INSHORE CORAL REEF DISCOVERED IN SCOTLAND SEE PAGE 8 March | 05

ISB

N 1

475-7

214SAMS

The Scottish Association for Marine Science | NEWSLETTER 29

NEW SAMSLABORATORY

OPENED!

The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 2902

diarycontents

030506

070810

1112

Des

igne

d by

Des

ign

Link

s E

dinb

urgh

/ G

lasg

ow

The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)is a Scottish charity (est. 1884), learned society, and company limited by guarantee committed toimprove understanding and stewardship of themarine environment, through research, education,maintenance of facilities and technology transfer.SAMS is a Collaborative Centre of the NaturalEnvironment Research Council, and hosts theNational Facility for Scientific Diving, and the CultureCollection of Algae and Protozoa. It is an academicpartner in UHI Millennium Institute under whoseauspices SAMS delivers the BSc (Hons) MarineScience, and trains ca 25 PhD students.

As the owner and operator of the DunstaffnageMarine Laboratory - three miles north of Oban -SAMS is an internationally renowned marine researchestablishment currently employing over 120 staff. Ourresearch activities encompass the entire breadth ofmarine science. SAMS focuses much of its scientificactivities on multidisciplinary research questions fromScottish coastal waters to the Arctic Ocean.

SAMS is funded by an agreement with the NaturalEnvironment Research Council for its Northern SeasProgramme, by commissioned research for otherpublic and private organisations, and by donationsand subscriptions from its ca 600 members. SAMSoperates SAMS Research Services Ltd, which deliversSAMS’ commercial activities including the EuropeanCentre for Marine Biotechnology and Seas@SAMS,and SAMS Ardtoe, an aquaculture research unit.

Views expressed in this Newsletter are the views of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SAMS.

CoastNET ConferenceCoastal Spatial Strategies15 March 2005University of Gent, BelgiumEmail: lucy@coastnet.org.ukwww.coastnet.org.uk

SAMS Open Evening4 April 2005, 5.30 – 8.00 pmSAMS, Obanwww.sams.ac.uk

Official OpeningEuropean Centre for MarineBiotechnologyBaroness Susan Greenfield CBE5 April 2005SAMS, ObanInvitation only

Scottish Marine GroupPostgraduate Marine Science Research Topics6 April 2005, 10 am – 4 pmThe Bute Medical BuildingSt Andrews UniversityContact: j.m.mair@hw.ac.uk

Biological Recording In Scotland Recording & Monitoring theMarine and Coastal Habitat 9 April 2005The Bute Medical BuildingSt Andrews Universitywww.brisc.org.uk

LaunchSealice report11 April 2005SAMS, ObanEmail: kenny.black@sams.ac.uk

Aquaculture Today 200513-14 April 2005Edinburgh Mariott Hotelwww.aquaculturetoday.co.uk

2nd European Forum of YoungOceanographers 11-13 May 2005Wimereux, FranceEmail: uof@oceano.org

GLOBEC SymposiumClimate Variability and Sub-Arctic Marine Ecosystems 16-20 May 2005Victoria, Canadawww.pml.ac.uk/globecEmail: globec@pml.ac.uk

Palaeoclimate Change: HighLattitudes and Ocean Circulation 2-3 June 2005Geological Society of Londonwww.nerc.ac.uk/funding/earthsci/iodpconference.shtml

GLOBEC, IMBER, SCOR, GEOHAB, NERC & CASIXAdvances in Marine EcosystemModelling Research 27-29 June 2005 Plymouth Marine Laboratorywww.amemr.info/

6th International CrustaceanCongress 200518-22 July 2005University of Glasgowwww.gla.ac.uk/icc6E-mail: icc6@bio.gla.ac.uk

SAMS MembershipOrdinary: anyone interested in

marine science.Subscription - £12

Student: any person under 18, orregistered students at HigherEducation Institutes.Subscription - £5

Corporate: organisations interested insupporting marine science. Subscription - £60

Unwaged: anyone without a regularwage. Subscription - £5

For further information and application materialsplease contact the company secretary Mrs ElaineWalton (Elaine.Walton@sams.ac.uk).

EditorDr Anuschka Miller

SAMS, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory,Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA, UK

Tel 01631 559300Fax 01631 559001

Email anuschka.miller@sams.ac.uk

To keep up-to-date on events at SAMS,please visit our website:

www.sams.ac.uk

PresidentProfessor Sir John P Arbuthnott

Vice PresidentsDr Ian J Graham-Bryce Professor Sir Frederick HollidayProfessor Alasdair D McIntyre Sir David Smith Dr John H Steele Professor Sir William StewartProfessor S A Thorpe

Council (Board of Directors)Mr W H S Balfour Professor I L BoydProfessor M J CowlingMrs M M CrawfordDr A C GoodladDr A MacKenzieDr R ScruttonProfessor J SprentDr P ThompsonMr R A ThwaitesMr I Townend(Observers: Dr P Newton Dr J Howarth)

Board MembersProfessor R. CormackProfessor R. CroftsLord Strathcona

DirectorProfessor Graham B. Shimmield

SAMS BoardAbout SAMS

SAMS news

Opening of the new SAMS laboratory

The life and work of William Speirs Bruce

Of otters and fish farms

Coral reef found in Scottish waters

Studying sea urchins

Is marine management a myth?

Scientific diving

Front cover: The new SAMS laboratory was opened on 6 April 2004 by HRH The Princess Royal. © Colin Griffiths, SAMS

What a year it’s been! Since I last wrotethis column, SAMS has expandedsignificantly, both our infrastructure, and our activities.

