Shark Nibbles

Many of our regular readers will be aware that the Bugle Team has more than a passing interest in sharks — our photo of the Headington shark pops up somewhere in every issue, and shark’s philosophical sound bites appear on the back page. In recent months, though, we have been somewhat remiss when it comes to supplying news items about our finned friends.

Sharks are misunderstood and suffer from a bad press. Or to put it another way, Steven Spielberg hasn’t done the fish any favours. Many shark species around the globe are now under threat as a result of hazards such as marine pollution, over-fishing and high speed shipping. Thanks go to Paul Williams for sending the photo (taken by a friend of his who was on a sailing holiday in Northern Greece) which illustrates the point by showing a basking shark being winched ashore after having been caught up in fishermen’s nets. Sadly, stories like this are all too commonplace, so it’s nice when we can report on a ‘Happy Shark Tale’.

In Australia a female grey nurse shark has recently been rescued after swallowing a giant fishing hook. Scuba divers found the shark in distress off the Julian Rocks in the Cape Byron Marine Park. They took photos of the shark, and reported their find to the local authorities. A team of experts was subsequently dispatched to try and save the creature. The team managed to capture the shark and place her in a holding tank. Once the shark was in a ‘relaxed state’ a PVC pipe was inserted into her mouth, and brave vet David Blyde reached through the pipe to free the hook. After a short course of broad spectrum antibiotics, the shark was released back into the ocean, seemingly none the worse for wear. And as for the vet? He said:

‘As a veterinarian you often end up putting your hands in places that people find somewhat unattractive’….

You can find out more about shark and other marine conservation issues at the www.sharktrust.org website.

Pandas and Penguins

Some good news from the Sichuan province in China. According to the BBC, four giant panda cubs were born within 14 hours of each other at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Centre at the end of July. This is a great boost to the endangered panda population. Currently, it is estimated that there are somewhere in the region of 1,600 pandas in the wild, with about another 180 in captivity. Giant pandas are under threat not only because of human activity such as forest clearing and farming, but also because they are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity. So, the Bugle says: ‘Congratulations and good luck for the future!’

Now to the penguins. Scottish emergency services sprang into action last month when a pensioner reported that a microlight plane had crashed into the sea off the Buchan Coast. Lifeboat crews who were sent out to search for wreckage found no evidence of aircraft debris, but managed to rescue two partially deflated inflatable penguins instead….clearly a false alarm, then. But, no indication in the international press that we could find as to how and why the inflatable penguins ended up where they did in the first place. In a separate incident involving the Aberdeen Coastguard and ‘cows spotted in shallow water in the Dornoch Firth’, the rescue team was stood down after consultation with a local farmer who explained that it was a hot day and the cows were just cooling off. Should we be worried?

Professor Kimberley’s Ant Watch

Since moving to the island last year, Peter and Kimberley of Crete Kennels have shared many of their experiences with Bugle readers (and for their August thoughts, see our Enterprising Locals Page). What many people don’t know is that over the last few months our Professor Kimberley has also become something of an expert in the study of ant behaviour. How come? And why ants? Well, one day, in the heat of the summer whilst Peter and Kimberley were clearing the ground for the ‘dell’ area of the Kennels, Kimberley paused, looked down and was absolutely mesmerized by a convoy of ants who were hard at work carrying twigs and leaves. Kimberley spent the next hour and a half watching the ants, even went as far to try and help them by feeding them bits of biscuit (this shows true dedication to the cause)! And so a passionate interest was born. Space is limited in this month’s Bugle, but look out for ‘Amazing Ant Facts’ in future editions (did you know, by the way, that you can buy ant farms on the Internet?).

In the meantime, thanks to Kimberley for her poem below: