Latest news with #fishing communities
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Record warm seas help to bring extraordinary new species to UK waters
The UK's seas have had their warmest start to the year since records began, helping to drive some dramatic changes in marine life and for its fishing communities. The average surface temperature of UK waters in the seven months to the end of July was more than 0.2C higher than any year since 1980, BBC analysis of provisional Met Office data suggests. That might not sound much, but the UK's seas are now considerably warmer than even a few decades ago, a trend driven by humanity's burning of fossil fuels. That is contributing to major changes in the UK's marine ecosystems, with some new species entering our seas and others struggling to cope with the heat. Scientists and amateur naturalists have observed a remarkable range of species not usually widespread in UK waters, including octopus, bluefin tuna and mauve stinger jellyfish. The abundance of these creatures can be affected by natural cycles and fishing practices, but many researchers point to the warming seas as a crucial part of their rise. "Things like jellyfish, like octopus... they are the sorts of things that you expect to respond quickly to climate change," said Dr Bryce Stewart, a senior research fellow at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth. "It's a bit like the canary in the coal mine - the sorts of quite extraordinary changes we've seen over the last few years really do indicate an ecosystem under flux," he added. Harry Polkinghorne, a keen 19-year-old angler, described how he regularly sees bluefin tuna now, including large schools of the fish in frantic feeding frenzies. "It's just like watching a washing machine in the water," he said. "You can just see loads of white water, and then tuna fins and tuna jumping out." Bluefin tuna numbers have been building over the past decade in south-west England for a number of reasons, including warmer waters and better management of their populations, Dr Stewart explained. Heather Hamilton, who snorkels off the coast of Cornwall virtually every week with her father David, has swum through large blooms of salps, a species that looks a bit like a jellyfish. They are rare in the UK, but the Hamiltons have seen more and more of these creatures in the last couple of years. "You're seeing these big chains almost glowing slightly like fairy lights", she said. "It just felt very kind of out of this world, something I've never seen before." But extreme heat, combined with historical overfishing, is pushing some of the UK's cold-adapted species like cod and wolf-fish to their limits. "We're definitely seeing this shift of cooler water species moving north in general," said Dr Stewart. Marine heatwave conditions - prolonged periods of unusually high sea surface temperatures - have been present around parts of the UK virtually all year. Some exceptional sea temperatures have also been detected by measurement buoys off the UK coast, known as WaveNet and run by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). And the record 2025 warmth comes after very high sea temperatures in 2023 and 2024 too. The Met Office says its data from the end of June 2024 to now is provisional and will be finalised in the coming months, but this usually results in only very minor changes. "All the way through the year, on average it's been warmer than we've really ever seen [for the UK's seas]," said Prof John Pinnegar, the lead adviser on climate change at Cefas. "[The seas] have been warming for over a century and we're also seeing heatwaves coming through now," he added. "What used to be quite a rare phenomenon is now becoming very, very common." Like heatwaves on land, sea temperatures are affected by natural variability and short-term weather. Clear, sunny skies with low winds – like much of the UK had in early July - can heat up the sea surface more quickly. But the world's oceans have taken up about 90% of the Earth's excess heat from humanity's emissions of planet-warming gases like carbon dioxide. That is making marine heatwaves more likely and more intense. "The main contributor to the marine heatwaves around the UK is the buildup of heat in the ocean," said Dr Caroline Rowland, head of oceans, cryosphere and climate change at the Met Office. "We predict that these events are going to become more frequent and more intense in the future" due to climate change, she added. With less of a cooling sea breeze, these warmer waters can amplify land heatwaves, and they also have the potential to bring heavier rainfall. Hotter seas are also less able to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which could mean that our planet heats up more quickly. The sea warmth is already posing challenges to fishing communities. Ben Cooper has been a fisherman in Whitstable on the north Kent coast since 1997, and relies heavily on the common whelk, a type of sea snail. But the whelk is a cold-water species, and a marine heatwave in 2022 triggered a mass die-off of these snails in the Thames Estuary. "Pretty much 75% of our earnings is through whelks, so you take that away and all of a sudden you're struggling," explained Mr Cooper. Before the latest heatwave, the whelks had started to recover but he said the losses had forced him to scale back his business. Mr Cooper recalled fishing trips with his father in the 1980s. Back then, they would rely on cod. "We lost the cod because basically the sea just got too warm. They headed further north," he said. The precise distribution of marine species varies from year to year, but researchers expect the UK's marine life to keep changing as humans continue to heat up the Earth. "The fishers might in the long term have to change the species that they target and that they catch," suggested Dr Pinnegar. "And we as consumers might have to change the species that we eat." Additional reporting by Becky Dale and Miho Tanaka A simple guide to climate change Sharks and oysters set to thrive in warmer UK waters UK sea temperatures soar after exceptionally warm spring Intense Med Sea heatwave raises fears for marine life Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to keep up with the latest climate and environment stories with the BBC's Justin Rowlatt. Outside the UK? Sign up to our international newsletter here.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Record warm seas help to bring extraordinary species to UK waters
