In Search of Sea Lampreys
- 4 Jul 07, 12:01 PM
Sometimes the recording of a programme hangs in the balance as animals don鈥檛 really operate to our timescales. This is what makes wildlife so exciting of course but makes things a bit hairy when you only have a day to find them. That was certainly the case when it came to trying to record a programme about Sea Lampreys. Sea Lampreys are mysterious creatures, almost Hollywood-esque in their appearance (anyone remember ?) that comes up our rivers to spawn in June.
The challenge for us was that there needs to be the right combination of factors for them to be at their spawning sites and for us to be able to see them. They need the right temperature to start heading up river from the sea and the correct water levels but more critically there are hardly any more left and are an endangered species. So you can imagine with the weather the way it has been recently I was almost addicted to the weather page.
So heading up on the Tuesday with grey clouds it looked a bit ominous, and I was thinking about possible back up plans we had in place but to be honest I was just hoping on hopes that we鈥檇 be lucky enough to get close to them. So to the day,,, without giving to much away it was a great programme to record, startling even, these creatures are simply fascinating, prehistoric, gruesome and intriguing all at the same time - they certainly struck a cord with Lionel and me. As a programme maker you just know when things have clicked and this was one of those occasions.
To find out what happened listen to the programme on Sunday at 6:35 (or listen again)
One thing鈥檚 for certain and that鈥檚 how much we are in debt to the experts. Yes you can plan to within an inch of all outcomes but without the animals you鈥檙e a bit stuck, and so having a great expert with knowledge of the area and species is fantastically helpful. (Brian our Lamprey expert being particularly good in this respect)
Plus Lionel鈥檚 face when having one of these stuck to his hand by Brian was a picture!
Visit the Gallery for more pictures
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I can't wait to listen in. Even though the blog is going slow in the matter of comments, do please keep it up. It was satisfying to hear Bob Davidson's and my sometime soapbox topic (population growth in league with percapita consumption growth) discussed this morning on Today (from about 11:50 into the clip).
ed
07/07/2007 at 11:18:47 GMT
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I have just listened to the programme searching for sea lampreys - the excitement was palpable! Wonderful that the programme came from Yorkshire! Wonderful pictures! I didn't know anything about these incredible creatures.
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Thank you for the wonderful programme on searching for sea lampreys. The excitement was palpable. I knew nothing of these fascinating creatures and their life cycle.
Great to hear this story from Yorkshire!
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Have just listened to the programme Living World 'In search of sea lampreys' 08.07.07 and it was amazing to learn about the life of the lamprey. I never cease to be filled with wonder about all the different forms of life there are in our wonderful world. Thank you for all this fascinating information.
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I found this absolutely facinating listening,I always find Lionel's enthusiasm a treat to listen to.
Roger
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What a brilliant programme about lampreys....truly mysterious creatures.
I understand that eels also have a larval phase in their life-cycle...free-swimming leaf-shaped things that drift about in mid-ocean. These were only discovered (or at least discovered to be aprt of the eel life-cycle) relatively recently.
Eels too have declined dramatically. Elvers (or baby eels) were harvested in their millions on the Severn estuary as they came in from the sea.
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It was a very fascinating programme and the mention of the nature blog at the end introduced me to this site.
In Derby, with our cathedral peregrines, we have run a very successful blog since April, set up by my colleague at Derby Museum (I work for the county wildlife trust, the other main partner in this project). Along with the web cams of the nest, the blog has received over 180,000 hits in ten weeks! Have a look at:
The two youngsters have now fledged so there's less to report to the blog which, earlier on, had video clips with sound (scroll down to see/listen to these). A short clip was shown on Springwatch.
Our avid peregrine watchers, including some from all over the world (Hong Kong, USA, etc) keep logging on in the hope they'll see one or more of the birds (which do return to the nest occasionally).
Jody: one small point of grammar if I may: it should be 'struck a cord with Lionel and me' not 'Lionel and I'...just in case the 成人快手 bosses were tempted to sling you out...and we wouldn't want that would we? If you omit the words 'Lionel and' and then speak the sentence, you'll easily see why it is 'me'! (Old trick taught me by my English-teaching father, many years ago).
Meanwhile, please keep up the excellent coverage of wildlife on R4!
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fascinating intrview about sea lampreys, never knew how singular and rare they now are. Like the sand worms in the sci-fi book Dune with respect to their eating. I will now make a point of listening to the 7am bbc slot on Sundays. Thank you!
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Nick,
To return pedantry in kind, please note that links don't work if followed by a full stop unless you insert a space before it.
;-)
ed
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I usually catch this programme whilst having my breakfast before going to work, they are always interesting and being able to see pictures now on the blog of these remarkable creatures brings it even more to life. Well done Lionel keep up the good work with you comments, you nearly always bring a smile to may face particularly when you are wadding through water or braving the rain.
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Touche Ed ....and sorry about the missing accent which I can't seem to find!
Here's the link to the Derby peregrine blog that will work hopefully:
and I won't put a full stop anywhere near......!
Nick
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One of the best wild life programmes I have ever listened to. I learned something new ( as it would seem did Lionel with such unabashed enthusiasm) and was entertained at the same time. Must learn more about the Lamprey.
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I listened to this programme by chance - I just happened to be driving to work at the time - and enjoyed every minute of it.
I'd never heard of them before, and not only was the programme interesting and informative, I found the build up to Lionel's encounter - and his obvious delight on finding them - was superb.
It even made me look up the pictures on this site. That's one horrible mouth !
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I heard the program and loved it. I didn't know anything about sea lampreys so I learned something too.
The pictures are also fantastic.
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Thanks Ed - for the heads-back!
As a river fisherman I have never caught a fish with lamprey damage, let alone one attached. Might be a reflection of my success (or rather lack of it), but I have never heard others mention the phenomenon either.
As a child in Maryland our woodland streams annually used to fill with shoals of lampreys that were only about six inches long. Does this happen in UK streams - because I've never seen it?
I know it no longer happens in Maryland as the streams are now concrete culverts.
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Wonderful to hear this interview and the terrific description of the lampreys on the first podcast.
Having been monitoring basking sharks numbers here on the Isle of Man this summer, and now hearing how these parasites of the sharks have their very own special life cycle in our British rivers and streams, it makes us realise that its not just the sharks that need protecting - their parasites and the breeding sites of those parasites also warrant just as much interest and careful protection.
Congratulations to you and Brian - a wonderful clear and atmospheric piece.
Duncan and Anne
Manx Wildlife Trust
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