The Sea

[The Phantom]

We mention the sea on MF quite regularly, but it’s generally to do with shit we are putting in it or taking out of it.

Arguably it’s our greatest resource and the very reason for our Island's being. 

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks on the wetside.

Swordfish spotted for the first time in Manx Waters off Niarbyl (annoyingly I was on the water nearby that day).  https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/first-sighting-of-swordfish-in-manx-waters/

There has been a notable increase in the last couple of years of Tuna off Cornwall and Ireland in the last couple of years, so they’ll be here too and just a matter of time before someone catches one.  Swordfish and Tuna inhabit the same niche. Realistically this is probably more to do with fishing bans and quotas actually working (for both the predators and the prey), rather than any increase in sea temperatures.

An 11m floating whale carcass off the coast causing a Shipping Hazard.

https://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/dead-minke-whale-found-in-manx-waters/#:~:text=A%20dead%20whale%20has%20been,vessel%20%2D%20Galps%20later%20that%20day.

White Beaked Dolphins off Langness (the first sighting in a long time and only a handful ever).

https://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/white-beaked-dolphins-spotted-in-manx-waters/#:~:text=White%2Dbeaked%20dolphins%20have%20been,Irish%20Sea%20in%2030%20years

It’s been a bit busier for Basking Sharks this year, although overall still quite quiet.  10 - 15 years ago I pretty much saw some every time I was on the water in the summer, then they just disappeared.  This was partially why the Manx Basking Project got shut down and the sightings reports are now handled by the Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch.   

https://www.mwdw.net/

Whilst the Sharks have mostly gone, there seems to have been an increase in the number of Cetaceans (whales, dolphins etc) spotted in the last few years.  

It’s now about time the Minke’s will turn up on the East coast too chasing the spawning Herring.

Of course there is also Moonlight and Starlight too, but why they seem to have Peel (the dirtiest beach on the Island) as their home still baffles me.

I did post the following elsewhere (IOM People of the Sea/Blue Carbon), but worth doing so again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L31kciNf2SE&t=6s

[0bserver]

There was a fella who fished out of Peel who caught a swordfish back in the 1980's so it's not the first time.

[Max Power]

I love the sea, apart from the 'mal de mer!' 

[WTF]

3 hours ago, The Phantom said:

 

Arguably it’s our greatest resource and the very reason for our Island's being. 

 

well yes,  if we weren't surrounded by sea we wouldn't be an island in the first place , well done captain obvious.

Edited September 5, 2022 by WTF

[The Phantom]

1 minute ago, WTF said:

obviously !  if we weren't surrounded by sea we wouldn't be an island in the first place , well done captain obvious.

Thank you very much.  I never made it to Captain though. 

But that was kinda my point.  No sea.  No Island. 

[Asthehills]

Is the “increase” in sightings not just that people are looking more and now reporting online?

I am not convinced there is actually anymore of anything than there has ever been, just that we hear about it more.

[WTF]

7 minutes ago, The Phantom said:

 

But that was kinda my point.  No sea.  No Island. 

lets carry on,  No sea, No island , No steam packet, No planes needed, NO IOMG ,NO travel problems to the UK .  i'm not seeing a downside that isn't racist.

[The Phantom]

6 minutes ago, Asthehills said:

Is the “increase” in sightings not just that people are looking more and now reporting online?

I am not convinced there is actually anymore of anything than there has ever been, just that we hear about it more.

It's possible.  But I'm speaking from personal experience over the last 20 years on or very close to the sea, but the other reports online seem to agree. 

I used to see lot of Basking Sharks and very few Cetaceans.  Now its the other way round. 

Regarding Tuna (and Swordfish) this is definitely a change.  There used to be significant Tuna fisheries in the North Sea for instance.  We however completely fished them out commercially.  Now commercial and recreational fishing for them has been banned, they seem to be making a comeback.  Same goes for their prey due to increased fishing regulation.

 

[manxfisherman]

There are loads of seals so there must be loads of fish.

[Andy Onchan]

33 minutes ago, The Phantom said:

It's possible.  But I'm speaking from personal experience over the last 20 years on or very close to the sea, but the other reports online seem to agree. 

