Thanks to everybody who came along on the 23rd September for the Beach Clean at Half Moon Bay, part of the National MCS Great British Beach Clean 2023. In common with recent events, both survey areas on the beach were exceptionally clean.
Above: Beach clean volunteers from the Half Moon Bay 2 survey area, September 2023.
We collected the least amount of litter that we’ve found on recent cleans. Even the number of plastic fragments was down from a few hundred (usually) to 51. However, this may rise when Becca’s data is added from HMB 2. The overall weight from the surveyed areas was 1.62 kg. A group also cleaned beyond the survey areas and they collected a further 3kg, and many bottles from the seating area on the fore-shore.
Above: Some of the team from Half Moon Bay survey area 1.
Our next beach clean date will be early December (not yet agreed)
Kathy MacAdam, 30th September 2023.
Posted: September 30th, 2023
Posted in Beach Clean
Wednesday 14th June at 19:30 at Lancaster Maritime Museum
Above: Phase contrast micrograph of phytoplankton at Knott End, April 2023. Species depicted come from number of families include Asterionellopsis, Stephanopyxis, Chaetocerus, Pseudo-nitzschia, Odontella and Ditylum, indicating just some of the diversity on our doorstep! Photomicrograph Barry Kaye.
Phytoplankton are the smallest plants on the planet, yet vital to all life. While they drift at the mercy of ocean currents, they are very sensitive to their environment, and are capable of explosive growth when they encounter the right conditions. In this talk we will look at the phytoplankton sampled at Knott End over the last 18 months, to get a glimpse of its diversity, and begin to understand how it changes over time.
Join us on Wednesday 14th June 2023 at 19:30 at Lancaster Maritime Museum to find out more.
A talk by Mark Woombs, looking at some of the zooplankton in Morecambe Bay.
Above: Planktonic worm larvae (top left, shows micrographs at two stages of development) eventually settle to form reefs up to 2m tall, like this one close to Conger Rock, Morecambe (with Heysham power station in the background). Photos Mark Woombs.
Is it possible that a microscopic worm can develop into this extensive reef close to the town of Morecambe, via a trip around the Irish sea? Come along to our next MCS meeting and find out about this, and many other amazing happenings in Morecambe Bay!
To find out more, join us at the Lancaster Maritime Museum on Wednesday 10th May 2023 at 19:30 for:
Mark’s Mini Monsters – Zooplankton of Morecambe Bay
Above: The wreck of the Tabarka with inserts of other blockships and the sea-life that inhabits them. Photos Lewis Bambury and Gordon Fletcher, Lancashire MCS.
Scapa Flow is best known as the final resting place of the German High Seas Fleet from the Great War; but it is also home to large numbers of less important vessels sunk to block channels and so protect the Royal Navy from U-boats. These vessels are often in shallow water, and are in turn home to a wide range of interesting, and often colourful marine life.
To find out more, join us at the Lancaster Maritime Museum on Wednesday 8th March 2023 at 19:30 for:
The ‘Tabarka’ and other blockships of Scapa Flow
by Gordon Fletcher and Lewis Bambury (Lancashire MCS)
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.
Some highlights from the MCS/WRT Plankton calendar 2023
One of this year’s projects has been to carry out regular plankton samples in the Wyre estuary at the Knott End slipway in conjunction with the Wyre Rivers Trust. Jean has worked up some of Mark’s super photos from the surveys, and put them as pin-ups for the coming 12 months in our calendar. Armed with this, next time you go in the sea, you will know who you are swimming with!
Calendars are on sale at £8 each, proceeds to Lancashire MCS and WRT. Collect at our meetings in December or January. Please note that numbers are limited!
Wednesday 12th October at 19:30 at the Maritime Museum Lancaster:
A talk by by Andy Richardson (Royal Society of Biology) examining the fascinating biology, sustainability challenges and innovations behind the offshore fishery for tuna and other pelagic species.
Please be aware that the meeting room is up four flights of stairs. The lift at the Maritime museum has been repaired. 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 14th September at 19:30 at the Maritime Museum:
Above: The squat lobster Galathea strigosa stares back at me from his crevice between rocks. Due to the optical properties of seawater the blue patterns on his face will stand out to other animals, but reds fade quickly over distance, and will appear grey – providing camouflage until you are very close! Photo: Barry Kaye.
How crustacea sense their environment, and how an understanding of thesir senses might give us insights into their life. Crustaceans have been adapting to life at sea for 500 million years, and possess a suite of sensory capabilities that are astounding in their sensitivity and complexity. Some can see in the ultraviolet and infrared spectrum, and detect plane and circularly polarised light, extending their perception of colour far beyond that of the most accomplished painter! They smell with their legs, and while they are covered in armour, their sense of touch is the most sensitive in the animal kingdom…
We are pleased to announce our program of talks for 2022-23. Talks are usually on the second Wednesday of the month, and will be held at the Maritime Museum on the Quay in Lancaster starting at 19:30. Please subscribe to our Newsletter for further details and any changes to our program!
14th SeptMy Life as a Crustacean by Barry Kaye (Lancashire MCS) 12th OctFisheries for large pelagics by Andy Richardson, Royal Society of Biology 16th NovThe “Little Cucumber” Fish of Wyre, Osmerus Eperlanus by Tom Myerscough, Wyre Rivers Trust. 14th DecIt’s Not Christmas Yet – Christmas Quiz with Lewis Bambury, Lancashire MCS 11th JanThe Azolla story: How an amazing plant changed our climate 49 million years ago by Alexandra and Jonathan Bujak, The Azolla Foundation. 8th FebSeagrass – experience at Knoydart and Gigha, and discussion of its potential for carbon capture in the Bay by Mark Woombs and Barry Kaye, Lancashire MCS 8th MarThe ‘Tabarka’ and other blockships of Scapa Flow by Gordon Fletcher and Lewis Bambury, Lancashire MCS 12th AprPhytoplankton in the river Wyre 2022 by Barry Kaye, Lancashire MCS 10th MayMark’s Mini Monsters of Morecambe Bay by Mark Woombs, Lancashire MCS 14th JuneExposed shores by Gordon Fletcher, Lancashire MCS plusFighting phytoplankton (short talk) by Barry Kaye, Lancashire MCS
ALL WELCOME!
Talks will start at 19:30 at the Maritime Museum, the Quay, Lancaster (Facebook link). Please join us in person if you can, but note there are four flights of stairs up to the meeting room. Funding permitting we hope to broadcast meetings over Zoom for the benefit of those unable to negotiate the stairs – or who live ouside of the Lancaster area.