NEW DUNSTAFFNAGE MARINELABORATORY BUILDING

At the beginning of 2004 all staff movedtheir offices and laboratories from the old1960s facility into the new, purpose-builtlaboratory building at Dunstaffnage. Wecelebrated this new phase in the longhistory of SAMS on 6th April 2004 with agrand opening event attended by HRHThe Princess Royal alongside around 80dignitaries from academia, politics,business and the local community. Weshare some of the highlights of the daywith you in the picture diary on page 5 of this Newsletter.

On the day, we dedicated the new SAMSconference room to William Speirs Bruce,Scotland’s great pioneering marine polarscientist and leader of the Scottish NationalAntarctic Expedition. The increasing focusat SAMS on polar research, especiallyNorthern Seas, made this dedication toBruce, whose achievements have onlyrecently started to receive the recognitionthey deserve, very appropriate. We werefortunate that in Sir Wally Herbert we hadanother polar explorer among our guests,who – on the 25th anniversary of his ownreaching the North Pole on foot – made

the dedication. Bruce’s biography issummarised on page 6.

SAMS ARDTOE LTD

SAMS has further expanded by taking on a second site. Thanks to support fromLochaber Enterprise, the Highland Council,Highlands & Islands Enterprise, and theSea Fish Industry Authority, SAMS couldacquire the Ardtoe Marine Farming Unitfrom Seafish in late October 2003. Ardtoeis now managed as a SAMS subsidiaryunder the name of SAMS Ardtoe Ltd.

For many years Ardtoe researchersincluding Drs Jim Treasurer and Chris Cutts have been at the forefront of thedevelopment of halibut and later codrearing in the UK. The first farmed haddockin Europe was grown at Ardtoe, andArdtoe staff pursue projects on fish feedand nutrition. As a world leader in marine

species culture with first class facilities,Ardtoe complements much of the workdone at SAMS, and the two organisationshad been collaborating over many years.At a time when wild fish stocks are underintense pressure, research into rearingfinfish in cultivation is of importance bothto the environment and to the people ofScotland. At SAMS we are happy that wewere in a position to contribute to thecontinued survival of the excellent facilityand research at Ardtoe.

Dr Kenny Black from SAMS is actingdirector of SAMS Ardtoe, and togetherwith the staff at Ardtoe is developing aworld-class facility for fundamental andapplied research in fish biology andenvironmental interactions. Research onthe cultivation of marine finfish speciescontinues. The three most recentresearchers to join Ardtoe, Drs Ben Wilson, Dave Schoeman and Tim Atack,significantly widen the research portfolio. I would like to use this opportunity towarmly welcome all Ardtoe staff – new andold – to SAMS, and to thank them for theirgreat enthusiasm.

The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29 03

Dr Anuschka Miller, EDITOR

I suppose all of us involved with marinescience ponder from time to time whetherwhat we do is of any value beyond thatmost noble human pursuit of gainingknowledge and understanding of ournatural world. The importance of animproved understanding of the sea hasrecently become clear when tsunamidisaster struck the coasts surrounding the Indian Ocean without warning. Therelevance of marine science research is also reflected in the many advances inexploiting natural marine resources – and the dilemma of not being equallyadequate at managing this exploitation

sustainably. In the annual Newth lecture ‘Is marine management a myth’?,summarised on page 11, Dr Phil Williamsonargues for an ecosystem-based approachas our best option for improvedmanagement of our much pressuredfisheries resources.

It has been over a year since the last SAMS Newsletter was published, and I should like to thank all members for their patience. The delay was due to such positive developments as moving into a grand new building and my joy ofbecoming a mother for the first time…

But we shall make it up to you this year – the next issue is already in production!

Dear SAMS member

SAMSnewsProfessor Graham B. Shimmield, DIRECTOR

< Pictured left: SAMS Director, Professor GrahamShimmield, and Seafish Chief Executive, John Rutherford, agree the transfer ofownership of the Ardtoe SustainableMariculture Research Unit to SAMS thanks to a package of support from LochaberEnterprise, the Highland Council, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, and Seafish.

04 The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29

SAMSnews CONT.

FIRST HONOURS GRADUATES

Education is a major component of theSAMS mission, and has played animportant role throughout the 121 years of SAMS history. But never before was the Association as active as now incontributing to the education of the nextgeneration of marine scientists.

The development of Scotland’s onlyhonours degree course in marine sciencecame to a successful conclusion with thefirst cohort of honours students graduatingat the SAMS Annual General Meeting inNovember 2004. The external examiners,an invaluable source of advice and supportin the quality assurance of the degreeprogramme, were very complimentaryabout the knowledge and skills of ‘our’graduates. The success is a tribute to thecommitment and hard work of the courseleader, Dr Keith Davidson, and the core

lecturing team. But as the vast majority ofSAMS staff are actively involved withteaching and supporting the degreeprogramme, the high quality of the courseis an achievement all staff can be proud of.

The presence of a significant number ofboth undergraduate and postgraduatestudents has significantly rejuvenated theatmosphere and style at SAMS, and keepsus all on our toes…

SEAS@SAMS

For many years Dr Tom Pearson and John Blackstock had operated theenvironmental consultancy SEAS Ltd fromDunstaffnage Marine Laboratory. Whenthey retired, we welcomed the remainingSEAS staff as new colleagues, and added‘Seas@SAMS’ to our growing portfolio ofcommercial activities. Seas@SAMS, with itssignificant expertise and good reputation

in benthic taxonomy, continues to conductbenthic surveys and coastal environmentalimpact assessments – from projectmanagement, field surveys and advisoryroles through to taxonomic analysis,training and reporting. The customer basehad previously been restricted to theaquaculture industry and the regulatorysector, but with the added resource andskills base available within SAMS,Seas@SAMS may now additional be in aposition to offer its services to the oil andgas industry, the offshore wind energysector, and port authorities.

