Marine Scotland Communications

Written 418 posts

Surveying the High Fleet – Update

28th July 2017

We blogged yesterday about the survey currently being undertaken on the German High Fleet in Scapa Flow. One of our scientists on board has sent us this update: This survey is working in conjunction with Historic Environment Scotland (HES), The Ministry of Defence (MOD), The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), Ulster University and other…

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Surveying the German High Seas fleet in Scapa Flow

27th July 2017

Duration: 23 – 31 July 2017 Sampling Gear Swathe multibeam echosounder system TV drop frame with armoured cable Scout System RoxAnn system Seatronics ROV Project Summary This project is a multidisciplinary collaborative project to undertake remote sensing and diver surveys of the High Seas Fleet and the War Graves HMS Hampshire, HMS Vanguard and HMS…

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IA2017 – Fish communities show signs of recovery in some areas

24th July 2017

Fish communities form a major element of marine biodiversity and are a key feature in marine foodwebs. Fisheries can thus have a major impact on marine biodiversity. The last OSPAR Quality Status Report (QSR 2010) highlighted, among other issues, that depletion of key predator and prey species and disruption of the marine foodweb were worrying…

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Keeping track at Armadale: Update one from the tracking project

21st July 2017

You might remember that at the beginning of July, we told you about a new salmon tracking project that was happening in the north of Scotland. Tagging started on 7 July and by 14th July, we had tagged 36 grilse. tagging will continue in to Autumn-time and we will keep you updated with progress. Further Information Information…

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Exercise SAXON WARRIOR 17: 1 and 10 August 2017

19th July 2017

Exercise SAXON WARRIOR 17 (SW17) will take place between 1 and 10 August 2017, delivered by the Joint Tactical Exercise Planning Staff (JTEPS) from Faslane. The coordination of the administration and safety will be arranged in a similar way to a JOINT WARRIOR exercise. SW17 is a programme of exercises conducted across the UK by…

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IA2017 – Benthic habitats affected by bottom fisheries

17th July 2017

OSPAR is committed to protecting and conserving ecosystems and biodiversity through the management of human activities and is guided by an ecosystem-based approach. Benthic habitats play a key role in marine ecosystems because marine species rely directly or indirectly on the seafloor to feed, hide, rest or reproduce. The last OSPAR Quality Status Report (QSR…

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Recent updates to NMPi

12th July 2017

Some of you may be aware of Marine Scotland MAPS NMPi (National Marine Plan interactive), Marine Scotland’s key tool for sharing data with stakeholders. It continues the innovation started by Scotland’s Marine Atlas and its follow up e-publication. It’s an online, interactive GIS-based tool allowing you to view different types of information, as map layers, at…

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IA2017 – Marine birds in trouble

10th July 2017

Marine birds are valuable indicators of ecosystem condition. OSPAR assesses the abundance and breeding success of marine birds. In the Norwegian Arctic, the Greater North Sea and the Celtic Seas, there has been a considerable (>20%) drop in abundance compared to the levels observed 25 years ago, for more than a quarter of the marine…

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Can you help us keep track?

6th July 2017

Marine Scotland is tracking salmon from  July 2017 and would like your help! Atlantic salmon can migrate thousands of miles –  from home rivers to high seas feeding grounds, and back to spawn – but how they find their home river remains a mystery. A number of historic tagging studies have shown that fish captured in…

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IA2017 – The network of OSPAR Marine Protected Areas is expanding

3rd July 2017

Considerable progress has been made in developing OSPAR’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) network. Since the last OSPAR Quality Status Report (QSR 2010), a further 289 MPAs have been added to the network, bringing the total number to 448. MPAs now cover 5.9% of the OSPAR Maritime Area compared with a total coverage of only 1.1%…

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