News and Blogs

At Sea Watch, we collect sightings data from a variety of sources, including our online sightings form, the Sea Watch app, emails, and separate datasets that we either produce ourselves or receive from others. Managing these diverse datasets efficiently is crucial for ensuring their accuracy, accessibility, and usefulness for conservation and research.

Over the last year, we’ve been working hard to collate all these databases into a single, centralised system. This has required updates to our online submission page so that sightings can feed directly into the new data management system. Additionally, we’ve introduced a new ‘recent sightings’ page that displays sightings from all platforms, not just those submitted via the website. This means data from the app and other formats are now visible in one place.

The updated web submission page includes new features to make it easier to submit and manage sightings:

• Choose which name to display (or remain anonymous).
• Simple time and date selection.
• Click directly on a map to select coordinates, with zoom functionality.
• Expanded dropdown species list (including various shark species).
• New fields for minimum and maximum counts of juveniles and calves.

The recent sightings page will also feature a map view where you can click on locations or filter by region, with an option to view all sightings. Some sightings may show a blue triangle, indicating they’re awaiting verification by our team—just like before; this will happen in due course. Importantly, unverified sightings are now visible immediately rather than being hidden until verified.

We are now working on an enhanced map viewer where you can explore sightings by species, date, and other filters and plot these on maps. We hope to launch this facility early in the New Year.

Thank you for your patience and support as we make these exciting improvements!

Our new Talks ’24 Webinar series ended with a fantastic interactive evening with our New Quay staff! You can catch up on the recording here.

We look forward to continue our webinar series in January 2025, keep an eye on our social media and website for updates on our January speaker!

Explore the science behind marine conservation with the Sea Watch Foundation’s New Quay team. Join Sightings Officer Simone Evans, Monitoring Officer Katrin Lohrengel, and Communications & Outreach Officer Claudia Afeltra for an evening of in-depth discussion on our research methodologies, daily fieldwork, and career pathways in marine biology. Engage with our team to gain insights into cetacean monitoring, conservation strategies, and the impactful work of marine scientists.

It’s been a productive season in Cardigan Bay, with our team busier than ever gathering data on the marine life in the area. Throughout the summer of 2024, a total of 31 line transect surveys were conducted, with 22 of these led by our New Quay team aboard Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips’ vessel Dreamcatcher, focusing primarily on the Cardigan Bay SAC. Additional surveys in the Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau SAC were carried out by Research Officer Ben Murcott, Bodorgan Project Lead Jenny Bond, and Sea Watch Director Prof. Peter Evans.

To date, Dreamcatcher surveys have recorded a minimum of 82 bottlenose dolphin encounters, capturing high-quality images for photo-identification analysis. Identification work is ongoing, but many dolphins have already been catalogued, with several new individuals added to our records. Notably, there’s been an unusually large number of unknown, marked bottlenose dolphins documented in both 2023 and 2024, and these dolphins are currently being processed into the catalogue. Among them, we have the young female mother, Tallie, and her calf Summer—named in memory of our late intern, Tallie Brazier, whose love for the ocean and dedication to Sea Watch left a lasting impact.

Beyond bottlenose dolphins, we observed common dolphins regularly within Cardigan Bay SAC, particularly offshore from Cardigan. Two sightings of minke whales and one of Risso’s dolphins were also recorded on line transect surveys within the SAC, with an additional Risso’s sighting reported from a wildlife tour boat.

Our New Quay team was joined this summer by 24 dedicated interns from eight countries, along with Research Assistants Tristan Dickinson and Claire Diffin. We also welcomed two Education Assistants, Harriet Goodchild (a returning intern from 2023) and Bhavya Malpani, who helped lead education initiatives throughout the season. We extend our heartfelt thanks to our fantastic interns for their hard work and dedication—none of this would be possible without them!

Applications for the 2025 internship programme will open soon, and we hope to introduce the Tallie Brazier scholarship to provide a bursary for the Research Assistant and Intern Coordinator, supporting passionate applicants in their conservation journey.

As we look forward to the new season, we’ll be diving into data analysis to review our findings from the summer.

For more information click here!

By Helena Coles, Research Intern

Pupping season is making a splash in Cardigan Bay! Every year from September until November the female Atlantic Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) come ashore to give birth to 1 pup. Remarkably, the UK is host to 40% of the world population of grey seals (Russel et al 2019). The population in West Wales alone is estimated at approximately 5,000 individuals, with around 66 pups born annually within the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC) (Cardigan Bay SAC, n.d.).  So far, we have already observed several newborn pups, which were seen onboard the Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips in New Quay.

