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Guest blog: Exploring an unusual mass mortality event in the North Atlantic
Guest blog: Exploring an unusual mass mortality event in the North Atlantic
07/12/2018
This blog has been written by National Museums Scotland Curatorial Preparator and SMASS colleague Georg Hantke. It details his summer tour of the Scottish coast collecting samples from the unusually high number of stranded dead whales that were reported to SMASS. Several of these reports were received from fishermen who encountered carcasses floating at sea, and as I continue with my fishermen interviews many are interested in learning more about the causes of these mortalities.
“By the end of October 2018, almost 100 whales had been found washed ashore along the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland. Usually, only a handful are found stranded in Scotland each year. Were all these deaths a natural event or a tragic loss of life caused by human activity? Earlier this year I undertook a tour of the Scottish coast to collect samples from as many of these whales as possible, to help us understand why they may have died.
“In August, as the numbers of stranded beaked whales rose, the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) based in Inverness began to look for answers. National Museums Scotland holds one of the largest marine collections worldwide so we felt it was important to collect as many of these whales as possible, as by doing this we could try to find out why so many were dying.
It is part of my role as Curatorial Preparator to go on collecting trips and this was one of the greatest challenges I have had so far, as well as one of the most memorable. But how did I go about this enormous task? I had to plan very well, have people supporting me and my idea, and I had to be prepared for extremes as well as emergencies as I never knew what I would have to deal with next. Also, I needed the help of many people at each location. This collecting trip was also an opportunity to work in some of the wildest places in Scotland, with beautiful beaches, wonderful nature, friendly people and the unique opportunity to work with so many individuals of some of the rarest animals found anywhere.
Most of the whales washed ashore in the Western Isles, including Lewis, Harris, North Uist and South Uist, but some were on other islands, including Tiree and Islay. A large van packed with equipment, including several tents, water and food supplies, first aid kits, mobile phones, firewood, maps, dissection tools, sample tubes, tubs, clothes, bedding, and an endless amount of other equipment to stay dry, clean, and warm were just some of the items I took with me. I didn’t only have to deal with dissecting, sampling and collecting the specimens, but also where to shower, eat, and sleep were all questions that needed to be answered.
When I arrived at each beach, I made a plan of how to deal with the whale, including deciding which parts of the skeleton I could collect, which samples I could take, and sometimes whether it was safe to do anything depending on where the whale was stranded and how accessible it was. Sometimes it took an entire day to process one whale, but sometimes it took just minutes. Once I had taken all possible required measurements, I started taking blubber and tissue samples, removed soft parts, disarticulated bones and eventually carried the skeleton back to the van.
If I was lucky, the locals came to help. Friendly farmers came with trucks or SMASS volunteers tried to help out whenever possible. On top of this, I had to alert the council or local police of my work. Was it okay to leave the flesh on the beach to rot, or should the animal remains be taken away and incinerated or otherwise disposed of? Is it a health hazard or a blessing for local wildlife? Luckily, in most cases people were used to seeing stranded whales and regarded them as an opportunity for local wildlife to feast on.
In all, I collected 22 Cuvier’s whales, one Sowerby’s beaked whale, a northern bottle-nosed whale, a minke whale and a few dolphins and porpoises during August and September.
So what have we learned so far? We know that all those whales must have died in a very short period of time, probably along the edge of the continental shelf to the west of Scotland’s coast. All whales showed the same kind of decomposition, and based on the length and bone composition, all animals were found to be adults or older subadults, and included both males and females.
But what caused them to die? Post-mortems and analyses carried out on specimens and samples by SMASS have so far not found a disease or other pathology which could explain why so many died in such a short period of time, although the state of decomposition makes such investigations difficult to carry out.
Similar cases of unusual mortality events of beaked whales have been reported from Scotland and other parts of the world in previous years. However, this event was the biggest in terms of numbers of stranded beaked whales anywhere in the world. A recognised cause of unusual mortality events (UME) in beaked whales is the use of mid-water sonar by navies. The noise causes a change in the normal dive profile of whales, causing them to panic and rush to the surface too quickly, leading to decompression sickness (DCS) or caisson disease, which in extreme cases is deadly. The sonar can also have a direct impact on the whales’ ears, causing permanent damage and affecting their ability to use echolocation to hunt prey and navigate.
What will happen next? We are now dealing with the mammoth task of preparing all the skeletal material and already we have found some astonishing results. The first few skulls have been cleaned and will soon become part of the National Collection. SMASS is carrying out further tests, including the scanning of ear bones to look for microfractures caused by sonar. The extraction of DNA will look at how populations have been affected, and samples are being analysed for bacteria and viruses as well as histopathology. Drift model analysis is also being undertaken to see if there is a single point source for the carcasses. Although the loss of so many animals is tragic, we are doing our best working with colleagues at SMASS and elsewhere to find out why this event occurred and to discover much more about the lives of the mysterious Cuvier’s beaked whale”.
One of the Cuvier’s beaked whale strandings reported this summer.
A badly decomposed Cuvier’s beaked whale on Tiree. Luckily most of the important parts of its skeleton and soft tissues critical for analysis still survive.
A female Cuvier’s beaked whale on Prince Charles’ Beach, Eriskay, with some of the amazing people that helped me during the dissection and collection. This animal was the smallest but also one of the most complete of all the collected whales. Amazingly, even its stomach contents were still present, giving us the rare opportunity to study its diet and the possible impacts of pollution.
Not all the stranded whales were Cuvier’s beaked whales. Here to my astonishment was a 17m-long humpback whale – I didn’t collect this one!
The skulls of a male (left) and a female (right) Cuvier’s beaked whale after the cleaning process. Once all of them are processed they will be incorporated into collections ready for research.