FAREWELL AND WELCOME!

Since the last Newsletter two of SAMS’most outstanding scientists, Dr JohnGordon, leader of the deep-sea fishgroup, and Professor John Gage, leader of the deep-sea benthos group, tookretirement. Both had been with theorganisation as Research Fellows for manyyears, and much of the long-standingreputation of SAMS has been built on thepioneering work of ‘the two Johns’. Anydeep-sea biologist will be familiar withtheir work in pelagic and benthic biology,and it is not possible for me to convey thegratitude of the organisation for theirdecades of service in a few words here.

Fortunately, both have accepted Honorary Fellowships from SAMS and willcontinue their work. Being freed from thedemands of institutional administrationand management makes retirement arather enticing prospect…

We also warmly welcome Dr JulianOvernell and Dr Tom Pearson as SAMSHonorary Fellows. ●

NEW SAMS PRESIDENT

The significant developments at SAMS overthe last years have been directed by ahighly dynamic Council team led for thepast four years by Dr Ian Graham-Bryce. Inthe name of all staff at Dunstaffnage andArdtoe I would like to express my sincerestgratitude to Ian for the clear leadershipwith which he steered SAMS through amost turbulent time into a brighter future.At the last AGM, Ian stood down asPresident to now join the illustrious ranks of SAMS Vice-Presidents.

Our new President is Professor Sir John Arbuthnott, former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University ofStrathclyde and current Chairman of the Greater Glasgow NHS Board. Sir John’s understanding of management in academia and public service willundoubtedly be of great benefit to SAMSwhen we will further consolidate ourrelationships with the NERC, SHEFC andthe Scottish Executive in our bid tobecome one of the leading centres formarine science in Europe. ●

The new SAMS President,Professor Sir John Arbuthnott

The first two honours graduates, Louise Wilson and Daniel Vincent, receive their BSc (Hons) Marine Sciencecertificates from SAMS President Dr Ian Graham-Bryce during his last official function. © L Robb

The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29 05

Dr Anuschka Miller, SAMSImages by Colin Griffiths, SAMS

HRH The Princess Royal iswelcomed by SAMS DirectorProfessor Graham Shimmield. In thebackground are the Lord Lieutenant for Argyllshire, Mr Kenneth AMacKinnon, and his wife Clare.

William S Bruce’s biographer,Peter Speak from the Scott PolarResearch Institute, delivers akeynote lecture on the life andwork of Bruce.

The Princess is introduced tosome of the SAMS staff andvisitors in the foyer – and lateragain in the café – of the newlaboratory.

The Princess declares the new SAMSlaboratory building open.

During a tour of the new laboratoryThe Princess Royal meets a number ofSAMS scientists and students – herethe leader of the marine physics groupDr Mark Inall.

Opening of the new SAMS laboratory building6 APRIL 2004 BY HRH THE PRINCESS ROYAL

Dr Mark Hart (left) tells the Princessabout latest developments in marinemolecular biology and biotechnology.Earlier Christine Campbell (centre) of therecently re-united Culture Collection ofAlgae and Protozoa showed the PrincessEurope’s largest algal collection.

On the 25th anniversary of his reachingthe North Pole, polar explorer Sir Wally Herbert dedicates the SAMSconference room to Scotland’s mosteminent polar scientist and explorer,William Speirs Bruce.

The Director of SAMS expresses his gratitudeto the Princess Royal for her endorsement ofthe new developments. To the right of thePrincess are SAMS President Dr Ian Graham-Bryce, his wife Elisabeth, and SAMS DeputyDirector Dr Ken Jones.

The Princess Royal, in conversationwith SAMS President Dr IanGraham-Bryce, leaves SAMS with her protocol party after a 105 minute visit.

HRH in discussion with SAMS UHI PhDstudents Jennifer Beaumont and JoseGonzales Vecino about undertakingpostgraduate research at SAMS. Earlier Dr Axel Miller (2nd right) had spoken about the BSc (Hons) Marine Science degree.

06 The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29

BRUCE’S EARLY YEARS

Bruce was born in 1867 in London into awealthy middle-class family of Scottishdescent. After an unremarkable childhood, heacquired his life-long passions for naturalhistory and Scotland as a 20-year-oldfreshman during biology courses at theScottish Marine Station in Granton. Studyingmedicine at the University of Edinburgh, in hisspare time he assisted John Murray, editor of the Challenger expedition reports, inanalysing biological and geological samplesfrom the first oceanographic expedition. Helater also proof-read and compiled scientificreports. As a consequence the young Brucemet many of the leading natural scientists ofthe time, and gained experience inconducting and reporting research.

Bruce never finished his medical studies. In1892 he joined a commercial whalingexpedition to the Antarctic as naturalist andsurgeon. At that time the interior and muchof the coastline of continental Antarcticawere entirely unknown. While the commercialnature of the expedition meant that hereturned with scant data and few biologicalsamples, he still published his first paper, andwas hooked on polar exploration: “The tasteI have had has made me ravenous.”

After a year as meteorologist at the BenNevis Observatory, Bruce joined the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition in 1896 surveyingZemlya Frantsa-losifa. The following year thewealthy textile manufacturer, Major AndrewCoats, recruited Bruce as naturalist on apleasure cruise to Novaya Zemlya. Whenmeeting Prince Albert of Monaco, owner ofthe finest oceanographic research vessels ofits time, the Princess Alice, Bruce was invitedto join the team of outstanding scientists on a hydrographic survey to Spitsbergen.Returning on the Princess Alice toSpitsbergen in 1899 for more detailedhydrographic surveying, Bruce was in chargeof salinity and plankton measurements, and –when the ship ran aground near Bruce Point– for the safety of the crew and equipment at

an emergency shore camp. This, his 5th polarexpedition marks the end of Bruce’s time asan apprentice polar scientist.

