MRI Newsletter - Coastal Notes 2008

Click on the headings to read the full Coastal Notes....

Coastal Notes 22 April 2008
Where would you find fathers who gestate their young, mothers who keep their babies in their mouths, or parents who do back flips to ensure their offspring’s safety? The answer – in water ... 

Coastal Notes 8 April 2008
Good communication is something we take very much for granted these days; whether on land or sea it’s usually possible to maintain a link with the rest of the world.  Mountain tops or open seas are no barrier – remember Ellen McArthur’s daily reports on her epic round the world race.  We were able to see, hear and almost feel her exhaustion, her exhilaration, her good days and her bad days ...

Coastal Notes 18 March 2008
Many people will remember the frantic efforts to save the Northern bottle nosed whale that found herself well up the River Thames a couple of years ago.  Despite getting the creature onto a barge and transporting her gently downriver back towards the sea, she died before she could be returned to her natural habitat ...

Coastal Notes 5 March 2008
Can you imagine the impact on marine safety if every rescue facility around the coastline of Scotland were suddenly to disappear?  No lifeboats, SAR helicopters, lighthouses, radar, GPS, coastguards, navigation lights and buoys, telephony, not even lifejackets ...

Coastal Notes 12 February 2008
The commercial exploitation of sharks only really started after the end of World War 1. Prior to that, it had mainly been a localised coastal market because of the difficulties in keeping it fresh. Shark meat goes off very quickly without ice or refrigeration, so it tended to have  a strong smell and taste due to improper handling ...

Coastal Notes 29 January 2008
For all their size barnacles are a real pest - they fix themselves to just about anything that spends time in sea water, including ships.  The glue that they use to stick onto their unwitting hosts is strong enough to stick to Teflon ...

Coastal Notes 16 January 2008
Who doesn’t have a favourite moment from the BBC’s Para Handy series, whether it was the original Duncan McCrae version, the definitive Roddy McMillan or the later Gregor Fisher. All told the tales of the crew of the puffer ‘Vital Spark’, and  her captain, Para Handy,  as they chugged their way around the Clyde and the West Coast islands, carrying cargoes ranging from coffins to coal, margarine to mousetraps ...

 

 

[To see Coastal Notes for 2007, click here.]
[To see Coastal Notes for 2006, click here.]
[To see Coastal Notes for 2005, click here.]
[To see Coastal Notes for 2003 and 2004, click here.]

 

Page updated: 23 April, 2008

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