A whale of a time in Orkney and the far north east
A whale of a time in Orkney and the far north east
22/11/2018
Last week I returned to Orkney, visiting Scrabster on route and the far north-east coast of mainland Scotland to meet with more fishermen to discuss the marine life they encounter, their experiences of marine animal entanglements, hear their suggestions of why animals may become caught in fishing gear, and ways this could perhaps be prevented. In total I spoke with over 25 active creel fishermen, as well as several retired fishers, scallop divers and trawler men. As I have found elsewhere around the coast, all were very friendly and talked passionately about their life at sea and the wildlife they work alongside. They also offered some very unique insights in to entanglements, and what factors may make these incidents more or less likely to occur in particular areas. As well as discussing entanglements, much time was also spent debating other concerns fishermen have, for example our seas becoming busier and the challenges associated with conflicting interests and industries, regulation, climate change and Brexit to name a few. The questionnaires I use to interview fishermen are designed to take approximately 10 minutes to complete, but several have now run in to two or three hours, several cups of tea and the occasional dram after particularly cold rough days at sea! These discussions are always incredibly interesting and valuable to my own and the other SEA partner’s wider understanding of the history and intricacies of the Scottish inshore fishing industry and the immense value of it.
Above: A particularly nosy young minke whale checking out an Orcadian trawler
Left: Sunrise over Scrabster harbour. Above: John O’Groats.
While in Orkney, following recommendations by various fishermen I’d met on my previous visit, I met a scallop diver called Magnus who in 2012 while skippering a wildlife watching trip, released a humpback whale that had become entangled in lost fishing gear.
The 40ft animal was in approximately 20m of water and was entangled in an old creel bundle. A single line was caught through the mouth which had then twisted around itself under the whale’s jaw. Magnus suspected the animal had dragged the gear for some time before becoming anchored on rocky ground where this snagged.
Magnus recognised, through previous experiences observing these animals and from watching wildlife documentaries, that this whale was in distress, thrashing it’s tail in an unusual fashion but staying in the same spot.
The unusual behaviour displayed by the humpback whale, which alerted Magnus to the fact that something may be wrong. Signs to look for which may indicate an entanglement include buoys and lines moving, unusually clumped near, or trailing behind an animal, and/or an animal at the surface that is not moving, or appears to be anchored to one spot, as was the case with this humpback whale.
After taking a closer look, he donned his scuba gear and entered the water. Aware of the size and strength of the animal he cautiously approached it. He said that initially the animal tried to move away from him and so he kept his distance, but after a while the animal seemed to understand why Magnus was in the water and what he was trying to do. Without touching the whale, Magnus cut the rope at one side of the mouth (approximately 6ft below the jaw), which then under the weight of the gear, flossed through the mouth releasing the animal, which swam off gear free and with only minor visible wounds.
While Magnus’ actions likely saved the life of this animal, and proves how vital fishermen’s skills and knowledge of their local waters and the marine life that inhabit them, attempting to disentangle an animal can put you and the animal in a very dangerous position. Whales care extremely powerful and unpredictable wild animals, which when entangled are also likely to be panicked.
If you encounter an entangled marine animal (live or dead), PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THE WATER! Instead please contact SEA on 01463 243030 or 07393 798153 (outside office hours, this will connect you directly to the SEA project co-ordinator Ellie MacLennan), who will be able to offer advice, guidance and if required, dispatch a support vessel and specially trained disentanglement team. More information on what to do if you encounter an entangled marine animal can be found here: https://scottishentanglement.org/downloads/
During entanglement incidents such as the one detailed above, the skills and expertise fishermen have in boat handling and rope work, together with their knowledge of their gear and local seascape are vital to ensure that they, their boat, crew and gear are safe and the animal in question is released unharmed. Receiving this sort of extremely useful information from the fishing community is a major strength of this SEA project and we welcome detailed accounts of other successful releases at sea. As the SEA project progresses, fishermen will be invited to participate in training and knowledge exchange workshops in photographing live entangled marine animals and sampling those that have been discovered dead. This will enable SEA partners to build our knowledge of how animals become entangled, assist in future rescue attempts and gear recovery, and improve our ability to assess the impacts of other threats including chemical pollutants, disease, plastic waste and underwater noise. These events will also provide a platform for fisherman-led discussions and exchange of ideas on what potential approaches could be taken to minimise the risk of entanglements occurring which are practical, flexible, and do not interfere with or disrupt fishing activity.
If you are a creel fisherman and would be willing to participate in a short anonymous interview, or you have any stories or ideas relating to marine animal entanglement please contact Ellie MacLennan (SEA project co-ordinator) at entanglement@sac.co.uk or on 07393 798153. Any information shared will be treated sensitively, positively and confidentially.
Is marine animal entanglement in Scottish waters really a problem?
Is marine animal entanglement in Scottish waters really a problem?
03/11/2018
As I work my way around the coast interviewing fishermen about their experiences, knowledge and perceptions of marine animal entanglements, some have questioned just how big a problem this might be. While a few fishermen have told me that they have experienced several animals caught in their gear over the years others have referred to this as a ‘once in a generation’ occurrence. But many fishermen have never witnessed an entanglement or the consequences of these events, which can make it difficult to understand why the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) exists.
Scottish inshore waters are inhabited by an array of resident and visiting large marine animals including over 20 species of cetacean (whales, dolphins and porpoise) as well as basking sharks, seals and turtles. These waters also provide world-class fishing grounds for creel fishermen targeting a variety of shellfish species year-round. Associated with this industry as much as 25, 000km of rope is deployed in inshore waters at any one time (Northridge 2010), and on occasion these animals come in to contact with this and subsequently become entangled.
Since 1992 SEA partner the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) has performed almost 3000 necropsies to establish cause of death of marine animals found stranded around the Scottish coast. Overall, entanglements has been diagnosed as the cause of death in less than 2% of these cases, and for some species e.g. harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphins, entanglement does not seem to pose a threat. However for Mysticetes (baleen whales including minke and humpback whales) entanglement accounts for 46% of known deaths in Scottish waters. For basking sharks and turtles, 100% of known human-caused deaths have been the result of entanglement.
Cause of death diagnosed in Mysticetes in Scottish waters since 1992 (left), and anthropogenic (human-induced) causes of death in marine animals (above). SMASS 2018
Minke whales
SMASS has diagnosed entanglement as the cause of death in 29 minke whales that have washed ashore around the Scottish coast in recent years, and this species accounts for 87% of entangled cetaceans reported.
