Blyth Valley and Southwold Wildlife Group: October report

The Marine Life of Scotland’s West Coast

The meeting of the Southwold and Blyth Valley Wildlife Group welcomed Rob Spray, a volunteer with Seasearch, to talk about the range of wildlife to be found in some of Scotland’s western sea lochs.

Rob and his diving companions explore this area in winter, and although they must be fully equipped with drysuits and warm clothing, the water temperatures in fact are not as cold as they are here. They moved from Loch Long around to Loch Creran, recording the marine flora and fauna found there. The lochs are clear and generally calm, but also deep and dark, and lamps are used when necessary, lighting up the brilliant colours of the creatures found. The rare firework anemone has a spectacular display of long white tentacles up to 30cm long. Beautiful sessile sea squirts come in a wide range of colours. There are small spotted catsharks, lion’s mane jellyfish, and starfish. Octopus and cuttlefish are present. Loch Creran is known for its serpulid worms, a beautiful marine tubeworm with pink and orange feathery tentacles, that grow to create reefs that home many other animals.

Seaweeds vary in each loch, from huge, tough beds of bladderwrack to fields of waving kelp. The quiet Loch Sween has maerl beds, red seaweeds that grow into hard, twig-like lumps that grow and intertwine, forming spiky beds that are ideal nurseries for a range of species. They are very slow to grow, and can take hundreds, or even thousands, of years to form.

This is a beautiful area, home to many different and sometimes rare creatures, but Rob drew our attention to the two main factors that can damage this environment: fishing with dredges, and the large amount of rubbish found everywhere in the lochs.

The photography was spellbinding, and we all enjoyed the rich diversity on display for us.

Our next meeting is at 7.30pm on Thursday, 12th November at the Southwold Arts Centre. Alex Bass will talk on the wildlife of the Brecks. Entry is £5, to include refreshments; under 25s free. All are welcome.

Penny Mansfield

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