The UK's seas have had their warmest start to the year since records began, helping to drive some dramatic changes in marine life and for its fishing average surface temperature of UK waters in the seven months to the end of July was more than 0.2C higher than any year since 1980, BBC analysis of provisional Met Office data might not sound much, but the UK's seas are now considerably warmer than even a few decades ago, a trend driven by humanity's burning of fossil is contributing to major changes in the UK's marine ecosystems, with some new species entering our seas and others struggling to cope with the heat. Scientists and amateur naturalists have observed a remarkable range of species not usually widespread in UK waters, including octopus, bluefin tuna and mauve stinger abundance of these creatures can be affected by natural cycles and fishing practices, but many researchers point to the warming seas as a crucial part of their rise."Things like jellyfish, like octopus... they are the sorts of things that you expect to respond quickly to climate change," said Dr Bryce Stewart, a senior research fellow at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth."It's a bit like the canary in the coal mine - the sorts of quite extraordinary changes we've seen over the last few years really do indicate an ecosystem under flux," he Polkinghorne, a keen 19-year-old angler, described how he regularly sees bluefin tuna now, including large schools of the fish in frantic feeding frenzies."It's just like watching a washing machine in the water," he said. "You can just see loads of white water, and then tuna fins and tuna jumping out." Bluefin tuna numbers have been building over the past decade in south-west England for a number of reasons, including warmer waters and better management of their populations, Dr Stewart Hamilton, who snorkels off the coast of Cornwall virtually every week with her father David, has swum through large blooms of salps, a species that looks a bit like a are rare in the UK, but the Hamiltons have seen more and more of these creatures in the last couple of years."You're seeing these big chains almost glowing slightly like fairy lights", she said. "It just felt very kind of out of this world, something I've never seen before." But extreme heat, combined with historical overfishing, is pushing some of the UK's cold-adapted species like cod and wolf-fish to their limits."We're definitely seeing this shift of cooler water species moving north in general," said Dr heatwave conditions - prolonged periods of unusually high sea surface temperatures - have been present around parts of the UK virtually all exceptional sea temperatures have also been detected by measurement buoys off the UK coast, known as WaveNet and run by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).And the record 2025 warmth comes after very high sea temperatures in 2023 and 2024 Met Office says its data from the end of June 2024 to now is provisional and will be finalised in the coming months, but this usually results in only very minor changes. "All the way through the year, on average it's been warmer than we've really ever seen [for the UK's seas]," said Prof John Pinnegar, the lead adviser on climate change at Cefas."[The seas] have been warming for over a century and we're also seeing heatwaves coming through now," he added."What used to be quite a rare phenomenon is now becoming very, very common."Like heatwaves on land, sea temperatures are affected by natural variability and short-term weather. Clear, sunny skies with low winds – like much of the UK had in early July - can heat up the sea surface more the world's oceans have taken up about 90% of the Earth's excess heat from humanity's emissions of planet-warming gases like carbon is making marine heatwaves more likely and more intense."The main contributor to the marine heatwaves around the UK is the buildup of heat in the ocean," said Dr Caroline Rowland, head of oceans, cryosphere and climate change at the Met Office."We predict that these events are going to become more frequent and more intense in the future" due to climate change, she added. With less of a cooling sea breeze, these warmer waters can amplify land heatwaves, and they also have the potential to bring heavier seas are also less able to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which could mean that our planet heats up more sea warmth is already posing challenges to fishing Cooper has been a fisherman in Whitstable on the north Kent coast since 1997, and relies heavily on the common whelk, a type of sea the whelk is a cold-water species, and a marine heatwave in 2022 triggered a mass die-off of these snails in the Thames Estuary."Pretty much 75% of our earnings is through whelks, so you take that away and all of a sudden you're struggling," explained Mr Cooper. Before the latest heatwave, the whelks had started to recover but he said the losses had forced him to scale back his Cooper recalled fishing trips with his father in the 1980s. Back then, they would rely on cod."We lost the cod because basically the sea just got too warm. They headed further north," he precise distribution of marine species varies from year to year, but researchers expect the UK's marine life to keep changing as humans continue to heat up the Earth."The fishers might in the long term have to change the species that they target and that they catch," suggested Dr Pinnegar."And we as consumers might have to change the species that we eat." Additional reporting by Becky Dale and Miho Tanaka Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to keep up with the latest climate and environment stories with the BBC's Justin Rowlatt. Outside the UK? Sign up to our international newsletter here.
The Independent
24-07-2025
- The Independent
Sri Lankan court orders owners of container ship to pay $1 billion in marine pollution compensation
Sri Lanka's top court on Thursday ordered the owners of a Singapore-flagged container ship that sank near its capital to pay $1 billion in compensation to the island nation's government for causing the most severe marine environment catastrophe in the country's history. The container ship MV X-Press Peal, which was carrying chemicals, sank off Colombo in June, 2021 after catching fire. The Supreme Court said the incident caused 'unprecedented devastation to the marine environment of Sri Lanka' and harmed the country's economy, especially the lives of the fishing communities. Judges said the disaster led to the death of 417 turtles, 48 dolphins, eight whales and a large number of fish species that washed ashore after the incident. Debris from the ship, including several tons of plastic pellets used to make plastic bags, caused severe pollution on beaches. 'This marine environmental disaster constitutes the largest recorded marine plastic spill in the world,' the judgement said. 'It resulted in the widespread release of toxic and hazardous substances into the marine environment, poisoning ocean waters, killing marine species, and destructing phytoplankton." Due to the severe marine pollution, the government imposed a fishing ban for well over a year, depriving fishermen of their income and livelihood. The incident "continues to cause destruction and harm to Sri Lanka's marine environment,' said the judgement, signed by five supreme court judges. The judgement was given against the X-Press Pearl group that included ship's registered owner, EOS Ro Pte. Limited, and other charterers. All are based in Singapore. An agent in Sri Lanka, Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd., was also named. The court said it has sufficient reasons to hold that X-Press Pearl group 'should be held accountable and liable under the Polluter Pays Principle for the pollution caused by the MV X-Press Pearl vessel.' It said the owner, operators and local agent of the ship were all liable for the payment of compensation, which should be used to restore and protect the affected marine and coastal environment. There was no immediate comment on the judgement from the owner or agent of the vessel. The court ruling came after several parties, including environment campaigners and fisher rights groups, filed litigation seeking compensation.