From these reports, it is known that minke whales suffer both acute entanglements (71% of reported cases) where the animal drowns quickly as a result of becoming caught in gear, and chronic entanglements (21% of reported cases) where the animal remains entangled in ropes and/or netting for a prolonged period of time. Chronic entanglements can cause serious injuries and as such represent a significant welfare concern.
Left: Locations of minke whales reported to SMASS that have died as a result of entanglement in fishing gear.
Middle: Chronic entanglement – this young male minke whale discovered on the west coast of Scotland suffered a debilitating chronic entanglement which resulted in deep tissue lacerations and a fractured jaw. This animal died of starvation and sepsis approximately six months after first becoming entangled.
Right: Acute entanglement – A female minke whale discovered by divers off Shetland entangled around the jaw. This animal likely drowned very quickly. Entanglements can also have an economic impact, for example the fishing gear this animal became caught in was potentially not recoverable, meaning the owner of this has lost not just this gear but also any catch associated with this.
Humpback whales
Since 2012 British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), another SEA partner which has the only trained disentanglement response team in Europe, have been involved in the successful disentanglement of five humpback whales. A further three humpbacks are known to have died as a result of entanglement within the same period. Though when compared to minke whales fewer humpback entanglements have been reported in Scottish seas, a recent study conducted by Ryan et al (2016) to calculate the probability of humpback whale entanglement in our inshore waters suggests that as a source of mortality, entanglement of humpback whales in static fishing gear in this area may be occurring at a rate that is an order of magnitude higher than sustainable levels for this species. Therefore Scottish waters may be acting as a mortality sink (where deaths exceed births) for this species in the North East Atlantic.
An 8.9m 7000kg female humpback whale that died on the east coast of Scotland in 2015 as a result of a chronic debilitating entanglement and an acute second entanglement in actively fished gear. This animal was discovered alive but drowned before it could be rescued. This animal was reported to BDMLR’s large whale disentanglement team by the fisherman whose gear it was caught in. He provided invaluable information and support to the team during the rescue attempt and subsequent recovery of the animal for necropsy.
Mitigating entanglements
In order to better understand and ultimately mitigate marine animal entanglements in fishing gear, meaningful engagement with the Scottish inshore fishing fleet is essential. So far I have conducted approximately 65 anonymous interviews with creel fishermen and gained a unique insight into this issue and the potential solutions to it. Many fishermen have offered advice and ideas on how they think this problem could be addressed, and are already taking measures to reduce the risk of animals becoming caught in their gear. Fishermen are not deliberately entangling large marine animals, instead they are disentangling them, working hard to keep the marine environment clean, and providing important data on species distributions and populations by recording and reporting their wildlife sightings. For example many ensure that their ropes are adjusted appropriately for the depths they are fishing in, and/or using leaded or negatively buoyant rope to minimise the amount of excess rope floating in the water column. Many regularly maintain and replace their gear and do their very best to retrieve gear that has been displaced due to rough weather or other fishing boats. Others report their marine animal sightings using the WhaleTrack app, designed by our partner the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) and delay deploying their fishing gear when they see large marine animals in their fishing grounds. I have also met several fishermen who participate in the ‘Fishing for Litter’ scheme (www.fishingforlitter.org.uk) and many others who conduct their own regular derelict gear and litter collections.
In addition fishermen have also been sharing their experiences of rescuing live animals that they have discovered caught in their fishing gear. During these incidents their skills and expertise in boat handling and rope work, and their knowledge of their gear and local seascape have proved vital in ensuring that they, their boat, crew and gear are safe and the animal in question is released unharmed. Receiving this sort of extremely useful information from the fishing community is a major strength of this SEA project and we welcome detailed accounts of other successful releases at sea. As the SEA project progresses, fishermen will be invited to participate in training and knowledge exchange workshops in photographing live entangled marine animals and sampling those that have been discovered dead. This will enable SEA partners to build our knowledge of how animals become entangled, assist in future rescue attempts and gear recovery, and improve our ability to assess the impacts of other threats including chemical pollutants, disease, plastic waste and underwater noise. These events will also provide a platform for fisherman-led discussions and exchange of ideas on what potential approaches could be taken to minimise the risk of entanglements occurring which are practical, flexible, and do not interfere with or disrupt fishing activity.
If you are a creel fisherman and would be willing to participate in a short anonymous interview, or you have any stories or ideas relating to marine animal entanglement please contact Ellie MacLennan (SEA project co-ordinator) at entanglement@sac.co.uk or on 07393 798153. Any information shared will be treated sensitively, positively and confidentially.
References
Ryan, C., Leaper, R., Evans, P.G.H., Dyke, K., Robinson, K.P., Haskins, G.N., Calderan, S., van Geel, N., Harries, O., Froud, K., Brownlow, A. and Jack, A. (2016). Entanglement: an emerging threat to humpback whales in Scottish waters. Report to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission, SC/66b/HIM/01, 1-12.
Northridge, S, Cargill, A, Coram, A, Mandleberg, L, Calderan, S. and Reid, B. (2010). Entanglement of minke whales in Scottish waters; an investigation into occurrence, causes and mitigation. Final Report to Scottish Government CR/2007/49. 57pp.
A minke and a great multi-organisational team effort
A minke and a great multi-organisational team effort
24/09/2018
Marine animal stranding and entanglement rescue and recovery attempts often require a team effort, bringing together lots of different individuals and organisations to share their resources and expertise. Last week members of the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) had the opportunity to work alongside the Scottish Coast Guard, Army, and local farmers when a minke whale live stranded in Ardersier near Inverness.
Blog written by SEA partner the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) who conducted the post mortem:
If you heard rumours about a large whale being transported through Inverness last week; they are all true. And most of it even fitted on a lorry…On Tuesday evening (18th September) a minke whale was observed live stranding in Ardersier Bay near Inverness. Despite the best efforts of a number of British Diver’s Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) volunteers and the Coast Guard, the whale died not long after coming onto the beach. Due to the lack of daylight the carcase was secured for access and post mortem examination the following day.
