|
BEACH-GOERS URGED TO WATCH OUT FOR BLOOMING JELLYFISH!
AS the school
holidays approach, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is calling
on British seaside visitors and sea users to take part in the
national Jellyfish Survey and report their sightings of these
bizarre but fascinating creatures. Large “blooms” or swarms
of jellyfish have already been reported to MCS despite the
unseasonable weather, and as the UK’s seas warm up, more jellyfish
blooms are expected throughout the summer.
“Britain’s jellyfish seemed to get off to a slow start this
year, but then really picked up in May and June when we started to
receive reports of large blooms, despite the lack of summer
sunshine,” said Peter Richardson, MCS Species Policy
Officer, “Blooms of the beautiful and largely harmless moon,
blue and compass jellyfish have been reported stranded on beaches in
southern England, Wales and the west coast of Scotland.”
The MCS Jellyfish Survey aims to uncover the little-known habits of
British jellyfish, as part of a research programme to help protect
the critically endangered leatherback turtles that migrate thousands
of miles to UK waters to feed on their favourite jellyfish prey each
summer. By mapping where and when the jellyfish are seen, MCS hopes
to understand more about leatherback turtles while they visit in UK
seas.
MCS is interested in the 6 larger jellyfish and 2 jellyfish-like
species likely to be encountered around the UK coast that are known
to be leatherback prey. This year British beach-goers and sea-users
are encouraged to record their jellyfish encounters at
www.mcsuk.org,
where a free MCS jellyfish identification guide can also be
downloaded. Paper copies of the ID guide and forms are also
available on request, however MCS advises the public to take care
during the survey.
“Everyone is fascinated when they come across a jellyfish on
the beach, but its important to remember look but don’t touch, as
some species can inflict a painful sting!” said Peter
Richardson, “So long as people are careful and sensible around
jellyfish, there is no reason to panic about them blooming in our
seas.”
Over 4,000 jellyfish encounters have been reported since the MCS
Survey was launched in 2003. The survey data will be fully analysed
later this year in collaboration with the University of Exeter's
Centre for Ecology & Conservation, but initial analysis of these
public reports is already showing interesting differences in the
distribution of the 6 larger jellyfish species around Britain.
|
Jellyfish species |
Distribution |
This year’s latest
records |
Barrel
(harmless) |
Largely restricted to the
Irish Sea, Solway Firth, Firth of Clyde |
Large blooms off northwest
Wales in March, with some reports through to June. |
Lion’s Mane
(powerful sting) |
Northern seas, not usually
recorded south of the Irish Sea or Northumberland. |
Some reported in May,
started to bloom off west Wales in June |
Blue
(mild sting) |
Entire UK coast. |
Started to bloom around the
UK coast in May, continued through June. |
Compass
(mild sting) |
Entire UK coast, but with
most records from SW England and the Irish Sea |
Unusually early blooms in
South west England through June |
Moon
(harmless) |
Entire UK coast. |
Started to bloom in England
and Wales in May, with mass blooms off east and west
Scotland through June. |
Mauve stinger
(powerful sting) |
Occasionally reported from
the Channel Islands and SW England |
No UK records so far,
although large blooms reported in parts of the
Mediterranean. |
Taking part in the
survey is easy – the full-colour MCS jellyfish photo-ID guide can be
downloaded from
www.mcsuk.org where jellyfish
encounters can be reported online.
Alternatively, if beach goers
want a paper copy of the ID guide and recording forms, they are
available on request from the MCS office on 01989 566017 or
info@mcsuk.org.
Mersey Swim 07!
DO not forget
to go and watch Liverpool swimming club, who are once again in the
Mersey river for a swim on Saturday 28 July 2007.
The swim is due to
start at 10:45am from the Liverpool side of the river by the Albert
dock and will see swimmers crossing the river..... |
SEFTON COUNCIL FAILS ON ENERGY TARGETS
LOCAL councils
across the North West are struggling to bring about energy
efficiency improvements in line with government targets, says a
local Euro-MP.
