Seasearch News

Updated 8th April 2008

Divers march for Marine Reserves

On 3rd April 100 divers from the Marine Conservation Society and BSAC marched on the Houses of Parliament to deliver a 100,000 strong petition for effective Marine Reserves in the forthcoming Marine Act, published in draft that day. Seasearch tutors Paul Biggin and Chris Wood were amongst them.

New Seasearch Survey Forms

There have been some changes to the Seasearch Survey Form to make the information we receive even more valuable. The latest forms and guidance notes are available to download from the website and have been sent by email to all those who have attended Surveyor courses or regularly complete Survey Forms.

The main changes are that surveyors are asked to record exposure and tidal streams for each site and identify the seabed types and seabed cover types for each habitat rather than for the site as a whole. The species list has become more organised and there is the opportunity to identify which species you have photos of at this site. The aim of the changes is to allow us to allocate nationally recognised biotopes to Seasearch data, which is added information useful for identifying potential marine reserves.

To download the new Forms and Guidance notes go to the Seasearch Recording page.

New Seasearch Coordinators appointed

Seasearch has two new coordinators who will be organising Seasearch activities in their areas:

Carrie Pillow is the coordinator for North-East England and is based near York. We have already held one Observer Course in Yorkshire and a second is planned for 19th April. Carrie has organised Seasearch dives at Bridlington (20th April) and Eyemouth (4th May) both aimed at getting Observer dives carried out with a tutor on hand to give advice. You can contact her at carrie@seasearchne.org.uk

Tony Glen is the coordinator for the Isle of Man and volunteered following an Observer course on the island on 2nd March. Tony will be organising dives and proposed aggregate dredging areas to the north-east of the island are a prime target. You can contact him at searchiom@hotmail.com

Seasearch records for 2007 reach all time high

Seasearch records received for 2007 have now reached 1315. This exceeds the previous highest total of 1281 in 2005. The tables below give an idea of what sort of records there are and where they have come from. To see a map with all the locations plotted on it go to the Achievements page.

The pipefish category is for 2007's pipefish survey forms. These have now reached 94 and we are keen to continue recording to see if there are any seasonal changes.

This graph shows which country the records have come from. Just over half come from England with Wales 21% and Scotland 16%.

This chart shows whereabouts in England forms have come from so far. Devon, Cornwall and Dorset always produce the greatest number of forms as they are the prime diving locations. It is good to see increasing numbers from less well dived areas such as Kent and East Anglia.

All of the data for 2007 has now ben entered into the Marine Recorder database and will be available to view on the NBNGateway website soon. However, if you have any forms for 2007 not yet submitted please send them in now as we can add them in the next update due later in 2008.

Latest Seasearch Reports on line

Reports of many of the 2007 surveys are now available to view and download from this site. The latest ones are:

North Llyn 2007

South Llyn 2007

Devon Summary 2007

Dorset Summary 2007

Northern Ireland Summary 2007

North Coast Northern Ireland 2007

Rathlin Island 2007

We have also just produced a full report of the Pink Sea Fan surveys carried out between 2004 and 2006 which includes recommendations for site protection in a number of areas.

Pink Sea Fan Surveys 2004-2006

Seasearch Plans for 2008

Courses and diving surveys for 2008 are now listed on our Training and Diving pages. These are kept up to date with the information as it is received. Contact the organiser in each case for further information.