Given the size of the animal, and hence the obvious issues with taking it anywhere, the initial thought was we would have to do the necropsy on-site at Ardersier bay. However, with a storm brewing and a forecast featuring gale force winds and horizontal hail, we rapidly explored options for transporting the animal to our lab in Inverness. Post-mortems in controlled lab conditions enable much more thorough investigations, better samples and generally happier pathologists, and hence was much the preferred option to find out why this thin minke had live stranded. Nevertheless the animal was 644cm long and weighed an estimated 2000kg; not an easy thing to shift! With the weather rapidly worsening we needed a solution quickly, and it was with great help of a local farmer that the carcase was moved off the beach, where the guys of the 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland were waiting with their well-equipped high up truck. Having a 644cm minke whale on a 500cm truck does however mean that a noticeable bit of your whale dangles off the back; so it was quite a sight driving through the capital of the Highlands.
So with great thanks to the Army, we managed to get the minke to our lab for post mortem within 18 hours of death. The sub-adult female was very debilitated, had a thin blubber layer and had not recently fed, and showed pathology consistent with live stranding and agonal water aspiration. The most significant findings however were the severe lesions in the brain, characterised by an excess amount of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and profoundly dilated cerebral ventricles. There were diffuse meningeal adhesions, most severe around the brainstem, and purulent foci in the frontal cortex. These observations are consistent with a meningoencephalitis due to a bacterial infection, and further bacteriological and histopathological examination is currently underway to establish the pathogen responsible for the infection. It is almost certain the cognitive ability of this animal was severely compromised as a result of these lesions, impairing the ability to forage and, ultimately, leading to the animal live stranding and drowning.
We would like to thank all involved in both the response to the live stranding of this animal and subsequent recovery of the carcase; including British Divers Marine Life Rescue, HM Coastguard – Highland, the Fort George 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland, as well as the local farmer who moved the carcase, Highland Council, and all the locals who came by to lend a hand. It was a great multi-organisational team effort and we really could not have done this without you!
Photos courtesy of SMASS & Janie Logan (HM Coastguard)
Guest blog: Encountering a whale entanglement – a Fisherman’s story
Guest blog: Encountering a whale entanglement – a Fisherman’s story
04/09/2018
This blog was written by a creel fisherman operating off the west coast of Scotland and details a whale he was involved in disentangling several years ago. It is a great example of what and how the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) can learn from fishermen regarding the entanglement and disentanglement of large marine animals.
Encountering a whale entanglement – a Fisherman’s story
I was once involved in releasing a whale from an entanglement situation. The animal was a humpback whale, tethered (anchored) to the seabed by the weight of creels. There were a few fishing boats in attendance but most did not know how to get the load off the animal so that it could surface. It was managing to get its blow hole clear but only just and was exhausted. The first vessel was looking for a surface rope to pull to help lift the whale up, but the action of pulling a surface rope caused the whale to get compressed as tension was added to the whole rope/whale/gear assembly, putting even more tension on the whale’s tail.
I have an unusual set up in my boat where I regularly get a fouled propeller. There is no skeg below my prop and rudder, so any rope passing under the boat gets sucked directly into the prop, usually my own rope that I am hauling at the time! The long and the short is that I am regularly tethered to the seabed by my propeller in much the same way as the whale was, and I’m guessing much the same way as many entangled animals are.
In order to release the whale that day we used the same technique that I use to free my vessel. I think that technique could be useful to be known, if it is already not being used as standard practice in entanglement rescues where the animal is tethered to the seabed.
On my own vessel when a rope is in the prop its well under the surface, and even my long boat hook won’t reach it. So, in order to get a hold of the rope that is tethering me to the sea bed, I get a length of rope about 20-30ft long with an eye at one end, and I attach a weight on it to the centre (that can slide). From the bow of the boat I then lower the weight into the water until I am just left with each end. Then I walk one end down each side of the boat so that the centre of the rope and weight pass right underneath (in a sort of “V” shape). Once I have walked the rope and weight aft until I’m at the stern and the rope with weight has passed completely under the boat, I take the end of the rope with the eye in it, pass the other end though and start pulling. This leaves me with one end of the rope, and in effect I have formed a lasso or noose which is now being tightened round the offending rope that is attached to my prop and tethering me to the seabed. I keep pulling until the noose has tightened all the way and I now have hold of the offending rope well below the surface, and in effect I have a hitch attached to it. I keep pulling the rope with the noose to the surface, which brings the fouled rope with it, allowing me to cut this and free myself from the seabed.
So when I came across a similar situation with the whale, we used a variation of this technique to get a hold of the rope underneath it. We used the same setup, a long rope with an eye at the end and a loose sliding weight attached to the middle. We took an end of the rope each between two boats and stretched the rope between us, with the weight holding the centre well under the surface. We then passed the whale, allowing the weighted section of the rope to pass underneath it. The two boats then came back together and the rope was passed back to one, which threaded this through the eye forming our noose which was now hitched to the ropes anchoring the whale. We were then able to pull on this to release the tension on the rope tethering the whale so that it could breathe more easily. With the entangling rope now level with/above the whale we could haul these to lift the whale’s tail, allowing us to clear all the fouled rope and check that there was no serious injury to the animal and that it was free of all gear. Once the whale was freed and it swam off, we were still left attached to the fishing gear, which was salvaged.
From this experience we learned that there is a relatively easy method to get a grip on a rope or other gear that is under the surface and tethering an animal. I don’t think it would be hard to modify this method so that it could be done by a single vessel which could use the same set up (i.e. a long rope with a sliding weight in the middle) but replace the second vessel with a buoy. This would allow a fishing or rescue vessel to release the tension on a tethered animal and save it from drowning whilst further assistance was being mobilised, and is a technique that could be used in a professional rescue. I appreciate this sounds quite complex but in reality it is an amazingly simple way of getting a hold of a rope underneath a floating object.