I used to see lot of Basking Sharks and very few Cetaceans.  Now its the other way round. 

Regarding Tuna (and Swordfish) this is definitely a change.  There used to be significant Tuna fisheries in the North Sea for instance.  We however completely fished them out commercially.  Now commercial and recreational fishing for them has been banned, they seem to be making a comeback.  Same goes for their prey due to increased fishing regulation.

 

The Basking Sharks will be back when the currents and jet streams revert to normal. 

[Cambon]

44 minutes ago, The Phantom said:

It's possible.  But I'm speaking from personal experience over the last 20 years on or very close to the sea, but the other reports online seem to agree. 

I used to see lot of Basking Sharks and very few Cetaceans.  Now its the other way round. 

Regarding Tuna (and Swordfish) this is definitely a change.  There used to be significant Tuna fisheries in the North Sea for instance.  We however completely fished them out commercially.  Now commercial and recreational fishing for them has been banned, they seem to be making a comeback.  Same goes for their prey due to increased fishing regulation.

 

Yes. I read somewhere ages ago that the bluefin tuna migrate up to Norway. Fishing for them was big in the early 1900s, as it was for basking sharks. Both were all but fished out. It is good to see the tuna returning. Let's hope the basking sharks return as well. 

[The Phantom]

3 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

The Basking Sharks will be back when the currents and jet streams revert to normal. 

Sources? Not being a dick I'm genuinely curious if this is something you've read or have some real world experience to demonstrate. 

If there is enough plankton fuelled by the currents to sustain what seems like a comeback for cetaceans and tuna etc then surely it would also provide enough food for basking sharks?

Yeah studies suggest the gulf stream is slowing. But the implications of this is the cooling of northern Europe. The opposite in fact seems to be happening.

Unless this is Gaia in action, balancing out the issue?

Personally I half jokingly say the Chinese have eaten all the basking sharks. But I think there might be an element of truth there. They don't exactly keep records of the sharks they 'harvest'. 

[The Phantom]

3 hours ago, Cambon said:

Yes. I read somewhere ages ago that the bluefin tuna migrate up to Norway. Fishing for them was big in the early 1900s, as it was for basking sharks. Both were all but fished out. It is good to see the tuna returning. Let's hope the basking sharks return as well. 

Big game fishing for Tuna in Yorkshire in the 20s and 30s.

https://britishseafishing.co.uk/big-game-tuna-fishing-in-britain/

Interestingly it suggest it may have been due to a periodic warming which happens in the N Atlantic every 60-100 years.

 

[Andy Onchan]

12 hours ago, The Phantom said:

Sources? Not being a dick I'm genuinely curious if this is something you've read or have some real world experience to demonstrate. 

If there is enough plankton fuelled by the currents to sustain what seems like a comeback for cetaceans and tuna etc then surely it would also provide enough food for basking sharks?

Yeah studies suggest the gulf stream is slowing. But the implications of this is the cooling of northern Europe. The opposite in fact seems to be happening.

Unless this is Gaia in action, balancing out the issue?

Personally I half jokingly say the Chinese have eaten all the basking sharks. But I think there might be an element of truth there. They don't exactly keep records of the sharks they 'harvest'. 

There was an article in a science magazine/website last year some time that suggests that since their northern feeding grounds are warming there's no need for the sharks to venture so far south as there's enough plankton for them to survive. Anecdotally I believe Scotland are seeing almost record numbers of BS's. The question now is when will we see the first Great White start migrating up the Irish Sea?

 

[The Phantom]

2 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

There was an article in a science magazine/website last year some time that suggests that since their northern feeding grounds are warming there's no need for the sharks to venture so far south as there's enough plankton for them to survive. Anecdotally I believe Scotland are seeing almost record numbers of BS's. The question now is when will we see the first Great White start migrating up the Irish Sea?

 

Interesting thanks.  I know that there seem to be quite a few BS off Ireland too this year as the Manx BS Watch donated their trackers to an Irish research team.  

Great Whites - The IOM, Hebrides, etc would provide ideal conditions for them.  I quite suprised they've not been seen already.