Tell us what the storms brought-in

From Keith Hiscock

‘The severe easterly gales last week greatly damaged infrastructure and personal possessions (much loved boats etc.) but also washed-out a diversity of species that had been present in the shallow seas. The same sort of wash-outs happened in spring 2014 and I brought together observations from south-west England especially (‘After the storms’. Porcupine Marine Natural History Society Bulletin, 2, 45-48.)

There are several personal videos popping-up on Facebook that reveal a great diversity of species on the Yorkshire coast and, well, lots of common starfish from the Thanet coast. There are records of wash-outs from Torcross in south Devon and no doubt other locations. Species that burrow deep into the sediment (otter shells, razor fish, sea cucumbers) have been washed out indicating the destructive force of waves on the seabed. One video, by Nicolas Eogan (from the UK cephalopods reports Facebook page), has the variety of species lined-up on a seawall rather like one of those ‘identify with reasons’ tests at college. There are a very large number of curled octopus in that video.

The video and still images by Bex Lynam show a great variety of species and have been particularly widely shared. Bex indicates ‘this was filmed at Fraisthorpe on the Holderness coast and extends down to Barmston at least’.

The story of lobsters washed-up on the Yorkshire coast is interesting, not least because their potential loss affects livelihoods. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-43283608/dead-starfish-and-lobsters-washed-up-on-beaches.

Otter shells seem to be particularly affected and certainly make the news (and most likely the cooking pot): https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/bizarre-phenomenon-following-storm-emma-1298672.

We can learn from such events – not only the diversity (or lack of it) in shallow seas – but storm damage gives a context to assessing impacts from human activities. So, who has been listing what the storms brought-in or has images to share? I feel another summary report coming-on. ‘

Do contact me. Keith Hiscock khis@mba.ac.uk

Nicholas Eogan: https://www.facebook.com/nicholas.eogan/videos/10204364153100506/

Richard Harrington MCS News: https://www.mcsuk.org/news/winter-storms-2018