I used this technique just the other day when I got another rope in my prop and when I got home I saw your (SEA) posts about us all working together to mitigate/minimise entanglement issues, and wondered if you guys used or knew about this as an option to assist in entanglement situations and it’s great that we now know who to call if ever we find ourselves in a similar situation. I hope that the technique of getting a hold of a sub surface rope is of some use to you. – END –
Commenting on this Fisherman’s experience, Stephen Marsh, Operations Manager for BDMLR and a member of SEA, said “A major strength of this project is that now we are able to receive this sort of extremely useful feedback. Very often by the time that BDMLR’s large Whale Disentanglement Team is called to an entangled whale, it has become so compromised that lines have become stuck in the baleen and/or tightly wrapped around the body, making the rescue even more difficult and potentially dangerous, so early action can prove invaluable. On a number of occasions, fishermen lifting gear has saved the day and we welcome detailed accounts of other successful releases at sea. BDMLR are available 24 hours a day to discuss and advise on incidents and will mobilise the LWDT team when needed”.
SEA partners would like to thank this Fisherman for sharing his experience. We have been able to learn a great deal from this and hope other Fishermen will also find it useful. If you have a similar story that you would like to share with us, whether you were able to release an animal alive from your gear or you discovered an animal dead in this, please contact Ellie MacLennan, SEA project co-ordinator at entanglement@sac.co.uk or on 07393 798153. Any information shared will be treated sensitively, positively and confidentially.
In 2015 fishermen off Skye encountered a similarly entangled humpback whale which they were able to free. Image credit: John and Gordon McKinnon
Guest blog: Adventures of a veterinary pathologist
Guest blog: Adventures of a veterinary pathologist
17/08/2018
This blog was written by SEA partner Dr Andrew Brownlow, veterinary pathologist with the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS).
A wee tale about how, sometimes, it’s good to have a strong rope on a tail.
It’s often the case when, turning up on a beach with your post-mortem kit, a bizarre combination of laboratory-grade plastic, kitchenware and DIY tools accompanying a reassuringly solid bucket of very sharp knives, that you have no idea what you will find over the subsequent few hours of work. That’s what keeps this job interesting of course, and makes up for the occupational hazard of having your plans for an evening randomly supplanted by a mad dash for a ferry to a remote island. In this particular case the destination was the West coast of Lewis, a dramatic, beautiful place with an admirable tenacity for resisting both the winds of an Atlantic storm and those of cultural change. We had learnt of this case the previous day, a recently deceased Sowerby’s beaked whale, and, knowing the importance of this species and the capacity for our post-mortems to give us much needed information about the health and ecology of marine mammals, decided we needed to examine the animal. In many cases we are able to collect the carcase and take them to our facility in Inverness, however in this case the animal in question was over 4m long and stranded on a remote rocky beach with little option for recovery. A beach-post-mortem it would have to be.
A post-mortem, or necropsy examination can allow us to understand not just how an animal died, but also much about how it lived; what it ate, how old it was, if it had reproduced and what diseases, infections and threats it may have encountered. It also allows us to take samples for subsequent analysis that can tell us about the health of the wider ocean environment, such as the presence of toxins or pollutants and the possible effects they are having on the ecosystem. As mentioned, you never quite know what you’re going to find, however we do usually have a case to work on. It was with some dismay therefore that we discovered, having scrambled to the top of the wave-thrown shingle on Brue beach, that despite being firmly anchored by the tail the previous evening, the Atlantic swell had reclaimed the carcase and now our patient was nowhere to be seen. This was particularly frustrating, given the efforts Janet, one of our volunteers had gone to locate and secure the animal.
There followed a few hours of fruitless searching, scanning between surfers and seals enjoying the white-topped breakers for any evidence of a fin or fluke. I had all but given up and was returning to the car in a foul mood when Siobhan’s keen eyes, honed by years of spotting live cetaceans as a marine mammal observer- glimpsed the shadow of a fluke silhouetted against the blue-green curl of an incoming wave. We had found it. It was about 50m out in shallow water and heading the wrong way on the ebbing tide. Now in the battle against middle-aged spread, I had recently taken to open water swimming, and hence had just enough neoprene and stupidity with me to make wading out for this seem not a wholly ludicrous idea. As I stumbled my way out into waist deep surf, my feet slipping on the bowling-ball sized boulders of Lewisian gneiss- some of the oldest and most durable rock on the planet polished glass-smooth by the sea – I began to question how much of a good idea this was. The wellies were protecting my feet but not my balance and I had lost sight of the animal. Then, turning to avoid a breaking wave I literally tripped over it, just below the surface with the rope still attached to the tailstock. With the help of the surf, the carcase was reasonably easy enough to tow back into the shallows.
After all that, the actual post-mortem was a comparative piece of cake, and between us Mariel and I collected the measurement tissues and samples we sought. It wasn’t in great condition, hadn’t fed recently but, apart from the damage brought about by stranding, there wasn’t much in the body of the animal to indicate why it stranded. By this time however, the tide was on the turn and there was a ferry to catch, so, like some Victorian trophy hunter, I removed the head, balanced it on my shoulder and headed back to shore, to Stornoway and home.
The following day, in the wind and surf free environment of our laboratory in Inverness, we were able to examine the brain and found the reason for the stranding. In the middle of the brain sit the cerebral ventricles, normally small, spiralling reservoirs filled with the clear cerebrospinal fluid which nourishes and protects the central nervous system cord and balances the exquisitely complicated chemistry of a mammalian brain. When we sectioned through the skull and into the brain of this whale, it all looked very wrong indeed. Hugely dilated, the ventricles poured an alarming excess of murky, turbid and blood stained fluid. In addition, the meninges, usually translucent, delicate membranes surrounding the brain were rough and inflamed.
This animal had been very sick indeed with an apparent meningoencephalitis; a severe brain disease most likely due to infection with a virulent bacteria. This would likely have affected the whale’s ability to feed and navigate and was almost certainly a causal factor in its stranding. We’ve seen this before in this species, and it is possible that there was some underlying condition which made this animal susceptible to the infection. We are continuing to investigating this case as there is still much to learn, but it was certainly worth all that effort. Next time we get a stranding in those seas however, we’ll use a stronger piece of rope!
Left: This is as far as we could tow it ashore
Middle: It didn’t stay here once the tide came in.
Right: the thickened meninges of the brain
Guest blog: Minke whale entanglement – an update from the field
Guest blog: Minke whale entanglement – an update from the field
30/07/2018
This blog is written by Stephen Marsh who is the Operations Manager with BDMLR, one of the six SEA partners.
