News and views from the world of marine heritage and conservation
Swedish wreck puzzle
Bird flu spreads to UK seals
Humpbacks enthral in Cornwall
ENVIRONMENT
Protect Our Seas
News and views from the world of marine heritage and conservation
Swedish wreck puzzle
A 15th-century shipwreck off the coast of Sweden may be Scandinavia’ s oldest shipwreck built in the innovative‘ carvel’ style, a design that gave vessels the strength to carry heavy cannons. The wreck at Landfjärden, south of Stockholm, is one of five in the area that have been known since the 1800s. Last year, maritime archaeologists at Vrak, the museum of wrecks in Stockholm, revealed that four of the wrecks date to the 1600s and 1700s and that the oldest of them was built as early as the 1460s.
Bird flu spreads to UK seals
Experts have raised fears for the seals at England’ s largest colony, after four were found to have died after having been infected with bird flu. Government scientists are investigating to find out whether the seals died after scavenging from the corpses of infected birds. Four seals on the north Norfolk coast were found dead on the shoreline and tested positive for bird flu. Two of these were at Blakeney Point, home to the largest seal colony in England with about 4,000 pups born each year. The highly infectious variant of H5N1 is estimated to have killed millions of wild birds since 2021, and has spread to mammals and caused mass die-offs in sea lions and elephant seal pups.
PHOTO: JIM HANSSON
Humpbacks enthral in Cornwall
Humpback whale sightings off the south coast of England have“ gone through the roof”, a wildlife charity has said. Bex Allen, from Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said monthly surveys show an increased number of the ocean mammals which she called“ one of the greatest recovery stories”. People are now travelling from all over the UK to catch a glimpse of the stunning mammals off the Cornish coast, in Newquay. Cornwall Wildlife Trust said it had confirmed sightings of at least five whales across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. In March, two humpbacks were swimming around Newquay, with hundreds of people gathering at Bedruthan Steps( a popular viewpoint near the sea) to see them.
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