Councils have to ensure that household energy efficiency levels are
raised by 2% a year if they are to meet the 2010 deadline for
improvement. But local councils are lagging behind, and according to
new government figures the majority of local authorities across the
North West are set to miss the target. Latest figures
published this month by the Department of the Environment, Fisheries
and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) show that only 12 out of 43 councils in
the North West are currently on course.
Sefton borough council has had a total energy efficiency improvement
of 15.65% since 1996. This is below the required standard; as to be
on target councils should now be achieving a 20% improvement.
The results in the region are bad news both for local householders
and for the environment, local Euro-MP Chris Davies has warned.
But Mr Davies, the Liberal Democrat spokesman on the environment in
the European Parliament, says that councils should be given greater
financial or legal incentives to take action, which would cut fuel
bills for individuals and help in the fight against global warming.
He said:- “The Government should speed up the pace by offering
significant financial rewards to those councils that meet them ahead
of schedule. Increasing energy efficiency in domestic homes is one
of the most effective ways of tackling climate change and reducing
energy demand. There are currently very little incentives for
councils to take a lead in promoting energy efficiency, and those
improvements that are being made are usually by individuals without
significant encouragement or support from councils."
The Euro-MP wants every council to put in place a 10 and 20-year
energy efficiency programme, and to set an example by ensuring that
every public building is heated and lit in the most energy efficient
manner.
The Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 requires all UK local
authorities with housing responsibilities to prepare, publish and
submit to the Secretary of State an energy conservation report
identifying energy conservation measures, which it considers
practicable, cost-effective and likely to result in a significant
improvement in the energy efficiency of all residential
accommodation in its area.
The information published this month relates to the period ending 31
March 2006. In councils marked with a star (*), the appropriate
information for the year 2005/6 is not available, so the latest
available figure has been used.
Below are the latest
DEFRA energy efficiency figures for every local council in the North
West.
Council Improvements in energy efficiency, 01/04/96 to 31/03/06
|
COUNCIL |
IMPROVEMENT |
| Allerdale Borough |
11.2% |
| Barrow-in-Furness Borough
|
16.27% |
| Blackburn with Darwen
Borough |
15.3% |
| Blackpool Borough |
16.18% |
| Bolton Metropolitan Borough |
21.9% |
| Burnley Borough |
21.1% |
| Bury Metropolitan Borough |
23.77% |
| Carlisle City |
24.11% |
| Chester City |
28.2% |
| Chorley Borough |
12.85% |
| Congleton Borough |
15.4% |
| Copeland Borough |
19.27%* |
| Crewe and Nantwich Borough |
10.42% |
| Eden District |
15.62% |
| Ellesmere Port & Neston
Borough |
18.93% |
| Fylde Borough |
12.31% |
| Halton Borough |
18.56% |
| Hyndburn Borough |
21.33% |
|
Knowsley Metropolitan
Borough |
16.05% |
| Lancaster City |
15.22% |
| Liverpool City Council |
22% |
| Macclesfield Borough |
18.2% |
| Manchester City |
19.79% |
| Oldham Metropolitan Borough |
27.89% |
| Pendle Borough |
12.22% |
| Preston Borough |
27.39% |
| Ribble Valley Borough |
13.78% |
| Rochdale Metropolitan
Borough |
15.78% |
| Rossendale Borough |
20.56% |
| Salford City |
21.63% |
| Sefton Metropolitan Borough |
15.65% |
| South Lakeland District |
15.5% |
| South Ribble Borough |
19.3% |
|
St Helens Metropolitan
Borough |
26.96% |
| Stockport Metropolitan
Borough |
12.4% |
| Tameside Metropolitan
Borough |
17.17% |
| Trafford Metropolitan
Borough |
14.87% |
| Vale Royal Borough |
16.38% |
|
Warrington Borough |
17.09% |
| West Lancashire District |
14.21% |
| Wigan Metropolitan Borough |
17.7% |
| Wirral Metropolitan Borough |
16.38% |
| Wyre Borough |
11.58% |
|
North West Average |
17.9% |
To be on target for a
30% improvement in household energy levels, councils should now be
achieving a 20% improvement from 1996. |
