News and views from the world of marine heritage and conservation
Avian flu hits elephant seals
Great Yarmouth’ s wreck heritage
Korean wreck reveals secrets
Orcas teach‘ demo and mimic’
ENVIRONMENT
Protect Our Seas
News and views from the world of marine heritage and conservation
A painting of the Gloucester running aground in 1682
Avian flu hits elephant seals
The Australian Antarctic Division( AAD) has evacuated its research station on a remote sub-Antarctic island for fear that a highly pathogenic strain of avian flu will soon reach its shores. The risk to human health on Macquarie Island – located in the Southern Ocean midway between Australia and Antarctica – is low, the agency said when announcing the move last week. But the virus could wipe out thousands of southern elephant seal pups born on beaches next to the station, and there is concern that witnessing mass deaths will impact the mental health of the researchers.
Great Yarmouth’ s wreck heritage
The University of East Anglia( UEA) has been awarded £ 249,776 to create digitallyenhanced heritage walks focusing on one of Great Yarmouth’ s most important shipwrecks. The project will attempt to bring to life the loss of the Gloucester warship off the town’ s coast in 1682. The vessel ran aground on some sandbanks, nearly killing the Duke of York, who went on to become King James II of England. Funding was secured by the university from the National Heritage Lottery Fund. The shipwreck was first discovered by Norfolk divers Julian Barnwell, Lincoln Barnwell and James Little in 2007.
Korean wreck reveals secrets
Researchers studying a 14th-century shipwreck off the coast of South Korea have deciphered inscriptions carved into its valuable cargo. The findings include examples of the Yuan dynasty’ s‘ Phags-pa’ script and a numbering system based on the Thousand Character Classic. The discoveries come from the Sinan shipwreck, a trading vessel that sank in 1323 while sailing from China towards Japan. Excavated off the southwestern coast of South Korea between 1976 and 1984, the wreck yielded tens of thousands of ceramics, coins and other objects, providing exceptional evidence for maritime commerce between China and Japan.
Markings in‘ Phags-pa’ script provide insights into historic trade
Orcas teach‘ demo and mimic’
A new study into orca behaviour off Spain looks at disruptive behaviour in which the Iberian orcas bump and disable boats. The phenomenon is thought to date back to 2018, since when the orcas have damaged hundreds of vessels. The study places an emphasis on the cetaceans’ imitative learning. Researchers say the orcas learn the copy command‘ do that’ very quickly, subsequently copying 100 per cent of the demonstrator’ s actions.“ In our
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