Group6_Falmouth

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Falmouth 2017 - Group 6

A bit about Falmouth

The Fal estuary, or “Carrick Roads”, is located on the south coast of Cornwall. Having a length of 18km, the estuary is important for a range of activities including trade, tourism and conservation (www.projects.exeter.ac.uk). Mining used to be the key industry in the area, though more recently tourism has become an influential component.

Welcome

This website presents the summarised work of Group 6 from the 2017 Falmouth field course, which focused on the collection of biological, chemical and physical data from the Fal Estuary and Offshore locations from 4-14th of July.

The data from this field course forms the most recent entry to the University of Southampton data set which spans over ten years, collected by Oceanography and Marine Biology students from the university.

Once a river valley, the site was flooded during the last glaciation. The resultant ria is around a mile wide, can reach depths of 34m, and covers an area of 2500km², making it the third largest natural harbour in the world (www.cornwalls.co.uk). Being dominated by marine areas, estuaries, mud/sand flats and lagoons, the Fal estuary hosts a diverse range of life and has thus been designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) as well as a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) (www.jncc.defra.gov.uk). The mudflats have a large surface area and are crucial for the feeding of wading birds while also providing a habitat for burrowing molluscs, annelids and crustaceans.

Conservation is important in this area due to mining activities that have taken place over the last few centuries. The consequent release of heavy metals has caused increases of copper, zinc and arsenic in local organisms (Bryan and Gibbs, 1983). A key example is the Wheal Jane tin mine. It became filled with water which was eventually released into the Fal estuary via rivers (Somerfield et al., 1994).

Extensive maerl beds (of Phymatolithon calcareum and Lithothamnion corallioides) are one of the habitats that need protecting, acting as refuge or nurseries for many commercial fishes (Roston, 1987). Other protected organisms are the sea cucumber Leptopentacta elongate; dwarf eels, grass beds of Zostera noltei; and the Fal oyster Ostrea edulis (www.cornwall-ifca.gov.uk).