On Tuesday 10th July, crew on the wildlife trip boat run by Hebridean Whale Cruises out of Gairloch saw an entangled mike whale in the North Minch. The whale approached the boat on three occasions in the same area and one of the crew who is also a volunteer for British Divers Marine Life Rescue alerted the charity.
BDMLR, one of the SEA partners, rescues marine mammals around the UK and has a specially trained team that disentangles whales at sea, one of the most physical and dangerous types of rescue. The training is rigorous and follows the protocols of the IWC’s Global Whale Entanglement Response Network, using highly specialised equipment.
As it was reported that the minke whale had line going through its mouth and probably baleen, the charity’s Large Whale Disentanglement Team (LWDT) was scrambled and the equipment trailer was brought over from its base in Findhorn for a 7pm rendezvous at Gairloch.
In the meantime, BDMLR’s head office had been in touch with Marine Scotland and put in a request for MV Minna, a fisheries protection vessel that was already in the area, to provide assistance and to scout the area for the whale. MV Minna carries rigid inflatable boats that would have acted as support boats for the rescue.
On arrival at Gairloch Pier, the team checked the gear and Hebridean Whale Cruises, having finished their public trips for the day around 7.30pm, kindly handed their boat over to BDMLR’s experienced skipper to go out to check for the whale.
Sadly, although the whale had approached the boat during the day, the search of the area did not result in sightings. As the darkness fell, the team returned to shore around 11pm for a debrief, food and a couple of hours’ rest before returning to sea at 4am on the Wednesday.
The early morning four-hour sortie did not find the whale either and the boat was returned to Hebridean Wildlife Cruises for its day trips. Due to worsening sea conditions, their first trip was cancelled and the trip that went out later, again failed to see the whale.
BDMLR head office had previously arranged for spotter planes to fly over the area during the day, courtesy of Skywatch Civil Air Patrol. The plan had been for a light plane to fly from the east coast with BDMLR spotters on board who would be in contact with the team on the water, but the weather front moving in from the west meant that this was no longer possible.
With the free-swimming whale not having been seen for over 24 hours, coupled with the fact that due to the sea state it would extremely difficult to spot and would be too risky to attempt a rescue the decision was made to stand down, repacked the rescue trailer and return home ready to come back out if the whale was spotted again.
Thanks are due to all involved from BDMLR in the rescue attempt with a special mention to Veerle Van Den Bossche for the use of her boat and to Steve Truluck who worked all day for the wildlife boat company but still went out to guide the team through the night. Also to Marine Scotland for tasking MV Minna and her crew to assist and to Skywatch for their offer of help.
The minke whale has not been spotted since and could be anywhere, but BDMLR is aware and still on stand-by. Photographs show that lines had probably already been cut, possibly by a concerned fisherman, but this meant that without the weight of lines and gear to hamper the whale’s progress, the job of finding it and clearing the remaining entanglement is made more difficult. If the whale is spotted again then people are encouraged to call BDMLR or SEA to alert the team.
Courses, conferences and call-outs
Courses, conferences and call-outs
16/07/2018
It’s been another busy couple of weeks for the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) partners. On Monday 9th July the Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme (SMASS) ran a citizen science course at their Inverness base, to train volunteers from around Scotland how to photograph and sample dead stranded animals for research purposes. Samples collected by this volunteer network are vital to SMASS’s work, which aims to provide a systematic and coordinated approach to the surveillance of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals), basking sharks and marine turtles stranded around Scotland. As part of SEA, the SMASS team (including the SEA project co-ordinator) will be offering specially designed courses to fishermen in various locations around the coast over the next 18 months which will focus on collecting data from dead-at-sea marine animal cases. If fishermen and willing and able to collect information rom these cases, which otherwise would be inaccessible, this information would be invaluable to the continued work of SMASS.
On Tuesday 10th July the SEA co-ordinator and our partner from Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) attended the bi-annual Scottish Fishing Conference in St Andrews. The theme of the event was ‘Fisheries Management in Changing Times’ and the key issues affecting Scottish fishing across were discussed in depth. There were also a diverse range of keynote speeches, including from Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing MSP and from officials visiting from Norway and the Faroe Islands who detailed their experiences of being independent coastal states. The conference was well attended by fishermen, students, and representatives from Marine Scotland, RIFGs, processors, retailers and NGOs. It was live-streamed too enabling those at sea or unable to attend in person for other reasons to participate in and hear the discussions and Q&A sessions.
Last week was also a busy one for SEA’s large whale disentanglement team, who were called upon to respond to reports from Gairloch on a young free-swimming minke whale with a rope caught in its mouth. A swift response was mounted however due to poor light and sea conditions the whale was unfortunately lost from sight but local boats, the coastguard and Marine Scotland vessels continue to keep an eye out for the animal and the disentanglement team remain on stand-by. If and when the animal is seen again, the rescue attempt will be re-launched.
Left: SMASS veterinary pathologist Andrew Brownlow demonstrating to volunteers how to take skin and blubber samples from a stranded harbour porpoise. See www.strandings.org for more information about SMASS.
Middle: Bi-Annual Scottish Fishing Conference
Right: The young entangled minke whale spotted off Gairloch last week. Image credit: Steve Truluck.
Get involved
Entanglement in fishing gear is a worldwide issue affecting marine animals and fishers wherever the two overlap, and around the globe numerous programmes already exist to address this issue. Here in Scotland the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) was established in response to an increase in marine animal entanglement reports in our waters in recent years. Minimising the occurrence and negative impacts of these incidents to both fishermen and marine animals from an economic and welfare perspective is the goal of this research, and central to this will be engaging with local fishermen to ensure they benefit as much as possible from this work.
Next week our project coordinator Ellie will be visiting Mull and Oban, to continue meeting with and interviewing local fishermen there. If you are a fisherman in this or any other Scottish region and would be willing to speak to her and complete a short questionnaire it would be great to hear from you. It is important to speak with fishermen who have and haven’t experienced entanglements, to gather information about their own experiences and perceptions of this issue, and offer opportunities for them to get involved in SEA research, workshops and training events. If you would be willing to meet and contribute to this work, share your own experiences of entanglement, or would like to learn more about SEA, please contact Ellie on: 01463 246048, 07393 798153, entanglement@sac.co.uk. All of the project partners realise that marine animals entanglement is a sensitive issue and guarantee that any information shared will be treated anonymously.
