April 2000
Research by scientists in America show that it will take 10 million years for the Earth to recover from the damage we've caused. Mans destructive impact on the planet is as severe as any mass extinction in it's history, including the asteroid collision that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Experts conclude that the effects of hunting, farming, population growth, pollution and the devastation caused to the environment is as severe as any previous disaster to befall the planet. Man has wiped out thousands of species in just a few thousand years, in New Zealand alone, the arrival of humans a 1000 years ago destroyed 50%' of the native species in a few decades. The scientists research shows that if we let many species go extinct, we risk biologically impoverishing the world for the entire probable future of the human species. No one knows how many species are alive today, so it is impossible to estimate how many are being lost, but with the destruction of biologically diverse areas such as rainforests, coral reefs and temperate marshlands - thousands or even millions of animal and plant species are silently disappearing. Man is a Global Disaster, even if humans were to disappear from Earth overnight it would take 10 million years for the planet to recover. When Pete Coram and colleagues were returning from a dive on Sat. 18th March the crew noticed ahead, as they were passing St Loy Bay SW2423, a disturbance in the sea with dolphins jumping and birds excitedly screaming overhead, altering course slightly to get a closer view they soon realised the situation. The dolphins had herded a shoal of fish, thought to be small mackerel, into a tight circle and the sea seemed to he boiling as the fish were jumping, the dolphins were taking turns to swoop in for a feast. Pete did not recognise the species but as the maximum size was about 6fi and some were as small as 2fi they were probably Common Dolphins. The crew enjoyed the spectacle for about 20 minutes. Earlier in the month another feeding frenzy was observed off Tintagel, on Monday 3rd a closer examination of a disturbance in the water revealed several large fish about 3 to 4 ft long feeding on a shoal of smaller fish at the surface which had been tightly encircled. The species was not recognized by the observer but it could possibly have been Spur Dog, Squalus acanthias a small shark which normally lives and feeds near the bottom of the sea down to as much as 500 fathoms but occasionally come to the surface to feed on schooling fish such as herring, sprat, pilchard and sand eels. They get their name from the spine or spur in front of each of it's two dorsal fins. Some of them were observed to streak away from the scene leaving a white wake while others stayed to feed. Risso's Dolphins were seen off Cain Gloose around the Brisons Rocks and off the Minack Cliff Theatre on the 4th of March. Porpoises were seen along the south Penwith coast every day except one from 12th to 18th of the month and again on the 29th. one more Basking Shark has been seen this time off Mousehole and the Bottlenose Dolphins have been seen in the Helford River and Coverack Bay areas . Benty' 5 pod of 5 seems to have gained a new member, and number 6 has a white patch near to the tip of its dorsal. The most often seen dolphin has been the Common Dolphin and in quite large numbers ,pod sizes have ranged from 20 to 80. As well as many seal carcasses turning on the beaches there have been 69 dolphin carcasses of various species, mainly Commons, washed up on the beaches of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.
Conservation Officer: Raymond Dennis