THE SCOTTISH NATIONALANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

On his return Bruce applied to join the BritishNational Antarctic Expedition under CaptainScott onboard Discovery (1901-1904), but wasignored by Sir Clements Markham, originatorof the expedition and President of the RoyalGeographical Society. Bruce thus began toplan leading a separate Scottish NationalAntarctic Expedition. Antarctic expeditionsfrom Germany and Sweden coincided with thetwo British voyages, but explored differentlocations and had complementary objectives.

Financed by the Coats family, the 35-year-oldBruce purchased a Norwegian sealer, had it converted into an ice-strengthenedoceanographic ship, and renamed it Scotia.He hired 26 experienced crew and sixseasoned scientists. They departed fromTroon on 2 November 1902. Two books detail the voyage1, 2, and the names Scotia Sea, Scotia Ridge, and Coats Landcommemorate the two-year voyage. Someof the highlights of the expedition were:• the founding of a meteorological station on

Laurie Island, which is today Antarctica’slongest permanently occupied base

• the detailed mapping of Laurie Island

• the first oceanographic exploration of thesouth-eastern Weddell Sea, reaching74°01'S 22°00'W

• the discovery of Coats Land

• the production of some of the earliest cine film & sound recording of Antarctica

Bruce’s team was sufficiently experienced -and perhaps lucky - not to suffer themisfortune of their ship becoming trapped in ice over winter. Careful planning,experience and good leadership will alsohave limited the death toll to just one man,chief engineer Alan Ramsey, who died from heart problems.

On 21 July 1904, after a 53,000 km round trip, the Scotia returned to Millport to awelcome party, and a congratulatorymessage from the King.

To retain, study, catalogue and display thevast collection and publish the results fromthe expedition, Bruce founded the ScottishOceanographic Laboratory in Edinburgh in1907. Unfortunately, only half the expeditionresults were ever published as Bruce couldnot meet all the costs of publishing.

Bruce’s plans for a second Antarcticexpedition to the Weddell Sea and a trans-antarctic trip remained unfulfilled, as the funding was instead awarded toShackleton’s ill-fated Endurance expedition.

SPITSBERGEN

If he could not explore the Antarctic, then theArctic was his next choice. He undertook sixmore expeditions to Spitsbergen between1906 and 1919. He became involved with thecoal mining development of the area,claimed mining rights, but handed them overto the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate in 1908.

Returning from his last trip to Spitsbergen in1920, Bruce was exhausted and died on 21October 1921. His ashes were scattered inthe Southern Ocean.

The Bruce biography3 by Peter Speak is arecommended read for further details.

References1 Bruce WS (1992) ‘The log of the Scotia Expedition,1902-1904’ (Editor P Speak), Edinburgh University Press

2 Rudmose Brown RN, Pirie JH, and Mossman RC (2002)The voyage of the Scotia. Mercat Press Ltd., Edinburgh

3 Speak P (2003) William Speirs Bruce. NMS Publishing

Academia’s polar hero finally recognisedTHE LIFE AND WORK OF WILLIAM SPEIRS BRUCE (1867 - 1921)Dr Anuschka Miller, SAMS

William Speirs Bruce was an oceanographer, polar scientist, and explorer of prolific activity and success, who conducted 11 Arctic and 2 Antarctic expeditions,chartered much unknown territory, published scores of papers, and sacrificed whatlittle money he had in the pursuit of polar science. Despite that until recently he wasdenied the iconic status awarded to other polar explorers like Captain Scott, RoaldAmundsen, Ernest Shackleton, and Fridtjof Nansen. Now, SAMS has dedicated itsnew conference room to the memory of this inspirational Scottish polar scientist.

William Speirs Bruce was ‘a man who had more that a little of the stuff that heroes aremade of, a man who did great things with aquiet will and a gentle heart, who rarely gotthat public recognition which was the due of his achievements’ (John A Thomson, 1924). © The Royal Scottish Geographical Society

The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29 07

Otters in South Uist:IMPACTS OF PROLONGED FISH FARMING ACTIVITYJane Twelves, SAMS member

SOUTH UIST

South Uist is an island in the OuterHebrides archipeligo, off the north westcoast of Scotland. It measures roughly 30 miles from north to south and 6 to 8miles from west to east. Its interestinggeomorphology provides a range ofcontrasting habitats across the island.

The west coast is an almost unbrokenstretch of sandy beach, where thecalcareous sand is composed of small shell particles. Over centuries this sand hasbeen blown inland by westerly winds andformed the famous machair. A rib of blackland with neutral soil runs downthe middle of the island. The east isdominated by acid peat moorlands andhills and is bisected by five fjordic sealochs. The east coast is rocky and theshore is clothed in brown seaweeds.Inland there are hundreds of freshwaterlochs, with pHs ranging from high in the machair lochs to low in the peatymoorland lochs, while brackish lochs occur at the heads of the sea lochs.

OTTERS ON SOUTH UIST

Otters are native to the island, and theirdistribution and the use they make of thedifferent aquatic habitats are fascinating as a transect from west to east acrossSouth Uist reveals.

Otters are seldom found on west coastbeaches but inland an amazing andcomplex network of otter runs link the lowlying freshwater and brackish lochs andlead to the rocky seashores. There is apattern to this network as otters take theshortest route between two adjacent lochs.

