Researchers are beginning to conclude that there may be a link between bad weather and sharks behaviour. Sharks have a very acute sensory system, and now its been put forward that they can detect pressure changes in the atmosphere.
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News Urgent calls for UK marine conservation action in the face of expanding wind farms
Recent announcements lead to concern
by Fran Mallion
10/12/2007:// With the announcement today of a huge increase in marine wind farms in UK waters, leading conservation group, WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, has renewed its call to better protect the UK's whales, dolphins and other marine wildlife from this unprecedented industrial development.
It is reported that up to 7,000 new wind turbines are planned for the marine environment (estimated to represent two per mile of coast) and it is clear that this will fundamentally change Britain's coastline.
The potential threats from wind farms in the marine environment include the loud noise associated with their construction (especially pile driving); the noise and disturbance associated with their operation (including boat trips for maintenance) and the ways in which their presence may change marine habitats. The full impacts of these combined intrusions on UK coastal ecology are yet to be investigated, and there is still have much to learn about the ways in which whales, dolphins and porpoises are using the waters around Britain.
WDCS's Director of Science, Mark Simmonds, comments: "Our concerns about marine wind farms should not be dismissed as nimbyist. We have been promised a Marine Bill to address marine conservation issues from this Government for many years now. The very latest development, last month, was merely a commitment to a draft Bill in the last Queen's speech and now, instead, we now have an announcement of unparalleled industrial development in the marine environment and so this comes without adequate protection in place. This is clearly putting the coach before the horses!"
WDCS highlighted these and other concerns earlier this year in a report that was circulated to all UK and Scottish Members of Parliament. The report, The Conservation of British Cetaceans highlighted the existing lack of protection for the two dozen or so whales, dolphins and porpoises found in the seas around Britain. Many supportive messages have been received from MPs and from the public via a linked petition calling for more help for these animals. The report and petition can be found on the WDCS website www.wdcs.org
WDCS along with the other leading marine conservation organisations in the UK has also been calling for a new Marine Act to better protect marine wildlife but, despite promises from Government, this is still not forthcoming.
WDCS believes that all developments in the marine environment, including wind farms, should be subject to rigorous environmental assessment before development is permitted and that there is appropriate monitoring to determine the effects of any approved developments before and after construction.
Mark continues, "Whilst we are highly concerned about climate change and supportive of the development of renewable energy sources, we are also aware that wind farms may impact dolphins, porpoises and whales and that this needs to be very urgently addressed. The existing system of protection is poor and failing and to speed ahead with marine wind farms in this way shows a lack of appreciation for marine nature conservation and marine wildlife."
[Arthurian legends back in Tintagel to campaign for proper sewage treatment]
[North East Surfing]
Cornishman Sam Bleakley has failed to join his British team-mate Ben Skinner in the third round of the Oxbow World Longboard Tour event in France
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) campaigners have today welcomed Hilary Benn, Secretary Of State for the Environment decision to refuse South West Water permission to carry on dumping raw sewage at Tintagel and Bossiney
SAS campaigners are today delighted that Northumbrian Water’s application to turn off Ultra-Violet disinfection sewage treatment from October to April at Marske-by-the-Sea has been rejected by the Environment Agency (EA)
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