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Diving with British Marine Life: The John Dory

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Part 1 of a new series by our latest blogger Georgie Bull…

A few years ago, I attended a work experience placement at the London Aquarium. During a school session, the staff members gave the children a group of 20 photo cards and asked them to choose which ones they thought showed native species. The cards pictured the likes of corkwing wrasse, orca, basking sharks, cod, whiting, mackerel, and vibrant nudibranchs. Of these, colourful species were seldom selected. At the end of the activity, it was revealed that all the cards showed permanent or seasonal UK residents, which was met with shock from both the pupils and staff.

From this experience, and many more like it, I’ve come to realise just how underappreciated British marine life is.

Over the next six blogs, I will explore just a handful of the charismatic species encountered in the South West of England. I aim to introduce each species, describing my encounters with them before highlighting any relevant literature. There is still so much we don’t know about the species living on our doorstep.


In the build up to my first night dive at Chesil Cove last year, sighting reports circulated that john dory (Zeus faber) were seemingly everywhere. This species had been on my ‘to see’ list for quite some time so any likelihood of seeing one filled me with excitement. Halfway through the dive I noticed a faint, but frantic undulation centred around what looked like a large grumpy dinner plate. It was indeed a john dory. This individual was so full of expression that I found it hard not to fixate myself for the duration of the dive! This was the start of what became a frequent occurrence throughout the season.

Profile

As well as their false eyespot, elongate fins, and disc like body, john dory demonstrate distinctive behaviour in the water. Their movement is relatively slow, though their soft anal and dorsal fins (positioned behind their spined counterparts) move frantically to alter their position in the water. While small, their mouth is capable of rapid extension to draw in prey, and they’ll manoeuvre their bodies into all sorts of strange positions in the water to do so.

Zeus faber are often associated with warm water, but their distribution conflicts this idea, with their Northern range extending as far as Norway!

John dory are categorised as data deficient by the IUCN. The IUCN ranks species based on their population trends, and they are particularly famous for their ‘Red List’ which categorises endangered species. Sometimes insufficient information is available, and the organism is regarded as data deficient. As this is the case for the john dory, questions arise about how their population is coping with its value to the fishing industry.

Literature

It’s true that anglers and divers value john dory, but scientists have been finding out more about the species in recent years. One of their most distinctive features is the false eyespot. These spots are found in a variety of organisms from butterflies to lizards and are thought to divert predator attacks to less essential parts of the body (e.g. the tail) which may offer increased chance of escape. The role of eyespots in nature is understudied, but lab experiments in 2011 and 2013 showed that predators were inclined to attack eyespots spots more so than other areas of the body. This provided evidence in favour of eyespots acting as attack diversions.

On a different note, sound in the marine environment is receiving increased attention recently. Iconic footage captured by the BBC for Blue Planet 2 of reef noise, or hot topics like noise pollution from boat traffic are taking centre stage. But sound in the marine environment is used by individuals to communicate in a variety of different ways. John dory create sounds with sonic muscles that surround their swim bladder. Until 2018, this sound had only been recorded in air. A study recorded the species using baited remote underwater video (BRUV) footage and found that individuals would make the sound when predators were near. This caused predators to flee, suggesting the sound could serve as a territorial defence mechanism. As with all species, there are still many aspects to the life of john dory that we are only just beginning to understand.

References:


Hear more from Georgie here: https://georgiebullphotography.home.blog/

Georgie is a Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology student at Plymouth University and an active diver in the South West of England. This year she will be completing the HSE Scuba qualification with the University in the hope that scuba will become part of her future career. She is particularly interested in native species and has a soft spot for elasmobranchs and molluscs.

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Saba’s Plan for a Coral Comeback

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Saba

Saba has an exciting new initiative to restore its coral reefs. This new project, running from 2024 to 2026, will focus on reviving key species in the island’s underwater ecosystems. With a collaborative team from the Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF) and Van Hall Larenstein (VHL) University of Applied Sciences, the project aims to restore both corals as well as sea urchins.

This initiative is centered around coral restoration, specifically reviving two essential coral species—staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata).  By mapping parent colonies and using a technique known as coral gardening, SCF will create and maintain coral nurseries. These corals will eventually be outplanted at key reef sites around Saba to not only expand the number of coral colonies, but also provide essential fish habitat. The project focusses on installing coral nurseries, training staff with the newest techniques and starting with the restoration of key reef sites.

Saba

Reef Cleaners to the Rescue

It’s not just corals getting a makeover—this project also shines a spotlight on the essential role of grazers, particularly sea urchins. VHL is leading the charge on cultivating and restocking two key sea urchin species, West Indian sea egg (Tripneustes) and long-spined sea urchin (Diadema), known for their ability to keep algae in check. By removing algae, which are important competitors of corals, they help the coral to thrive. By restoring these “reef cleaners,” Saba’s project will give corals the breathing room they need to grow, setting the stage for a healthier, more balanced marine ecosystem.