The Life of a Grey Seal Pup 

Female grey seals nurse their pups intensively for the first 2-3 weeks, providing them with energy-rich milk. This milk is among the richest in the animal kingdom, containing up to 60% fat (Langley et al., 2020). During this nursing period, the mother fasts, relying entirely on her fat reserves to support both her own energy needs and those of her pup. After weaning, the mother returns to the sea, leaving the pup to fend for itself. The pup, born with a distinctive white coat of fur known as lanugo, will shed this coat as it develops and replaces it with the grey adult pelage. This process, known as moulting, typically occurs by the time the mother departs (Russell et al., 2019). At this point, the pup must independently learn to hunt for food and navigate the marine environment.

Images of Grey Seal Pups. Photos taken by Helena Coles

Grey Seal Fact File 

• Physical Description

• Males (bulls): Can grow up to 3m long.
• Females (cows): Slightly smaller than males, up to 1.7m long.
• Colour: Grey pelage, with males generally darker than females.

• Lifespan: 25-35 years in the wild; females often live longer.
• Gestation period: 11.5 months  
• Range: They are found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean, ranging from the UK and Ireland to the coastal waters of Canada and the US. 
• Diet: Predominantly fish, including herring and flatfish, but also crustaceans and molluscs like squid.
• Conservation Status: Protected in the UK (The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, n.d)
• Fun Fact: Grey seals, though air-breathing mammals, can remain submerged for up to 20 minutes! (Kiełpińska and Kowalski, 2021).

Where to see seals in Cardigan Bay?

The best time to observe grey seals in Cardigan Bay is during the pupping season, when females come ashore in larger numbers to give birth. However, grey seals are present year-round along the Welsh coast, often seen resting on rocks or beaches. Key locations for observing seals include: 

• Cwmtydu Beach
• Mwnt and Bird Rock near New Quay (from the coastal path)
• Cardigan Island Farm Park, Gwbert (view from the headland)
• Wildlife boat trips from New Quay or Aberaeron, such as Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips
• Cemaes Head

What to do if you encounter seals?

If you encounter grey seals or seal pups, it is crucial to maintain a respectful distance of at least 50 metres to avoid causing disturbance. Keep dogs under control, as approaching seals too closely can lead to stress, which may cause a mother to abandon her pup.

Remember, pups are often left alone while their mothers forage at sea, and this does not necessarily indicate abandonment. However, if a seal appears injured, ill, or malnourished, it’s important to contact the appropriate rescue hotlines rather than attempting to move the animal yourself.

• Cardigan Bay Marine Protected Area Officer – Melanie Heath

• Phone: 07707856891 
• Email: melanie.heath2@ceredigion.gov.uk 

If you find a pup that is showing signs of illness, injury or malnutrition please call one of the hotlines listed below. Please, do not attempt to move the animal yourself. 

• BDMLR rescue hotline (24hr): 01825 765546
• RSPCA Hotline (England and Wales): 0300 1234 999

Enjoy your seal-watching adventure and thank you for helping to keep our seals safe!

References

Atlantic grey seal (no date). Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Available at: https://cardiganbaysac.org.uk/ (Accessed 22 September 2024).

Kiełpińska, J. and Kowalski, P.A. (2021). Numerical modelling of the population of grey seal (halichoerus grypus) from the Baltic Sea in the context of reduction of damage to fishing economy, Ecological Indicators, 107423 doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021. (Accessed 22 September 2024).

Grey seal (no date), The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. Available at: https://www.welshwildlife.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/marine-mammals-and-sea-turtles/grey-seal (Accessed 22 September 2024). 

Langley, I., Rosas da Costa Oliver, T., Hiby, L. et al. (2020). Site use and connectivity of female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) around Wales. Mar Biol 167, 86 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03697-8 (Accessed 11 September 2024)

Russel, D., Morris, C., Duck, C., Thompson, D., Hiby, L. (2019). Monitoring long-term changes in UK grey seal pup production. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 29 (S1) https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3100  (Accessed 11 September 2024).

