well as the usual leaflets, information and pin badges we had a range of craft activities prepared for the kids (and us bigger kids). These were well received and we had steady flow of people visiting the stand, at least until the weather took an extreme turn with a heavy thunder storm that seemed to drive a lot of people home and slow things down. It was an enjoyable day and I think that we would love to do it all again, preferably without the storm, not that we would have any control over that.
A talk by Trevor Lund on Wednesday 13th March 2024 at 19:30
Above: Artist’s impression of the Bay 350 MYA – spot the mistakes! Image by Mark Woombs/Adobe AI.
The area that is now Morecambe Bay was covered in sea once before during the Carboniferous geological period. In this talk we look at the evidence for this in the rocks and fossils of the Bay area. We look at how geologists have used modern marine environments to work out the ecosystems and environments of the past. It is surprising how these marine creatures were adapted in a similar way to their modern equivalents, to survive and flourish in the same kind of environment.
A talk by Joseph Earl (Morecambe Bay Partnership) on Wednesday 14th February 2024 at 19:30:
Above: Restoring our salt marshes is an initiative of the Our Future Coast project.
Driven by climate change, coastal areas globally are facing increased risks of flooding and erosion. We’ll explore the crucial role that natural coastal environments like saltmarshes, found extensively around Morecambe Bay, could play in protecting people and places from climate change into the future.
Joseph’s talk will highlight the unique ecological and coastal defence value of saltmarshes and discover how we can better support and manage them. He will introduce a series of case studies around Morecambe Bay where saltmarsh is being restored through the Our Future Coast project, part of DEFRA’s national flood and coastal resilience innovation programme.
Does the Isle of Muck have the best tearoom in the Hebrides? Come along to Wednesday’s’ talk to find out and look at the amazing marine wildlife that lives around the the Small Isles and the surrounding area.
At Lancaster Maritime Museum on Wednesday 10th January 2024 at 19:30
Snow on the iconic Midland Hotel in Morecambe, by Lewis Bambury November 2021.
The return of our annual Christmas quiz, with more fiendish and fun questions prepared by Lewis to test your knowledge of current, local and maritime trivia…
A talk by Alexandra and Jonathan Bujak (Azolla Foundation)
Above: Carp and ducks eating azolla in China. A fisherman is collecting azolla to feed his livestock. Image rendered by Victor Leshyk from the cover of ‘The Azolla Story’.
49 million years ago a plant called azolla covered the surface of the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Azolla Event lasted 1.2 million years, during which time azolla sequestered enormous quantities of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere, and moved our planet’s climate from a greenhouse world to the ice-age climate, with permanent ice and snow at both poles…
If you would like to know more, The Azolla Story: A message from the future by Jonathan Bujak and Alexandra Bujak is available from Amazon.
Alternative Zoom meeting details are available through our Newsletter – you can subscribe here.
All are welcome, we request a donation of £4 to cover costs of room hire and speaker expenses.
Wednesday 11th January 2023 at 19:30 at LancasterMaritime Museum.
On the 23rd July 2022, Mark and Caitlin Woombs, Jean Wilson, Lewis and myself dived deep into our collections to present a course on Crustacea to the Royal Society of Biology as guests of the Wyre Estuary Country Park. The course started with a general introduction to marine crustacea – one of the most diverse groups of animals on the planet – by Mark. This was followed by a maze building experiment, overseen by Caitlin, to show how simple experiments demonstrate that shore crabs can learn quite complex tasks.
Above: Carapace widths of Carcinas maenas, showing the cut-off at 35mm, indicating the current maximum size of this year’s young shore crabs.
Jean had gathered large numbers of shore crab moults from the beach at Knott End, which were used to see how the population is developing through the early part of the year. The rough graph of carapace widths, produced during the practical session, is reproduced above.
I updated an old presentation on ‘Colour underwater’ to look more specifically at sensory perception in crustacea – a fascinating field that I think went down OK, and I hope I can revisit in our winter lecture series later this year. Finally, Lewis tied the afternoon off with a review of all things crustacean in the form of a quiz. How many legs has it got?
Above: The light hearted crustaceans quiz, presented by Lewis (right) with Mark dressed as a lobster!
Thanks to Jean for organising, and to Alison Boden and the staff at the Wyre Estuary Country Park for making us very welcome!
At the George and Dragon, Wednesday November 10th at 19:30. Donations requested to Lancashire MCS.
Photograph above: Designated a Marine Protected area to protect (bottom images from left to right) flame shells, Northern feather stars and serpulid worms; the protection of Loch Sunart has allowed the recovery of species such as the spur dog, a relative of the catshark (top). All photos by Mark Woombs
Join marine biologist Mark Woombs as he explores the underwater life of Loch Sunart; from the Sound of Mull to the sheltered waters at the head of the Loch by Strontian (the only town in the world to have a chemical element named after it!). Loch Sunart has been designated as a ‘Scottish Marine Protected Area’, and features a wide range of habitats that are home to some of the most interesting and colourful marine life in British waters.
Please help prevent the spread of COVID by taking a Lateral Flow Test on the morning before joining us!