SEA hits the road
SEA hits the road
03/07/2018
Ellie MacLennan, SEA project co-ordinator
It’s been a busy but very rewarding couple of weeks for me as the SEA project officer, out and about meeting with fishermen along the west coast and completing the first 15 questionnaire interviews. This has also been a great opportunity to visit some for the more remote reaches of Scotland’s coast, get out on to the water, and sample some of the freshest and finest local seafood there is! The highlight however has been meeting with fishermen who have spent their lives at sea, and who as a result have gained unparalleled knowledge of their local waters and wildlife. Some of these fishermen have never had a large marine animal entanglement in their gear while others have experienced multiple, but all have been willing to share their experiences with me and there has been some great knowledge exchange including discussions about why and how animals may become entangled, best practise suggestions in setting gear to minimise the risks of this to both marine animals and fishermen, and lessons learned from past disentanglement attempts.
On Friday evening I delivered the first public outreach talk, introducing SEA and offering a little more information on the background of this programme of research, what we hope to achieve and how we plan to do this. Hosted in the Ullapool ferry terminal this was followed by a great debate between attendees including local fishermen, project partners, a fisheries officer and members of the Scottish large whale disentanglement team.
These past few weeks have also offered some incredible sightings opportunities, with orca spotted off Vatersay, humpback whales in the Sound of Kerrera, and a fin whale (possibly two) in the Kessock Channel to name a few! Check out our partner’s sightings page www.whaletrack.hwdt.org/sightings-map/ for more updates.
Left: A trip north to Ullapool and the Coigach Gathering.
Right: Orca, Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust; Humpback whale, Alan and Kirsty Moore; Fin whale, Charlie Phillips.
Get involved
This week I will be on Skye speaking with more fishermen from all over the island. Next week I will be attending the bi-Annual Scottish Fishing Conference in St Andrews, and later this month I will be visiting Mull to continue meeting with and interviewing local fishermen there. If you are a fisherman in any of these areas and would be willing to speak to me and complete a short questionnaire it would be great to hear from you!
Entanglement in fishing gear is a worldwide issue affecting marine animals and fishers wherever the two overlap, and around the globe numerous programmes already exist to address this issue. Here in Scotland the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) was established in response to an increase in marine animal entanglement reports in our waters in recent years. Minimising the occurrence and negative impacts of these incidents to both fishermen and marine animals from an economic and welfare perspective is the goal of this research, and central to this will be engaging with local fishermen to ensure they benefit as much as possible from this work.
Over the coming months I will be travelling around the Scottish coast to meet and speak with fishermen to gather information about their own experiences and perceptions of marine animal entanglement, and offer opportunities for them to get involved in SEA research through interviews, workshops and training events. If you would be willing to meet and contribute to this work, share your own experiences of entanglement, or would like to learn more about SEA, please contact me on: 01463 246048, 07393 798153, entanglement@sac.co.uk.
All of the project partners realise that marine animals entanglement is a sensitive issue and guarantee that any information shared will be treated as strictly confidential.
Who are the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) collaborators?
Who are the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) collaborators?
15/06/2018
Nine individuals from six industry, research and conservation organisations make up the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) team. All bring unique expertise to the table and will contribute in a variety of ways to achieve the shared goal of working with Scottish fishermen to better understand the extent and impact of marine animal entanglements in our waters, and helping to develop sustainable mitigation strategies for the benefit of all. Here is a quick introduction to a few of our partners….
Ellie MacLennan
Ellie is co-ordinating the SEA research programme and will work closely with collaborators to lead the fisheries outreach and engagement components of this work. A Skye native with a strong family connection to the local fishing industry, Ellie has experience in working as a commercial diver, as well as in various marine and fisheries research, consultancy and community conservation roles. She is also a member of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) large whale disentanglement team, and has recently returned from the USA and Canada where she worked closely with fishermen, disentanglement teams and fisheries and conservation organisations currently affected by and working to reduce marine animal entanglements. She hopes that the alliance will provide a unique opportunity to learn from and work with local fishermen and other coastal community members to give them ownership of the entanglement issue, as well as the support they need to address this successfully. Her position is being hosted by the Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme (SMASS).
Andrew Brownlow
Andrew has led the SMASS team since 2009. As a veterinary pathologist he undertakes marine animal post mortem examinations and has oversight for SMASS’s data collection, management and reporting. He has expertise in the field of wildlife disease and is interested in the cumulative effects of disease, physiology and environmental stressors on wild animal populations. Andrew’s contribution to the alliance is through investigation into the type and distribution of injuries associated with marine animal entanglements, which will hopefully allow us to design better measures to reduce their impact. Andrew thinks SEA is a fantastic initiative, bringing researchers, conservationists and the fishing community together to understand and develop sensible and workable solutions to the problem of marine animal entanglements.
Sarah Dolman
Sarah coordinates WDC’s global bycatch programme, with the aim of working with stakeholders to find ways to reduce bycatch and entanglements throughout the world. Sarah has an MSc in Fisheries Science from Aberdeen University, is a member of the International Whaling Commission Bycatch Expert Panel, has published on cetaceans and bycatch and was involved in the production of the ‘best practise guide to reducing marine animal entanglements in Scotland’. WDC helped to develop the current SEA project, have co-designed the questionnaire and will promote the project through their social media networks. WDC hopes the alliance will achieve better data to enable us to understand and reduce entanglements of whales and other marine species in Scottish waters.
Noel Hawkins
Based in the Highlands, Noel has previously worked as a fisherman off the west coast of Scotland. He is an experienced member of BDMLR’s large whale disentanglement team and has attended numerous entanglement and stranding call-outs. He currently works as Living Seas Communities Officer for the Scottish Wildlife Trust promoting marine wildlife and environmental engagement and awareness. Noel believes that partnerships like SEA between conservation groups, communities and industry offer the best potential for long term sustainability and successful outcomes for all.
