Marine
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The power of MRSea
4th December 2017 by Marine Scotland Communications
Renewable energy from offshore wind, wave and tidal stream developments is a key component of the Scottish Governments’ ambitions for creating a low carbon economy that contributes to action on climate change. However, concern exists over the potential for such marine developments to negatively impact seabirds, marine mammals, and other protected species or habitats. A…
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Understanding how seals use the water column in tidally energetic areas
30th November 2017 by Marine Scotland Communications
As the tidal renewable industry continues to grow, increasing our understanding of the way that marine mammals use tidally energetic areas is of particular importance. This is a particular issue as there is increasing evidence that tidal energetic areas can be important foraging areas for marine mammals, therefore understanding how marine mammals use the water…
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Collecting PAM’s things
20th November 2017 by Marine Scotland Communications
Duration: 18-27 November 2017 Gear: Surface and subsurface PAM moorings Objectives: To retrieve a series of moorings comprising dhan buoys (eight surface marked moorings) or acoustic release systems (22 subsurface moorings) and the acoustic recording devices attached to them (30 C-POD and 10 SM2M/SM3M) as part of the east coast marine mammal monitoring programme (see…
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ECOMMAS makes some more noise
17th October 2017 by Marine Scotland Communications
The East Coast Marine Mammal Acoustics Study (ECOMMAS) is a long-term, on-going study into how underwater noise generated by offshore industry impacts the distribution of dolphins and porpoises in Scottish coastal waters of the North Sea. Acoustic recorders (C-PODs and SM2Ms) are deployed at 30 sites across 10 locations along the east coast, extending from…
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Model Movements
12th October 2017 by Marine Scotland Communications
This morning, Marine Scotland has published a report on approaches for modelling harbour seal movement. This type of information is important because it may be able to help predict the consequences of environmental change, such as the establishment and operation of marine renewable energy, on the distribution and movement of seal populations. The work, undertaken by the…
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Fine-scale harbour seal usage mapping around Orkney
21st December 2016 by Marine Scotland Communications
Marine Scotland has published a report on research commissioned from the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) to produce fine scale usage maps for harbour seals. With a spatial resolution of 0.6km x 0.6km, these provide very fine scale detail about the areas that are important to harbour seals. While there are existing usage maps for…
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Refining Estimates of Collision Risk for Harbour Seals and Tidal Turbines
15th November 2016 by Marine Scotland Communications
As the offshore marine renewables industry grows, understanding the way that marine mammals, interact with these are of particular importance. This is especially true of tidal devices, and one particular concern is the risk of collision between marine wildlife and rotating turbine blades below the sea surface. This is a particular issue for harbour seals…
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How do seals interact with shipping vessels?
17th October 2016 by Marine Scotland Communications
As shipping activity continues to increase around the world, understanding the way that marine mammals interact with vessels is of particular importance. Such concerns generally relate to potential harmful effects of increased shipping noise on marine mammals and the potential for physical injury due to collisions. This is a particular issue for harbour seals (Phoca…
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Results of a new diet study on seals around the Scottish coast
21st September 2016 by Marine Scotland Communications
Three new reports have been published looking at the diet of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) in Scottish waters. The work, commissioned by Marine Scotland, and undertaken by the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews, involved collecting scats seasonally from haul-out sites around Scotland over a 12 month period in…
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