From Tiny Urchins to Big Goals

The project will be funded as part of the Dutch Government’s Nature and Environment Policy Plan (NEPP) 2020-2030 for the Caribbean Netherlands, a comprehensive initiative aimed at conserving and restoring the unique natural environments of the Dutch Caribbean islands, including Saba, St. Eustatius, and Bonaire. This project is aiming for big milestones:  build and maintaining coral nurseries, the expansion of urchin cultivation facilities, and the creation of a dedicated research center. By 2026, the project hopes to ramp up coral and grazer restoration, with the ultimate goal of extending these efforts across the Dutch Caribbean. By linking local initiatives to broader regional goals, Saba’s restoration project promises to leave a lasting impact on both the environment and the community.

Find out more about the DCNA at dcnanature.org.

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Reef-World marks two decades of marine conservation: strengthening impact amid coral reef threats

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reef world foundation

Empowering ocean stakeholders to tackle future challenges and ensure the survival of coral reefs and humanity

2024 marks the 20th Anniversary of The Reef-World Foundation’s tireless efforts for global coral reef conservation. The UK charity is the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative, known as the leading voice in sustainable marine tourism. Today, Reef-World released its 2023-2024 Impact Report outlining a year of substantive growth and impact in its marine conservation programmes. 

Impact Report Highlights:

  • Impressive improvements in environmental behaviours to protect coral reefs by the marine tourism industry as the global participation of Green Fins increases.
  • Continued capacity building for government and NGO staff to effectively manage marine tourism activities in Asia, Caribbean and Red Sea regions. 
  • For the first time in Green Fins’ 20-year history, tourism operators have achieved ‘Best Environmental Performer’ status by demonstrating the lowest possible environmental impact in their environmental assessments. In 2024, three dive operators achieved this challenging milestone. 
  • Significant increases in global participation of Reef-World’s innovative digital conservation tools.
  • 138 Green Fins dive operator members achieved the strict threshold for PADI Eco Center recognition.
  • Developed four new educational materials and translated two into 16 languages to support the marine tourism industry in achieving sustainability targets.
  • Establishing a new Reef-World Development strategy and recruiting new roles – Development and Programmes Managers. 
  • Reef-World’s board welcomes new Chair and Trustees strengthening organisational leadership. 

Reef-World started as a one-person mission to inspire and empower communities to act in conserving and sustainably developing coral reefs and related ecosystems. Today, the team of 12 continues to meet this mission by inspiring and empowering the global marine tourism community to be exemplary sustainability leaders by using the Green Fins guidelines and tools to simultaneously use and protect the world’s precious reefs. 

In April 2024, the fourth global coral reef bleaching event was confirmed. Reef-World’s work has never been more urgent as the marine environment, and the benefits they provide humanity, continue to be eroded by global threats. The reduction of local threats, like those from the marine tourism industry, is an essential step to ensuring a future where coral reefs survive and continue to support the millions of people who depend on their ecosystem benefits. Reef-World’s work buys time for coral reefs and related ecosystems to be resilient to the impacts of global threats. 

 

“Right now our corals are facing the greatest fight of their existence as the terrifying predictions of the steps towards their complete extinction are starting to come true. But all is not lost, reefs are resilient and they have existed on this planet for millions of years. We must take action now, to buy time for reefs by reducing threats facing them and allowing them to react and adjust to the changing environment they need to survive in.” – Chloe Harvey, Executive Director

Looking Forwards: 

Like coral reefs, the Reef-World team needs to be resilient in the face of the complex challenges of the conservation sector. Reef-World has invested significantly in developing a Culture of Care to ensure the well-being of its team on a daily basis, continuing to be an exemplary employer to enable its team to best achieve the mission for coral reef conservation.

With the foundations of a Culture of Care and organisational development laid, Reef-World is emerging from the end of a natural organisation life cycle, that brings the challenges of growth and scale, stronger than ever. With a new strategy in place to generate much needed resources, Reef-World is excited for the opportunities to leap forward, continue to scale our impact and lean into new innovations and untapped opportunities for marine conservation. 

We continually strive to become a forward-thinking organisation that delivers on our goals and commitments to our stakeholders with fresh approaches and not being afraid of steering away from a “normal approach.” This approach is not only applied to our programmes of work but also internally and carries over to our Culture of Care for our team.” — JJ Harvey, Operations Director

reef world foundation

The Reef-World Foundation is immensely grateful for the continued support of its grant funders: UN Environment Programme, IUCN’s Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility, Adventure Travel Conservation Fund, PADI Aware Foundation, and World Nomads Footprints Program.

Reef-World would also like to express its gratitude to international partners whose vital support has resulted in significant tangible benefits for our work and mission: PADI; Professional SCUBA Schools International (PSS); Explorer Ventures; 1% for the Planet; ZuBlu; Snorkel Venture, GSTC; Dive O’Clock; Seven Dragons; DiveAssure and Eco Beach, without whom these achievements would not be possible.

The full 2023–2024 Annual Impact Report is available on Reef-World’s website.

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