Most otters occur on the rocky east coast. They live in underground burrowsknown as holts, and mark their territories -especially the area around their holts - byleaving their faeces or spraints on well-defined sprainting sites.

There is a direct relationship between thestanding crop of both intertidal and sub-tidal brown seaweeds and the number ofotters. This, of course, is to do with theirmostly fishy food, which they hunt for inamongst the seaweed. Otter numbers are thus highest along complex coastlinesand sheltered waters.

Most female otters with dependent cubs live on the rocky seashore all yearround because of the good supply of food throughout the year. Single adult andsub-adult animals roam in the extensivefreshwater habitat during the summermonths feeding often exclusively on eels (Anguilla anguilla). But when eelshibernate on the bottom of the lochs andare thus difficult to locate, these ottersreturn to the feeding grounds on the rocky coast.

OTTERS AND SALMON FARMS

In 1974 the first salmon farm in the OuterHebrides was set up in Loch Sheilavaig inSouth Uist. As the first cages were beingconstructed, my concern grew that theremay be a conflict between this newindustry and the otters living in the loch. I thus began to monitor holt usage, butfound no indication of diminished use asthe salmon farm became established.

I conducted a thorough survey of the areain 1978, when I mapped all signs of otters.Since then I have continued to monitorparticular holts, which have continued tobe used as the fish farm grew in size.

In 2001 I repeated the in-depth survey and found that, although the currentgeneration of otters does not seem to

> Otters hunt for their prey amongst bown seaweed. © Bill Jackson, ads.jackson@btinternet.com

> Thirty years of salmon farming on South Uisthas had little or no effect on otters.© Jim Wood

use the habitat in exactly the same way as their forbears, there were just as manysigns of otters in Loch Sheilavaig as therehad been 23 years earlier.

In the 27 years of salmon farming between1974 and 2001 an estimated 10,000 tonnes or more of salmon were harvestedat this site. Assuming an average foodconversion ratio of 1.3:1, approximately13,000 tonnes of fish food were enteredinto Loch Sheilavaig.

My surveys suggest that this intensity of fish farming activity over nearly 30 years has had little or no effect on the top predators in the aquaticecosystem, the otters. ●

> Otters are shy and their presence is easiestassessed using tracks and sprainting sites.© R Shucksmith

> Otters occur mostly on the rocky east coast of South Uist. (Map: S Gontarek)

08 The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29

The last ten years have seen a largeresearch effort focussed on cold-watercorals around the world, and many new reef areas have been discovered.Particularly large and spectacular Lopheliareefs have been found on the Norwegiancontinental shelf, some growing to form chains kilometres in length. Sadlyalongside these exciting discoveries, it hasbecome clear that many of the reef areashave been damaged by fishing activities,especially bottom trawling.

Interest at SAMS in the HebrideanLophelia areas began seven years agowith the start of cold-water research atDunstaffnage. The existing UK recordswere collated with the British GeologicalSurvey for a report in 1999, and we beganto wonder whether live Lophelia reefs still occur in the Minch, and howwidespread they might be. Our firstopportunity to look came in 2001 during a SAMS research cruise aboard RRSDiscovery. As the ship sheltered in theMinch from autumn gales, a few hours of ship time were used to sample theseabed in the calmer waters east of

Mingulay and to record some 3.5kHzechosounder lines. Dead coral rubble, afragment of live Lophelia, and a diverseanimal community were recovered, whilethe echosounder revealed an intriguingpattern: the surface of the seabed lookedvery complex, supporting perhaps aboulder field or even a reef area.

The following year, in the summer of2002, we teamed up with Dr RichardBates of the University of St Andrewsand set off for the Mingulay site on theSAMS vessel Calanus. However, as wemade our way across the Minch, theweather worsened, and there was onlytime for a quick camera deploymentbefore running for cover in the face ofmore gale force winds. On the positiveside, the video images showed coralrubble on the seafloor. Our case tosurvey the area was growing.

Given these tantalising glimpses of whatmight be there, we began the process of developing the MINCH project –Mapping INshore Coral Habitats. Theidea behind this project is to map and

assess the distribution and status of coralhabitats in the Minch. Focussing on the Mingulay site with the most recentrecords, we also planned to investigatethe Stanton Banks, where Lophelia hadbeen brought in by fishermen in the1960s, and two sites described by PhillipHenry Gosse, one to the west of Skye andthe last between the islands of Rum andEigg. Our strategy was to survey eacharea with a multibeam sonar to producean accurate bathymetry, which could thenbe used to identify promising areas todeploy cameras for seabed videographyin search of live Lophelia reefs.

In the winter of 2002 and spring of 2003we built a partnership of organisations all contributing to the MINCH project.The partnership grew to include SAMS,the Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment in Northern Ireland, theBritish Geological Survey, TOPAZEnvironment and Marine, Scottish NaturalHeritage, and the Scottish Executive.

Work began in earnest in April 2003, whenthe Lough Foyle was surveyed and fitted

A coral reef in ScottishDr J Murray Roberts, SAMS

The most commonly recorded species of reef framework-constructing coral in the NE Atlantic is Lophelia pertusa. Records ofLophelia in the Sea of the Hebrides go back to Victorian times when Philip Henry Gosse described it from fishermen’s reports in hisclassic ‘History of British Sea Anemones and Corals’ in 1860. Since then there have been a few reports of Lophelia from the Minches– a fine specimen made its way to Glasgow University’s Hunterian Museum from a long-line fisherman in the 1900s. More recentlydead coral was recovered by dredging east of Mingulay in the late 1960s, and John Wilson, the UK’s longest-standing cold-watercoral expert, saw colonies of Lophelia growing on a seabed ridge during pioneering manned submersible dives using Pisces in 1970.

