Signs of a season change are well upon us now. The trees appear to be changing even though it’s not been cold enough and the garden tidy up shows the plants are trying hard to keep going.
A trip to Ayr and a beach walk became a bit more interesting as there were well over a 100 common jellyfish up beyond the strand line. Sadly they are not strong swimmers and with the high tides a result of an approaching supermoon they are left stranded with no chance of survival. There have been reports of piles of jellyfish over the past few months. If you do venture down the beach and discover any you can submit your findings to the MCS site as they are trying to collate numbers for their research. www.mcsuk.org report jellyfish.
Just after that I was on another Orca survey to Coll/ Tiree. It proved to be a super highway for common dolphins. We had loads of sightings and they put on a spectacular display for us jumping high out of the water performing gymnastics.
Our team leader Jane works for nature scot studying and trying to save critically endangered skate in Scotland. She was lucky enough to meet Hamza recently when she appeared in an interview for countryfile on BBC 1. She says he really is as nice as he appears.
This leads me on to another important citizen science project which is ongoing and that is to find and log skate egg cases on beaches. Commonly known as mermaid purses. It is easy and fun to do if anyone is interested and provides vital information for conservationists.
All the info required is on this website. www.sharktrust.org/greateggcasehunt. My only word of warning would be to check there are no bird carcases in that area. Sadly bird flu is still widely active and does prove a threat to mammals. Wearing gloves may be advisable.
So lots of projects for you all to get busy with. I’m sure a trip to the beach with your children and grandchildren can start them off in a career in science and it’s great fun too.