By Lucy Bryan Research Intern

The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earths surface, however only 2-3% of the ocean is penetrated by sunlight. In general sunlight only penetrates around 200m deep, this layer is known as the euphotic zone, and is the area in which there is enough sunlight for organisms to photosynthesise. Below 200m there is very limited sun/star light, if any, however this doesn’t mean that there isn’t any light present at these depths. Many deep-sea organisms have evolved to use the natural phenomenon of bioluminescence, the production and emission of light by a living organism as a result of a chemical reaction. The general equation for this reaction is:

Luciferine + O2 (oxygen) + ATP (energy source) Luciferase Oxyluciferin + Light+ Byproducts

Bioluminescence has been observed as far back as 1500BC (Roda, 2011) and even though there are still a lot of questions about its evolutionary history it is believed that it has evolved independently several times from single-celled bacteria and dinoflagellates to fungi, jellyfish and vertebrates (Widder, 2010). It is a prevalent ecological trait in the deep sea with approximately 76% of observed marine organisms possessing this capability (Martini & Haddock, 2017) and occurs in approximately 80% of eukaryotic life that inhabits the deep sea (Davis et al., 2014). It has several different roles including speciation, predator deterrence and camoflage (Menlinik et al., 2022) (Davis et al., 2014).

Speciation is when a new species is formed when a group within a species separates from other members of its species and develops its own characteristics. In this case the new characteristic species-specific bioluminescent structures which have been linked to higher rate of diversification in deep-sea fishes (Davis et al., 2014), an example of this is lanternfish and dragonfish. It has also been hypothesized that unique bioluminescent signals are used for species recognition, and this promotes reproductive isolation aiding in speciation. (Branham and Greenfield, 1996). The bioluminescent animals emit distinct light patterns allowing others to know their identity (Davis, 2014).

Bioluminescence is also used to aid in camoflage, this is done through counter-illumination (Braken-Grissom, et al., 2020). Animals that use counter illumination have photophores on there bodies which can produce light that matches the background intensity allowing them to cancel out any shadow they cast.

Another role bioluminescence is suspected to play is predator defence, it has been suggested that the sudden flash of bright light emitted by dinoflagellates startles their predators, allowing enough time for them to escape (Abrahams and Townsend, 1993), the light can also attract a secondary predator to threaten the primary predator.

Despite there not being any predators, dinoflagellates still use bioluminescence as seen above. This is because when they are threatened by predators, they experience a mechanical stress which triggers the chemical reaction, however, a strong enough mechanical stress can be imparted on the dinoflagellates by waves, surges and swimming animals.

Bibliography:

Roda, A., 2011. A history of bioluminescence and chemiluminescence from ancient times to the present. Chemiluminescence and Bioluminescence, pp.1-50.

Greenaway, S.F., Sullivan, K.D., Umfress, S.H., Beittel, A.B. and Wagner, K.D., 2021. Revised depth of the Challenger Deep from submersible transects; including a general method for precise, pressure-derived depths in the ocean. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 178, p.103644.

Martini, S. and Haddock, S.H., 2017. Quantification of bioluminescence from the surface to the deep sea demonstrates its predominance as an ecological trait. Scientific reports, 7(1), p.45750.

Davis, M.P., Holcroft, N.I., Wiley, E.O., Sparks, J.S. and Leo Smith, W., 2014. Species-specific bioluminescence facilitates speciation in the deep sea. Marine biology, 161, pp.1139-1148.

Collins, S.B. and Bracken‐Grissom, H.D., 2024. The language of light: a review of bioluminescence in deep‐sea decapod shrimps. Biological Reviews.

Haddock, S.H., Dunn, C.W., Pugh, P.R. and Schnitzler, C.E., 2005. Bioluminescent and red-fluorescent lures in a deep-sea siphonophore. Science, 309(5732), pp.263-263.

Haddock SHD, Moline MA, Case JF. Bioluminescence in the sea. Annu Rev Mar Sci. 2010;2:443–493. doi: 10.1146/annurev-marine-120308-081028.

Abrahams, M.V. and Townsend, L.D., 1993. Bioluminescence in dinoflagellates: A test of the burgular alarm hypothesis. Ecology, 74(1), pp.258-260.

Widder, E.A., 2010. Bioluminescence in the ocean: origins of biological, chemical, and ecological diversity. Science, 328(5979), pp.704-708.

Bevan, N., 2024. Bioluminescent plankton light up the Welsh coast. BBC News, 23 June.

 (Bevan, 2024)