Lauren Hartny-Mills
Lauren is the Science and Policy Manager for the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT),who are proud to be part of the SEA’s research. Entanglement is a global problem but with fishing and wildlife being so valuable to Scottish coastal communities, it is important for us to understand the impact it is having on the livelihoods of fishermen as well as the risk to marine animals. HWDT will focus on assessing the interaction between large whales and manmade items in the marine environment by analysing photographs of live animals to better understand the risk posed to our amazing marine life. If you have any photographs or sightings information that might be of use, HWDT would love to hear from you.
Get involved
Entanglement in fishing gear is a worldwide issue affecting marine animals and fishers wherever the two overlap, and around the globe numerous programmes already exist to address this issue. Here in Scotland the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) was established in response to an increase in marine animal entanglement reports in our waters in recent years. Minimising the occurrence and negative impacts of these incidents to both fishermen and marine animals from an economic and welfare perspective is the goal of this research, and central to this will be engaging with local fishermen to ensure they benefit as much as possible from this work.
Over the coming months the SEA project co-ordinator will be travelling around the Scottish coast to meet and speak with fishermen to gather information about their own experiences and perceptions of marine animal entanglement, and offer opportunities for them to get involved in SEA research through interviews, workshops and training events. If you would be willing to meet with Ellie and contribute to this work, share your own experiences of entanglement, or would like to learn more about SEA, please contact her on: 01463 246048, 07393 798153, entanglement@sac.co.uk
The project partners realise that marine animals entanglement is a sensitive issue and guarantee that any information shared will be treated as strictly confidential.
Introducing the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA)
Introducing the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA)
28/05/2018
Today sees the launch of a new research programme to better understand marine animal entanglements in Scottish waters. The first of its kind in Europe, the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) brings together fishing industry representatives, researchers and conservation charities to provide a co-ordinated, comprehensive engagement and monitoring programme to better understand the scale and impact of marine animal entanglements in our seas.
What’s the problem?
Entanglement in fishing gear is a global problem that poses a threat to marine animals and fishers wherever the two overlap. Here in Scotland our rich inshore waters provide world-class fishing grounds for creel and trawl fishermen. Prawn, lobster and crab are targeted year round by the inshore fishing fleet, which not only makes a significant contribution to the national economy but also forms the backbone of many small communities. These waters are also home to a diverse array of large marine animals including whales, dolphins and porpoise (collectively known as cetaceans), basking sharks and turtles. Unfortunately these animals sometimes become entangled in fishing gear, and the consequences of these interactions can have conservation, welfare and economic implications. Entanglements can impair an animal’s ability to breath, feed, swim and reproduce, and have been recognised as the main cause of death of minke whales in Scottish waters. Other species including orca, humpback and northern bottlenose whales have also died in our waters as a result of interactions with fishing gear. These incidents can be both distressing for those encountering them and potentially dangerous where live animals are involved. The financial cost to fishermen through damaged or lost gear can also be significant, particularly as many are already operating to tight financial margins.
A creel boat moored off the west coast. Image credit: Ellie MacLennan.
What is the Scottish Entanglement Alliance?
SEA is a partnership between six organisations dedicated to promoting and protecting Scotland’s wildlife, heritage and sustainable marine industries. Funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), SEA will research the incidence and impacts of marine animal entanglements in Scottish waters. The organisations involved are the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation (SCFF), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT), and British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR).
Aims
By engaging directly with the fishing industry, SEA partners will work to establish if fishermen and other marine users are encountering entanglements, how often these incidents are occurring, what the economic impacts are, and what they think the causes of and potential solutions to reduce entanglements could be. Gaining a better understanding of marine animal entanglements in Scottish waters will be accomplished by:
Raising awareness of marine animal entanglements amongst fishermen and other marine users.
Encouraging better reporting rates of marine animal entanglements.
Capturing fishermen’s knowledge and experiences of entanglements.
Providing opportunities for fishermen to become involved in entanglement research and disentanglement efforts.
Assessing the risk and impact of entanglements to marine animals at an individual and population level.
Better understanding the socio-economic impact of marine animal entanglements on the Scottish fishing fleet.
Entanglement in fishing gear is a global issue, for example this humpback whale was caught in a mix of pot and gill net gear off the Newfoundland coast. Image credit: Wayne Ledwell, Whale Release and Strandings Group.
To achieve these aims SEA partners will deliver a number of research projects over the next two years, designed to encapsulate the causes and consequences of entanglements and provide a platform to begin exchanging ideas of potential mitigation strategies. These projects include an anonymous questionnaire which will be distributed to inshore fishermen to capture their knowledge and experiences of entanglements. Small workshops and training courses designed specifically for fishermen will also be delivered around the Scottish coast. These will provide opportunities for fishermen to learn how to document and report entanglements, contribute to data collection, and assist in disentanglement attempts. Outreach materials will also be made available including best practise and entanglement reporting guides for fishermen and other marine users, and an improved anonymous reporting system will be put in place.
A humpback whale breaching in the Sound of Raasay in 2014. Fishermen are ideally placed to capture valuable information on these marine animals, and are already doing so. Image credit: Brian Wells.
Get involved
Entanglement in fishing gear is a worldwide issue affecting marine animals and fishers wherever the two overlap, and around the globe numerous programmes already exist to address this issue. Here in Scotland the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) was established in response to an increase in marine animal entanglement reports in our waters in recent years. Minimising the occurrence and negative impacts of these incidents to both fishermen and marine animals from an economic and welfare perspective is the goal of this research, and central to this will be engaging with local fishermen to ensure they benefit as much as possible from this work.
Over the coming months the SEA project co-ordinator Ellie MacLennan will be travelling around the Scottish coast to meet and speak with fishermen to gather information about their own experiences and perceptions of marine animal entanglement, and offer opportunities for them to get involved in SEA research through interviews, workshops and training events. If you would be willing to meet with Ellie and contribute to this work, share your own experiences of entanglement, or would like to learn more about SEA, please contact her on: 01463 246048, 07393 798153, entanglement@sac.co.uk
The project partners realise that marine animals entanglement is a sensitive issue and guarantee that any information shared will be treated as strictly confidential.
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