Lancashire MCS
Marine Conservation Society: Lancashire area group

Plankton round-up 2025

Wednesday 9th April 19:30: by Mark Woombs and Barry Kaye PLUS group AGM by Kathy MacAdam.

Last year I showed a probable relationship between plankton blooms in the Wyre Estuary and the number of hours of sunlight, and I speculated that better weather in Spring this year might see a repeat of the Odontella bloom that characterised the early parts of 2022 and 2023, but was completely absent in 2024. We have certainly had good weather this Spring, so we will see how this has impacted our local phytoplankton in this talk!

Part of my research has been looking at local Met Office records, to quantify what weather we should expect at different times of the year, and how much this varies. This turned up some interesting results – if you thought that the best of the weather was now in the Spring, and our Summers are not as good as they were in your childhood, then, (depending on how old you are!) there might be some truth in this:

Sunlight vs month - corrected graph

Above: Average hours of sunlight per month between 1908 and 2025, compared with 2000-2025 from data published by the Met Office for Bradford. The data show that there is more sun in Spring, but less in our traditional Summer. The graphs overlay a micrograph of a cell of the phytoplankton Odontella regia, which may be impacted by the changes.

Porcellidium sp by Mark Woombs
Above: Photomicrograph of Porcellidium sp. by Mark Woombs

The meeting will start with a brief AGM hosted by Kathy. This will be followed by two short talks rounding up plankton studies in the Wyre Estuary over the last 12 months. Mark will look at how to get their ‘best side’ when photographing zooplankton, while I will attempt to shed more light on the question of whether phytoplankton respond to the weather (and how to measure these changes).

At Lancaster Maritime Museum, Custom House, St George’s Quay, Lancaster, LA1 1RB
£4 donation requested to Lancashire MCS
Everybody Welcome!

Posted: April 3rd, 2025
Posted in MCS talks, Science

The Evolution of the Battleship

Wednesday 12th March 2025 at 19:30

By Barry Kaye (Lancashire MCS)

Egyptian warship of Ramesses III

Above: An Egyptian warship at the Battle of the Delta, 1175 BCE. Sketch based on the carved relief from the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, Egypt (BK 2025).

This talk will follow the development of warships from the earliest times – the first recorded naval battle in the late Bronze Age, through the developments in the classical period – the ‘trireme’ and all that! Finally we’ll look at how sailing warships gave way to the first ironclads after the Industrial Revolution.

At Lancaster Maritime Museum, Custom House, St George’s Quay, Lancaster, LA1 1RB

£4 donation requested to Lancashire MCS

Everybody Welcome!

Posted: March 5th, 2025
Posted in MCS talks

Saltmarshes of the Northwest Coast

Wednesday 12th February 2025 at 19:30

By Mandy Knott (Natural England)

Photograph of a saltmarsh in Morecambe bay, looking towards Grange from Southwest, by Mandy Knott.

Above: Photograph of a saltmarsh in Morecambe bay, looking towards Grange from Southwest, by Mandy Knott.

Mandy is a senior officer for the Nature Recovery Network team in Cheshire and Lancashire. Her talk will look at the following topics:

  • Extent of Northwest saltmarshes
  • What is a saltmarsh?
  • Saltmarsh zonation
  • The ecological and societal benefits of saltmarshes
  • Threats & pressures including historic losses – challenges in managing saltmarshes (inc SSSI)
  • Saltmarsh restoration
  • Resources and further reading

At Lancaster Maritime Museum, Custom House, St George’s Quay, Lancaster, LA1 1RB

£4 donation requested to Lancashire MCS

Everybody Welcome!

Posted: January 15th, 2025
Posted in MCS talks

MCS Christmas Quiz 2024

Wednesday 11th December 2024 at 19:30

by Lewis Bambury (Lancashire MCS)

MCS xmas poster 2024

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!

MCS Xmas Quiz 2024 285kB PDF Poster

At Lancaster Maritime Museum, Custom House, St George’s Quay, Lancaster, LA1 1RB
£4 donation requested to Lancashire MCS
Everybody Welcome!

Posted: December 4th, 2024
Posted in Events, MCS talks

The Red Sea

A talk by Mark Woombs (Lancashire MCS) on Wednesday 9th October 2024 at 19:30

Red Sea coral reef and its inhabitants, photos by Mark Woombs.