SAMS SCIENTISTS MAP OUT A LOPHELIA REEF IN THE SEA OF THE

> The most common reef framework-constructingcoral is Lophelia pertusa. © JM Roberts

> Scientists are carefully sieving coralrubble samples before preservingthem. © G Saunders, SNH

> The Lough Foyle docks at theDunstaffnage pontoon. © JM Roberts

The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29 09

waters!with a special multibeam transducerbracket while she was in dry dock.

In the first week of July 2003, theresearch vessel Lough Foyle tied up to the Dunstaffnage pontoon to set outon the MINCH project. Blessed this timewith perfect, calm weather we began torun multibeam survey lines across theMingulay study site. We had chosen asonar system from Kongsberg-Simrad,and Chris Harper from Fathoms ran theacoustic surveys overnight while the restof the team slept. Before breakfast eachday everyone gathered to review thenight’s survey and pick out areas toexamine more closely with the seabedvideo. The first multibeam survey clearlyshowed the seabed ridge described byJohn Wilson from the Pisces dives. Nextto this ridge the seabed formed into aseries of hummocks. They looked similarto the surveys the Norwegians hadproduced of their Lophelia reefs. Clearlythese hummocks were a top priority forthe camera work.

There was a growing sense ofexcitement on board when the cameraswere lowered. As the ship drifted acrossthe survey area, the habitats on theseabed changed from soft burrowedsediments, to areas with fireworks seaanemones and small stones colonised by colourful crinoids. Then larger rocksemerged, some of which supported fan-shaped sponges. A little while later wesaw the first patches of coral rubble onthe seabed. These became progressivelydenser until – finally – scattered live coralcolonies came into view. This looked likethe classic zonation pattern through thedead coral rubble bands that surroundNorwegian Lophelia reefs. Shortlyafterwards the cameras flew across largewhite coral heads, characteristic of liveLophelia. We had found it! There is a liveLophelia reef in the Sea of the Hebrides,just as the early reports and fishermen’sobservations had suggested.

Buoyed up by this discovery the rest ofthe cruise was spent completing surveywork at the other stations, running video

surveys and taking seabed samples.Grab samples of the dead coral rubbleshowed that it supported a wonderfullydiverse community of sponges,bryozoans, anemones, bristle worms,crustaceans – the list goes on. Thesesamples were carefully preserved tocompare with the growing SAMScollection of animals associated withcold-water coral reefs in the NE Atlantic. The overall tally to date fromthe European ACES (Atlantic CoralEcosystem Study) project comes to over1,300 species. Some of the coral skeletonsamples are around 4,000 years old,suggesting that the reef structuresstarted to grow as the ice sheet retreatedand water temperatures warmed some10 - 14,000 years ago.

Apart from their intrinsic value andinterest, there are a host of researchavenues opening up from the study ofcold-water coral reefs. The reefs arelong-lived structures, and the chemistry of the coral skeletons and other animalscan be used to estimate seawatertemperatures back in time – obviouslyimportant to build a picture of past

climate changes. We know that reefs arehot-spots of biodiversity, but we knowlittle of the ecological relationshipsbetween species, nor how specieschange from area to area. Until veryrecently there had been no research onhow cold-water corals reproduce ordisperse in the water currents. Thephysiology, feeding and growth of cold-water corals remain largely unstudied.

At SAMS our cold-water coral reefresearch strategy revolves aroundmonitoring the environmental regime onthe reefs by sending down a purpose-built instrument package that lands onthe seabed (the SAMS benthicphotolander) and using this informationto help us design laboratory studies oflive coral to investigate coral growth andactivity patterns. The Mingulay discoveryallows us to further expand this work.Our next step will be to visually surveythe reef using a remotely operatedvehicle, and plans are afoot to develop alive seafloor observatory to monitor thereef and feed both data and videoinformation from the Mingulay reef tothe laboratory and across the Internet.

The foundation for all these studies must be a good understanding of thedistribution of coral habitats. Themapping work aboard Lough Foylesucceeded in demonstrating thetechnology available today for broad-scale habitat mapping. Surely in the 21st century it is time to take up wherepioneers like Phillip Henry Gosse left off and apply modern habitat mappingtechniques to describe Scotland’s diverseand valuable marine heritage. We don’tknow what other surprises might be out there. ●

HEBRIDES

> 3-D view from the multibeam survey of ridgefeatures east of Mingulay. The coral reef isrepresented by the many small mounds next tothis ridge. © MINCH project

> Map of the Sea of the Hebrides with studyareas. (Map: S Gontarek)

10 The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29

My PhD ProjectA prickly problem:Researching sea urchins and their environment

Adam Hughes, SAMS UHI

These inscrutable creatures occur fromthe poles to the tropics, from the deep-sea to the intertidal shallows and rockpools. They often dominate the mobilemacro fauna and, when found in largenumbers, can profoundly alter theirenvironment. Their infamous cousin, thecrown of thorns starfish, is well known fordestroying large areas of coral reefs overthe past decades. But similarly largeaggregations of sea urchins roam thetemperate waters, and equally devour all,leaving nothing but barren rock behindthem. Whether these ‘urchin barrens’ are a natural phenomenon, or a result ofover-exploitation of the urchins’predators, such as lobsters and otters, isjust one of many unanswered questions.For such a long-studied and ubiquitouscreature many such questions remainunanswered. For example no one is surejust how long an urchin lives for. A recentstudy that used changes in isotope ratiosfollowing testing of nuclear bombs as amarker, estimated one large urchinspecies to grow to at least 100 years, andprobably much more. This exceedsprevious longevity estimates by an orderof magnitude.

