08/06/2005 - To celebrate
World Ocean’s Day and highlight the fact that
50% of our wildlife is found in the sea, the
Joint Marine Programme Scotland has compiled
‘Five Marine Mysteries’, a quick guide to
the lesser known aspects of Scotland’s seas
and coastline.
1. The marine environment makes up 53% of
Scotland’s territory, supporting 50% of our
biodiversity (8000 species) and generating
£14 billion or 21 % of Scottish GDP
each year. Almost 70% of the Scottish population
lives within 10 Km of the coast. Clean, healthy
and diverse seas are important for us all.
2. Scotland has its own unique cold water
corals, (Lophelia pertusa) known as the Darwin
Mounds. Found at depths of 1000 metres are
amazing coral reefs up to 5m high and 100m
wide covering an area of approximately 100km.
Rivaling their tropical counterparts they
support an array of marine life, such as sponges,
starfish, sea urchins, crabs and deep-sea
fish. Officially discovered in 1998, they
have now been afforded some degree of protection,
however they remain vulnerable to industrial
activity, particularly deep water fishing.
3. Scotland’s waters are home to the second
biggest fish in the world. The double decker
bus sized basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus)
, weighs in at up to a massive 7 tonnes (the
same weight as an elephant). This giant feeds
by filtering zooplankton from the water it
swims through, as much as 2000 m3 per hour.
It can be found all round our coastline during
the summer months and the 2004 Basking Shark
Survey revealed Scotland to be the UK’s top
spot for watching basking sharks.
4. Scotland’s marine environment contains
internationally important seabird, mammal
and shark populations including: the largest
gannet colony in the world at St Kilda; internationally
important colonies of skuas and other seabirds;
36% of the world’s grey seals (95% of the
UK population); 24% of UK common seals; the
most northerly resident populations of bottlenose
dolphin and 24 species of whales, dolphins
and porpoises (cetaceans).
5. Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)
regularly visit the cold Scottish waters.
These creatures are over 100 million years
old and have out-lived the dinosaurs, yet
today they are critically endangered. Their
main food source is jellyfish, which they
can fatally confuse with the numerous plastic
bags and balloons that end up in our seas.
These five facts are only part of the unique
Scottish marine environment which is under
increasing pressure every day from problems
such as litter, pollution, coastal erosion,
overfishing and poor management.
"Most people look out at the seas in
Scotland and imagine them to be grey and lifeless.
However Scotland has over 8000 marine plants
and animals. There are deep water corals,
ancient seaweed beds and some amazing underwater
features that very few people ever get to
see. World Oceans Day is a day to celebrate
that natural heritage and to let more people
know exactly what is out there - and what
they can do to keep it clean and healthy for
our future generations", said Laura Bateson,
Joint Marine Programme Officer.
The tangle of legislation and governing bodies
that regulate our seas, without much coordination
or clear strategy, is allowing deterioration
of Scotland’s marine environment. The Joint
Marine Programme in Scotland, with the LINK
Marine Task Force is calling for a marine
strategy to deliver better management and
protection through the establishment of Marine
National Parks, a proper marine planning system
and a Marine Act for Scotland.
Editors Notes
1. The Joint Marine Programme (JMP) in Scotland
is a partnership between the Scottish Wildlife
Trust and WWF Scotland aimed at ensuring the
conservation of marine wildlife and a healthy
marine and coastal environment.
2. Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) is Scotland’s
largest conservation organisation committed
to protecting all wildlife, with 26,000 members
and a national network of more than 120 wildlife
reserves. SWT is a member of The Wildlife
Trusts, a partnership of 47 independent wildlife
charities throughout the UK, Channel Isles
and Isle of Man.
3. WWF is now known simply by its initials
and the panda logo, in line with the whole
international network. WWF, the global environment
network, takes action to conserve endangered
species, protect endangered spaces and address
global threats, by seeking long term solutions.
4. SWT and WWF Scotland support the Marine
campaign of Scottish Environment Link’s Marine
Task Force which is calling for fundamental
reform of how we manage Scotland's seas. This
should include a marine strategy, marine spatial
planning, a lead body and be underpinned by
a Marine (Scotland) Act. LINK is an umbrella
group of 36 Scottish non-governmental environmental
organisations. For further information log
on to http://www.scotlink.org