The Red Sea is unique. Its diverse reefs are in stark contrast to the severe desert landscape. Many of the species found there are endemic, that is they occur nowhere else on our planet. The Red Sea has so far proven resistant to coral bleaching due to the corals higher temperature tolerance. Is this still the case or are things about to change?

The Red Sea 303kB PDF Poster

At Lancaster Maritime Museum, Custom House, St George’s Quay, Lancaster, LA1 1RB
£4 donation requested to Lancashire MCS

Everybody Welcome!

Posted: September 30th, 2024
Posted in MCS talks, Science

Blackpool and Fylde College student dissertations

19:30 Wednesday 12th May 2024 at Lancaster Maritime Museum

Blackpool and Fylde College student dissertations

Above: Students from Blackpool and Fylde College – (L to R) Bradley Cooke, Jack Dyson and Scarlett Henson. Background – filter feeding mussels (Mytilus edulis) at Roa Island.

This month sees the last of our current series of presentations, and on this occasion we are pleased to cede the floor to the up-coming generation of marine biologists, with presentations from students of Blackpool and Fylde College. I hope you will be able to come along to provide them with a friendly environment to practice speaking in public about their scientific projects:

Microplastic contamination of Mytilus edulis
by Scarlett Henson
Infection of mackerel by Anisakis Parasites
by Bradley Cooke
The Impact of pH on coral growth
by Jack Dyson

Poster: Blackpool and Fylde College student dissertations (258kB PDF)

Posted: June 6th, 2024
Posted in MCS talks

Disappearing diatoms and Sex in Copepods

Plankton from Morecambe Bay.

Disappearing diatoms and Sex in Copepods – Knott End Plankton round up, Spring 2024
Talks by Mark Woombs and Barry Kaye (Lancashire MCS) on Wednesday 8th May 2024 at 19:30 at Lancaster Maritime museum.

We are now into our third year studying the plankton at Knott End, and this year we are witness to a failure of the Spring phytoplankton bloom due to poor weather. Perhaps for the same reason, the copepod breeding season has been pushed back two months; though zooplankton numbers as a whole seem to be resilient… Join us to find out more!

If you would liek to check out some of the data from our plankton surveys at Knott End for yourself, there is a graphical interface on our website. This allows you to select plankton by groups or individual species, and follow how their populations have changed over the last eighteen months.

POSTER: Plankton, Spring 2024 (172kB PDF)

Posted: May 3rd, 2024
Posted in Marine science update, MCS talks

Renewable Energy and the Community

A talk by John Blowes on Wednesday 10th April 2024 at 19:30

Halton Hydro, photo John Blowes.

Above: The Halton Lune Hydro project turbine room and fish pass are designed to blend in with the traditional architecture on the Lune, photo by John Blowes.

Our talk by John Blowes, Director and Chairman of the Halton Lune Hydro covers protection of the environment by various methods with a focus of the Halton Hydro community project. The talk will touch on environmental issues such as tidal marshes, underwater grasses and pollution, but is otherwise about the Hydro project technical, environmental and financial.

John’s talk will be preceded by a brief public AGM for the group.

POSTER: Renewable Energy and the Community (224kB PDF)

Posted: April 5th, 2024
Posted in MCS talks

The marine life of the first Morecambe Bay – 350 million years ago!

A talk by Trevor Lund on Wednesday 13th March 2024 at 19:30

 Artist's impression of the Bay 350 MYA – spot the mistakes! Image by Mark Woombs/Adobe AI.

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.

Poster: 202403 The Bay 350MYA PDF format 215kB.

At Lancaster Maritime Museum, Custom House, St George’s Quay, Lancaster, LA1 1RB
£4 donation requested to Lancashire MCS
Everybody Welcome!

Posted: February 28th, 2024
Posted in Events, MCS talks

How are salt marshes helping to protect the North West coast

A talk by Joseph Earl (Morecambe Bay Partnership) on Wednesday 14th February 2024 at 19:30:

Our Future Coast - Restoring Saltmarshes

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.

Poster: 202402 Saltmarsh Restoration (222kB PDF format).

At Lancaster Maritime Museum, Custom House, St George’s Quay, Lancaster, LA1 1RB
£4 donation requested to Lancashire MCS
Everybody Welcome!

Posted: January 24th, 2024
Posted in Events, MCS talks