The idea behind my PhD is to study the impact of sea urchin grazing oninvertebrate communities. Two species ofsea urchin commonly occur on the westcoast of Scotland, the green sea urchin,Psammechinus miliaris, and the ediblesea urchin, Echinus esculentus. Both are omnivorous and feed on a range of invertebrates such as barnacles andmussels, and both can occur in highdensities. Despite this, their impact oninvertebrate communities is poorlydocumented.

My investigation combines a number oftechniques - some well tried and tested,some new and possibly novel - to improveour understanding of the relationshipbetween sea urchins and their preyspecies. I have completed a series of fieldexperiments which involved the removal(by hand!) of 5,500 urchins from threeintertidal sites. Unfortunately I wasunprepared for quite how tenacious andmobile these creatures are, and days aftermy diligent relocation the urchins hadreturned to their original homes. In spite ofthese problems, the study demonstratedthat urchin grazing can profoundly alter

the intertidal biota of sea lochs. Theevolution of this experiment is that I amnow using metal cages to exclude theurchins from the experimental areas.

As well as field experiments I am usingvarious analytical techniques toinvestigate the trophic ecology of urchins.By using fatty acid analysis combined withstable isotope ratio analysis I hope to linktemporal and spatial variation in diet withthe reproductive and nutritional status ofdifferent urchin populations.

A final problem that has been taxing me,as it has taxed a great number of myurchin-studying predecessors, is thequestion of how to tell one urchin fromanother. This is relevant if you want toinvestigate foraging behaviour, migration,growth rates, or longevity. To this end Iam investigating the use of RFID tags toidentify individual urchins. These tags,similar those used with pets, can beimplanted into sea urchins and then readusing a scanning machine. This will allowus to return year after year to collect dataon movement, growth and mortality ofindividual sea urchins. Who knows whatsurprises that will reveal… ●

Adam is a third year UHI PhD studentsupervised by Dr Maeve Kelly at SAMS and Dr Dave Barnes from the BritishAntarctic Survey.

You usually get one of two responses when you tell someone that you study seaurchins. Either their attention wanders somewhere into the middle distance, or theycome out with some witticism such as ‘Urchins eh? That must be a prickly problem’,and then go on to ask about the football. But they are not far from the truth: sea urchinresearch is a tricky subject and one that has a long and fascinating history.

> The edible sea urchin, Echinus esculentus.© M Lilley

> The green sea urchin, Psammechinus miliaris. © A Hughes

11The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29

The anecdote of King Canute’s inability tocontrol the waves used to be given inschool history books as an example ofregal arrogance. The more sophisticatedinterpretation is that he was well aware ofhuman limitations in marine management,but needed to show such fallibility tosycophantic courtiers. We have comesome way since then, in that breakwatersand other coastal structures significantlychange local circulation patterns, offshoreoil and wind-power developments requireenvironmental impact assessments andwell-regulated management, and marineaquaculture necessarily depends on themanipulation of natural processes toprovide human benefit.

Yet in many ways we are still at thehunter/gatherer stage with regard to the human use of most marine naturalresources. Despite worthy aims ofachieving sustainability, it is arguable thatmarine resources – particularly biologicalones – are inherently unmanageable,since they can never be directlycontrolled. Thus management isessentially a socio-economic activity,involving policies and regulations that aredirected at human activities, not theresource itself.

Even with a broader definition ofmanagement that includes exploitation-resource interactions, as well as policyand legislation, marine success stories arelacking: management failures seem muchmore prevalent. That is not only becausepeople misbehave, not doing what othersexpect they should – perhaps becausemaritime communities rely strongly ontheir own cultural mores, and hence areinherently sceptical of externally-imposedconstraints – but also because marineecosystems misbehave, not conforming to human expectations of quasi-stability,nor giving the anticipated responses tochanges in exploitation pressures or other perturbations.

Such apparent contrariness of the naturalworld is demonstrated by the ‘stochastic’occurrence of good years and poor yearsfor harvested species, and regime shiftsbetween different ecosystem states. The inexplicability of these events arises

from our imperfect understanding of thedynamics of the marine environment. Yetknowledge deficiencies for the oceanicrealm are hardly surprising, given itsrelative inaccessibility to humans, and itsgreater physical complexity comparedwith land-based ecosystems.Furthermore, the microscopic size andshort life-times of most marine primaryproducers necessarily result in greaterseasonal and year-to-year variability.Somewhat paradoxically, planktonicinhabitants of the ‘constant ocean’ aretherefore more sensitive to environmentalchanges occurring at the planetary scale.

Worldwide, the total fish catch has beenrelatively stable since 1985, at around 130million tonnes per year. However, majorchanges in species composition haveoccurred within the global total over thattime, with many stocks declining inimportance and previously unexploitedstocks taking their place. As a result, anincreasing proportion of fish stocks arenow considered to be overfished (~ 30%)or fished at full capacity (~ 25%), and noundeveloped stocks remain. For Europeanfisheries subject to stock assessments, theoverfished and full capacity figures arecurrently 34% and 46% respectively –leaving only a fifth of stocks withsustainable status, within safe limits.

European fisheries are, of course, highly regulated, with policy decisionsunderpinned by the work of severalhundred marine scientists in the UK andelsewhere – who benefit from well-developed infrastructure and facilities,and around a century of research effort,catch statistics, and environmental data.

So where did it go wrong, and can it beput right? No single sector (scientists,policy-makers or fishers) is uniquely at fault for past mistakes, but future successwill require a more conciliatory andcooperative approach between the parties.Success will also require an appreciationthat ecosystem effects, arising from large-scale environmental changes, can nolonger be considered as noise, averagingout over a few years: Even in the mostoptimistic scenarios, the future willinevitably be very different from the past.

