Learning about seals and how some of them are endangered

The reasons for numbers of sea creatures declining are all thought provoking.

Often they get entangled in disused fishing nets and they also suffer from the effects of overfishing i.e. limited food availability.

Read the full article here and see photo's http://www.mcbi.org/what/monk_seals.html

Find out how you can help...

Today, the Hawaiian monk seal is critically endangered and headed toward extinction.

Reasons for the decline of the monk seal include: overfishing, limited food availability, entanglement in marine debris, habitat loss, shark predation, competition for food, aggressive male behavior, deaths of pups, an aging population, harmful algal blooms, and global climate change.

Wind blowing the breakers away from the shore.

Here is a link to a page that has some unusual marine creatures

This is a really amazing stormy image - the text at the bottom is also interesting and emphasizes the importance of the perfect balance of nature.

Read this post and see how the writers opinion changes - I think its a good post!

National Geographic: 13 Stunning Photos From 10-Year Sea Census

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/photogalleries/101004-census-of-marine-life-mr-blobby-new-species-photos-science-pictures/?source=link_fb20101009comlbest#/census-marine-life-best-pictures-38_27018_600x450.jpg


Pictures from the Census of Marine Life.

And here are a few more of the photos:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1306421/Four-legged-fish-goes-walk-ocean-floor-stunning-photos-taken-deep-sea-dive.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/10/04/ocean.census.results/index.html?iref=obinsite

and on a different note - these poor jellyfish :( http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/09/27/jellyfish.solar.power/index.html?iref=obinsite

Talking about islands: Socotra

Islands often have unique wildlife and plants, which are just as interesting and amazing as their beach finds.

One of these is Socotra. Here is a link to their marine life and beaches: http://www.socotraisland.org/intro/marinebiodiversity.html

The plants are so interesting and their beaches are beautiful.

http://www.travel-to.info/2008/09/socotra-island-the-most-bizzare-place-on-earth/

Did you know: The island of Socotra is among the top endangered islands in the world.

Islands - Sites for biodiversity conservation.

Beach combing

I was searching for beach combing again today, hoping to find something.

I did find this site http://wn.com/Beach_combing which seems to have a couple of interesting things on it. Youtubes and stuff.

We found some sponges on the far north beach the other day but did not have the camera with as the weather was dreadful. Too late we found that our mobile photo memory was full up. It was so windy that day and we had to turn back because it started to rain. You could see the heavy rain cloud moving from the next islands in the chain and it looked ugly. It was a pity because we had hoped to go for a long walk. We did find some really big, very old shells that had been exposed because the wild winter winds and storms had exposed the lower levels of sand.

Its such a pity that these creatures seems to be extinct on this island where we live. I wonder if it was during the seaweed industry era.

People don't realise how much marine life there is on the seaweed. By gathering it in mass and burning it as they used to for the seaweed/glass industry, they must have destroyed so much marine life :(

Last winter the council ran out of grit and as emergency measures beach sand was used as grit for the roads. Beach sand is so precious and full of life its tragic to use it. I hope they dont have do that this year.

I wonder when the last time was that these big shell creatures lived on our island. The ones we find are very old. If we could have them dated that would help.

I wonder if people turned to them in a massive way during the Potato Famine, before the clearances?

Something I saw today on the news was:

Chile Creates Large Marine Reserve at Sala y Gómez Island

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/10/chile-creates-large-marine-res.html?source=link_fb20101007salaygomez

Extract

Today, the Chilean government announced the creation of a large marine reserve around tiny and remote Sala y Gómez island in the Pacific ocean. The Waitt Foundation, Oceana, and National Geographic mounted a March 2010 expedition to document marine diversity in waters surrounding the island. The government's move represents a more than 100-fold increase in the expanse of Chile's marine protected areas.

Read more about it on the site.

Marine conservation is really important. From us studying the beaches and sea around here, there is a lack of marine life. There should be far more than there is because we are so isolated and far from the mainland. Yet there is very little!

Its so frustrating because we want to see so much and there is not :(

I found some stuff yesterday about islands and will try and find it again to post it. It was really interesting. haunted islands and bio diverse islands. I will make another post about it.

Marine Conservation Society

Have a look at this website - Marine Conservation Society- UK Charity caring for our seas!

You should have a look at their website - they have a section on how you can help.

They champion the need for marine wildlife protection, sustainable fisheries and clean seas and beaches. http://www.mcsuk.org/

Blue Rayed Limpets

We were beach combing one day and I found these amazing shells. They have blue lines on them!!! I was so excited and collected as many as I could and looked them up in a book we have called "Scottish Marine Life".

I did a presentation on them, if you want to have a look!

Sea Creatures - Blue Rayed Limpet