Habitat point records from 1982 MBNE Farne Islands sublittoral survey

This report, commisioned by the NCC, outlines the findings of the first year's pilot survey of a three year comprehensive survey of the marine fauna of the Farne Islands being carried out by Marine Biology North-East (MBNE). The Farne Islands are best known for their large populations of breeding sea-birds, and as a grey seal breeding area. They are also of interest from a marine biological point of view being perhaps the most southerly point on the English coast of the North Sea where rocky shores, shelving rapidly into deep, reasonably clear water, are encountered. Further south, the sublittoral commonly shelves only gently and the sea is generally turbid, clearing only after prolonged periods of calm weather. The offshore position of the Farne Islands, particularly the outer islands, allows a marked degree of water movement (both wave action and tidal streams) to occur without the severe increase in turbidity and consequent reduction in light penetration which afflicts most of the coast south of Berwick. As a result, certain species are present at the Farne Islands which are near their southern limits on the east coast and otherwise not known from north-east England, for instance the Devonshire cup coral, Caryophyllia smithii. Together with St Abb's Head, the Farne Islands provide some of the best diving and most spectacular marine life in the north-east. The marine life of St Abb's has been the subject of several recent studies, but that of the Farnes has been little studied apart from in the littoral zone. MBNE decided, for this reason, to embark on this long term study of these islands. During the three year survey period, specimens will be collected and photographed by SCUBA divers and collection supplimented by collection on the shore. Specimens will be preserved, identified with the aid of specialist taxonomists where necessary and a labelled collection deposited in the Hancock Museum, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. A publication of a check-list of the marine fauna by taxonomic group is to be produced, with notes on the ecology of the species (abundance, preferred habitats, depth distribution etc). There will be a compilation of a dossier of photographs of the species collected, and a poster display of the Farne Islands marine life for visitors to Seahouses and the Farne Islands. This preliminary report outlines dives carried out and sites visited on the outer Farnes in 1982. Full site descriptions are given together with a list of faunal specimens collected. Previous records of marine animals recorded from the Farnes are listed, as there are about 60 new and previously unpublised records for the islands from the 1982 MBNE study derived from collected and photographed species. A list of 100 photographs collected for the Farne Islands sublittoral survey dossier is also provided. (These slides are held by the NCC at Huntingdon, copies also held by the MBNE and NCC region). The report recommends other sites for investigation, including the Inner Farnes, to give a balanced view of the island's marine life, although there is still much to do at the 1982 sites. It notes that it is hoped to carry out some shore surveys in 1983, such as were carried out during previous studies in the 1960's. It is suggested that future work on the Farnes by MBNE might usefully concentrate on certain groups of animals and study their distribution and abundance with respect to both depth and substrate type. Seasonal changes at particular sites would be interesting to study, and sections of rock face could be marked and photographed and studied from month to month. The report concludes that the 1982 pilot study achieved its objectives and should provide an excellent basis for further marine biological work at the Farnes by Marine Biology North-East in collaboration with the Underwater Conservation Society. Records currently considered sensitive have been removed from this dataset.

本报告由NCC委托编制，概述了由东北海洋生物学（MBNE）执行的为期三年的全面调查——对法恩群岛海洋生物的首次年度试点调查的研究成果。法恩群岛以其繁殖海鸟的大规模种群和灰海豹的繁殖地而闻名，同时，从海洋生物学角度来看，它可能是英格兰北海海岸线最南端，此处岩石海岸迅速倾斜至清澈的深水区域。向南延伸，海底地形通常仅轻微倾斜，海水一般混浊，仅在长时间的平静天气后才会变得清澈。法恩群岛的离岸位置，尤其是外围岛屿，使得水流（包括波浪作用和潮流）显著，而不会像伯里克以南的大多数海岸线那样导致严重的水质混浊和光照穿透度降低。因此，法恩群岛存在一些物种，这些物种在东海岸的南部极限附近，而在英格兰东北部其他地方则鲜为人知，例如德文郡珊瑚杯珊瑚（Caryophyllia smithii）。与圣阿布角一样，法恩群岛提供了东北部最佳的潜水地点和最壮观的海洋生物。圣阿布的海洋生物已成为近期研究的主题，但法恩群岛的海洋生物研究却相对较少，除了在沿岸地带。鉴于此，MBNE决定开展对这些岛屿的长期研究。在三年调查期间，潜水员将收集和拍摄样本，并在岸上补充收集。样本将被保存，并在必要时借助专业分类学家进行鉴定，并在纽卡斯尔 Upon Tyne的汉考克博物馆存放标有标签的收藏品。将出版按分类群编制的海洋生物清单，并附有关于物种生态学的注释（丰度、偏好栖息地、深度分布等）。还将汇编收集到的物种照片档案，并为Seahouses和法恩群岛的游客展示法恩群岛海洋生物海报。本初步报告概述了1982年在外围法恩群岛进行的潜水活动和访问的地点。提供了详细的地点描述和收集到的动物标本清单。列出了从法恩群岛记录的海洋动物的前期记录，因为1982年MBNE的研究中从收集和拍摄的物种中产生了大约60个新的且以前未发表的记录。还提供了为法恩群岛海底调查档案收集的100张照片清单。（这些幻灯片由NCC在亨廷顿保存，MBNE和NCC地区也保存有副本）。报告建议调查其他地点，包括内法恩群岛，以平衡展示岛屿的海洋生物。尽管在1982年的地点仍有许多工作要做。它指出，希望1983年进行一些岸上调查，如1960年代以前的研究中所进行的那样。建议MBNE未来对法恩群岛的工作可以集中研究某些动物群体，并研究其与深度和底质类型的分布和丰度。对特定地点的季节性变化进行研究将很有趣，并可以标记和拍摄岩石表面的不同部分，并按月进行研究。报告总结称，1982年的试点研究实现了其目标，并应为东北海洋生物学与水下保护协会合作在法恩群岛进行进一步海洋生物学研究提供一个极好的基础。目前认为敏感的记录已从本数据集中删除。