BRDP

Balearic Shearwater Survey

Volunteers required for offshore surveys to locate endangered Balearic Shearwaters and other marine wildlife off the SW coast of England

Background - 2007 surveys

In a collaboration between Marinelife, the RSPB and the National Oceanography Centre, an offshore survey of the globally and critically endangered Balearic Shearwater was undertaken off the coasts of Devon, Dorset and Hampshire in 2007. The main aim of the survey was to find out more about the at-sea distribution and behaviour of Balearic Shearwaters. In 2007, 25 surveys covering 850km were completed, with a good number of Balearic Shearwaters, a wealth of other seabirds such as petrels, shearwaters, skuas and terns, and a number of other noteworthy marine wildlife sightings including Harbour Porpoise, Ocean Sunfish Basking Shark and White-beaked Dolphin.

The surveys were made possible thanks to the generous support of dive, angling and commercial fishing boat owners who sponsored the project by providing free places on their vessels for volunteer surveyors.

A report of the 2007 survey work can be downloaded from a more wide-ranging report at
http://www.seawatch-sw.org/
http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/gg/SWSW/downloads/SWSW_Annual_Report_2007.pdf
The data from the surveys is being used (1) to inform future conservation strategies for the Balearic Shearwater for which the SW is internationally important and (2) to help in the identification of new Marine Protected Areas off the SW coast. See www.finding-sanctuary.org/

Plans for 2008

The project, co-ordinated by Marinelife is running again in 2008, following on from a successful first year in 2007.

The first three surveys of 2008 were made last weekend, and produced some excellent sightings including skuas, Roseate Tern, large numbers of Manx Shearwater, several European Storm-petrel and over 100 Common Dolphins.

Please get in touch if you would like to take part in 2008, stating preferred departure port.

The plan is for me to match you up with individual boat owners - so that arrangements can then be made to carry out a survey when it is convenient for both parties (places available, suitable weather, suitable destination). For the latter, it is best to only choose trips going out 5+ miles out, as inshore surveys can be unproductive and produce little more than can be seen from land.

For Dorset, opportunities to get out on boats include from Poole, Swanage, Weymouth, West Bay and Lyme Regis harbours. In Devon, possibilities include Dartmouth, Exmouth and Brixham. There may also be opportunities in Hampshire and Cornwall.

In most instances, there are only likely to be opportunities for single observers to go out on individual boats as a guest amongst anglers or divers . You will need good sea legs and be willing to spend a bit of time land-based getting trained up on the key species. Passage is provided free of charge.

Let me know if you are interested in doing a boat survey - it was great fun last year and there are no doubt some exciting discoveries to be made of importance for conservation.

Dr Tom Brereton
THOMAS@brereton14.wanadoo.co.uk

For the latest sightings click here

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