Creatures in Britain’s Secret Seas


Night dive with predators

Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2011 BBC

Tooni Mahto and Paul Rose night diving with predators such as Pollock, Pipefish, Jellyfish and Cuttlefish.

 

 

Basking Sharks

The second largest living shark, after the whale shark the Basking Shark is slow moving and generally harmless. Read more about this marine monster in these links:-

 

Selected YouTube Video

 

Swimming with basking sharks

Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2011 BBC

Tooni Mahto and Paul Rose swim with basking sharks off the west coast of Britain.


 

Jellyfish

Jellyfish

They’ve been roaming the seas in “blooms” of up to 100,000, for about 500 million years, with a body structure that resembles an umbrella.

Because they are born survivors, Jellyfish could become a real problem in our seas. They are better able to survive in oxygen-poor water without competition, and devour plankton which can deny other species the nutrition they need to survive. They love warmer waters, so why are they being increasingly seen in Britain’s Secret Seas? Rising sea temperatures caused by climate change is also thought to contribute to Jellyfish blooms, so could this be clear confirmation that global warming has hit the UK? Read more about this threat in these links:-

 

Selected YouTube Video

 

Giant Spiny Spider Crabsspiny spider crab

The spiny spider crab feeds on a great variety of organisms and echinoderms such as sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Large adult males can have a claw span of nearly a metre, so they are the subject of commercial fishery, with over 5,000 tonnes caught annually, 10% being off the coast of the United Kingdom. Migrations generally take place in autumn, with some crabs covering over 100 miles in eight months. All crabs are vulnerable to predation when moulting, and they become gregarious around that time, presumably for defense against predators. Read more about this “wildebeest of our waters” in these links:-

 

 

Selected YouTube Video

 

 

British Sea Creatures by Tooni Mahto (Marine Biologist and Britain’s Secret Seas presenter)

Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2011 BBC

 

Lion’s Mane Jellyfish

Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2011 BBC

Paul Rose explores the mysteries of the Lion’s Mane Jellyfish.


Dolphin encounter

Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2010 BBC

Martin Hughes-Games discovers the bow-riding bottlenose dolphins of Cardigan Bay.

 

Scottish dolphins

Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2008 BBC

Bottlenose dolphins hunt just off shore in the Moray Firth.


Dolphin discussions

Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2008 BBC

Hydrophones pick up the extraordinary communication between dolphins.


Dolphin on call

Source – bbc.co.uk – © 1989-1990 BBC

Wild dolphin, Fungi, responds to a diver’s summons.