Recovery of specific fish stocks, such as cod in the North Sea, to theirabundance levels of the 1960s and 70s isa laudable management aim: whether it isachievable may depend as much on thestrength of the Gulf Stream as on catchrestrictions or the decommissioning offishing vessels.

Some optimism is possible. Most marinespecies have experienced global changemany times before, with around 50 majorclimatic oscillations in the past millionyears. For temperate, shallow-waterspecies, sea level changes over this timeperiod have caused a ten-fold change inhabitat availability.

With regard to improving marinemanagement practices, the future of the UK fishing industry has been the focusof various reports and commissions.Political momentum exists for theirrecommendations to be implemented.On the research side joint initiatives arebeing developed between NERC,government departments, and the fisherylaboratories. SAMS scientists already havewell-established expertise and interests inecosystem-based approaches to marinemanagement: there could now be newopportunities to develop partnershipswith research users and scientificcolleagues, to help achieve sustainableexploitation of marine bioresources. ●

Particular thanks are due to Peter Boyle,Martin Angel, Manuel Barange, KeithBrander and David Sampson fordiscussions relevant to this lecture.

Dr Phil Williamson is the UEA-basedScience Coordinator for three NERCdirected programmes (Marine Productivity,Marine & Freshwater Microbial Biodiversity,and UK Surface Ocean – Lower AtmosphereStudy).

For information on the NERC MarineProductivity programme, seewww.nerc.ac.uk/marprod

For information on the international GlobalOcean Ecosystem Dynamics project, seewww.globec.org

THE 14TH ANNUAL NEWTH LECTURE (Dunstaffnage, 4th November 2003)

Is marine management a myth?Dr Phil Williamson

Diving in the pursuit of scienceADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF SCUBA DIVING FOR STUDYING SUBTIDAL POPULATIONS

Chris Poonian, King’s College London

As SCUBA dive time is limited due tofinancial and logistical considerations, it is particularly important that surveys areconducted with highly efficient techniques. It is, however, impossible to provide strictrules for the design of underwater surveysusing SCUBA. Optimal sample unit sizes for a given survey may vary by orders ofmagnitude, depending on the characteristicsof the target organism, environmentalvariation, habitat variability, and availableresources. Despite that it is appropriate tosuggest guidelines for certain types ofsurveys and how different factors may affectestimates obtained. It is likely that mostsurveys will require pilot studies to optimisesampling technique, which will save time and expense in the long term.

Spatial characteristics of the targetorganism and survey scale are factors that can seriously affect the results. More effort is for example required to survey rarespecies at a given level of precision thancommon species. The size of sampling unit employed must thus encompass thescale of distribution of the organism under consideration. Failure to follow this recommendation leads to results that exhibit a skewed distribution thatmisrepresent the population, and data that hinder statistical analysis.

Also the mobility of the organism underscrutiny varies, and operates in conjunctionwith spatial distribution. Mobility in rareorganisms may increase the precision ofestimates because they are more likely tobe noticed by a scientific diver. However,mobility can have a negative effect onprecision of estimates for common species as the scientific diver has to identify individuals. This usually results in overestimates when individuals arecounted more than once.

Cryptic species pose particular problems.They are usually underestimated becauseobservers easily miss many individuals. The precision for estimates of crypticspecies can often be improved whenrelatively small sampling units are surveyed,as this can help to focus the observer’sattention. Divers are more likely to misscryptic species if too large a sampling unit is surveyed.

The complications of camouflage are exasperated in complex andheterogeneous habitats such as the rockysubtidal, where small sampling units maybe less representative. Larger samplingunits encompass the variability, and thuscreate more reliable estimates. Artificialreefs constructed from standardisedmaterials, such as the Loch Linnhe ArtificialReef, are excellent locations for preciseecological investigations because of their structural homogeneity. In suchenvironments, small sampling units provide dependable pseudo-replicates,where even low levels of sampling effortachieve high precision.

PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEYS

Underwater photography as a populationestimation technique can produce datacomparable to that from visual diving

surveys. Digital technology also requiressimilar survey and analysis times. Butphotography has serious limitations in sub-optimal turbidity and light conditions,particularly when one considers therelatively poor definition of photographscurrently obtainable from digital cameras.These effects reduce the size of thepossible sampling unit, decrease theminimum subject plane-camera distance,and may significantly lower detectionincidents of small and cryptic species.Large species on the other hand may not fit in the photo frame, while mobilespecies may be disturbed by divers andcamera apparatus.

The benefits of SCUBA as a means forthe study of subtidal organisms clearlyneed to be weighed against the inherentbiases in these techniques to devisereliable methods for a given study. Each study should thus be consideredindividually to determine the mostappropriate sampling unit or method, and indeed whether SCUBA is the mostappropriate technique. ●

This study was carried out as part of an MSc in Aquatic Resource Management at King’s College,London, and was supervised by Dr Martin Sayer,SAMS. Diving and underwater photography werearranged by Dr Simon Thurston and Hugh Brownfrom the National Facility for Scientific Diving atSAMS. All fieldwork was funded by a SAMS bursary.

In recent years SCUBA diving has been widely employed for assessingcommercial stocks, for conservation studies, and for detailed ecological researchin both temperate and tropical environments. SCUBA allows in situ observationof organisms and provides information unobtainable by other survey methods.However, much scientific work employing SCUBA simply utilises standard orconvenient procedures, despite evidence of unacceptable levels of imprecisionand consequent low reliability and repeatability.

12 The Scottish Association for Marine Science NEWSLETTER 29