Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

• FIN WHALE OCEAN GIANT The sea may be balmier in Baja California, Sri Lanka or the Azores, but you don’t have to go that far to see big baleen whales. Each year from July onwards the fin whale – the world’s fastest and second-largest cetacean – turns up along the coasts of Cork and Waterford in south-east Ireland. Though its long, sleek back and 5m blow is sometimes also glimpsed around Scotland and south-west England, here the species ventures closer inshore, lured by shoals of sprat and herring. Sightings peak in October and November. FIND OUT MORE The latest news from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group: www.iwdg.ie • ROBIN SAD SONGS A singing robin is not really sad, of course, but defending territory – something it does year-round.…

26 oct -6 Nov THE NATURAL EYE Be inspired by beautiful paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures by members of the Society of Wildlife Artists at the Mall Galleries, London. Workshops will also accompany the exhibition and one of the artists will be on hand each day to answer your questions. Ticket costs £3. http://bit.ly/2bmCFDI 8-9 oct THE VANISHING VIPER The first national adder meeting, taking place at Draycott Memorial Hall in Somerset, will address all aspects of adder conservation. Attend to listen to presentations from experts and join in workshops, Day ticket costs £25, weekend £40. http://bit.ly/2biSewH 24-28 oct NATIONAL HONEY WEEK Visit the National Honey Show at Sandown Park Racecourse or learn how to be a beekeeper during National Honey Week. Find your local beekeeping association at the website…

WHAT IS IT? A new species of mouse that resembles a shrew and eats earthworms is one of 28 species of mammal described since 2000 from a single island in South-east Asia, where they are all endemic. All the new species are rodents, either ‘cloud rats’ or ‘earthworm mice’ such as Soricomys montanus. The discoveries double the number of terrestrial mammal species known from the island. WHERE IS IT? Luzon Island in the Philippines has many mountains that isolate populations from each other, driving species diversification. SOURCE Frontiers of Biogeography LINK http://bit.ly/2bi1XmY…

The tawny owl is a perch-and-wait hunter. This strategy has played into the hands of photographer Phil Neale, who knows this individual’s favourite perches and was able to set up his kit accordingly. His dramatic photograph reveals most of the features that make the species such an effective predator within its predominantly wooded environment. One adaptation you can’t see, however, is perhaps the most important – the owl’s ears. Lacking any external ear flaps, they are hidden within the ruff that surrounds the facial disc. Sound hitting the facial disc is pushed towards them. They’re also placed asymmetrically – one slightly higher than the other and a little further back. This asymmetry improves the owl’s ability to pinpoint the source of a sound. Huge eyes also have a role to…

Multiple disappearances of satellite-tagged golden eagles in one area of the Highlands have triggered a Scottish Government review into whether they have been illegally killed. Subsequently, the review has been broadened to also look at hen harriers and red kites, and its results could influence the way in which driven-grouse shooting is regulated north of the border. Satellite transmitters are used increasingly to study movements of young birds of prey. Since 2011, eight tagged juvenile golden eagles have gone missing in the Monadhliath, an upland area just south of Inverness, bordering the Cairngorms National Park. Following the latest disappearance this summer – a two-year-old bird known as Brodie – RSPB Scotland’s head of investigations Ian Thomson said it was inconceivable that so many birds had vanished in such a short…

Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) has wiped out 80 per cent of the Tasmanian devil population in the past 20 years, and scientists have made little progress in finding a cure. But now there’s a ray of hope for the largest-living carnivorous marsupial. Researchers from Washington State University have found that the species – which is only found in Australia’s island state of Tasmania – is evolving its own immunity to the disease. Researchers writing in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications , say significant changes have occurred in just four generations in two areas and over six generations in another. “Our results reflect a rapid evolutionary response to the strong selection pressure imposed by DFTD, and such a response to a highly lethal, novel pathogen has rarely, if ever, been…

Iona An afterthought of an island at the toe of Mull, Iona has a quality that’s rare in the Hebrides: gentleness. Rolling not rugged, and cloaked in lush machair flora, it breathes peace. The day-tripping crowds spill out of the ferry and head uphill to the abbey, to commune with saintly ghosts and browse the gift shops. In the other direction lie quiet snowy beaches, open meadows and iris beds. Farmland birds are everywhere, busily active. Meadow pipits twitter and parachute over the flowery fields, wheatears chack from fence posts. Linnets, skylarks and the dark, rusty-tinted Hebridean song thrushes contribute to the soundscape, and there’s another, less tuneful note as well. The sore-throated rasp ‘crex, crex’ is coming from a corncrake in a patch of knee-high grass in a roadside…

    SUZI ESZTERHAS is an award-winning wildlife photographer based in California. She is well known for documenting family life. www.suzieszterhas.com…

“FOLLOWING INDRIS IN MADAGASCAR GIVES A SENSE OF THE 3D-NESS OF THE JUNGLE” Planet Earth II TV BBC TWO Due to air late October. See Radio Times for details How do you top an epochal natural-history series like Planet Earth – one that presented every high-octane hunt, intimate family moment, water droplet and grain of desert sand in crisp high-definition? The producers of the six-part sequel found the answers in up-to-the-minute technology, the latest scientific research, and… pee-mail. “In the 10 years since the first series enough changed for a worthwhile update,” says series producer Tom Hugh-Jones. “Filming technology, and discoveries increasing our understanding of animals, helped us to unearth new stories – but also to get close enough to tell them.” That sounds simple enough. But in reality, Planet…

In August’s Feedback section Mike Jeffries wrote in to take issue with Mark Carwardine for omitting the positive side of trophy hunting in his column (At a Glance, July). But I’d suggest that trophy hunting has no positive side. If the activity continues to increase it will put more pressure on the species concerned, which will require even greater conservation efforts to arrest their dwindling numbers. It will also limit the genetic pools of the animals and impact their future breeding success. How can hunting help the continued existence of the species concerned? Furthermore, what message does permitting trophy hunting send to local people, many of whom are poor and facing starvation, but have been criticised for the bushmeat trade and poaching? Surely it can’t be right for rich westerners…

Year-round What Manta rays Where Coral Bay Watch these majestic creatures glide by elegantly, barrel rolling as they scoop plankton and krill from nutrient-rich waters. January What Orcas Where Bremer Bay From January to April this remote spot hosts the largest known group of killer whales in the Southern Hemisphere. A leak from a hydrocarbon pocket under the seabed sparks a food chain also attracting giant squid, sperm whales and sea birds. February What Quokkas Where Rottnest These furry, kangaroo-like marsupials can only be found in Western Australia. The best place to spot them is on Rottnest Island, where they charm visitors with a willingness to interact. March What Coral spawning and whale sharks Where Ningaloo One night in March the waters of Ningaloo Reef come alive as 200 species…

Atticus Fleming, Chief Executive of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, describes another wildlife hotspot where ecotourism is flourishing. My favourite wildlife experience in Western Australia is rising before dawn at Mornington in the heart of the Kimberley. After driving along red dirt roads and taking a short walk through the savannah to one of the area’s meandering streams, you sit and wait. As the sun turns the sandstone escarpment a brilliant orange, a stunning array of birdlife emerges – parrots, doves, honeyeaters and nearly a dozen finch species, including the endangered Gouldian. Like Ningaloo, you won’t encounter any crowds here, but you will find Mornington Wilderness Camp, whose safari tents lie along the picturesque Annie Creek. Open from May to October, the not-for-profit camp is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy…

You could almost feel their breaches are designed to charm expectant tourists Imagine standing in the sunshine on the gently rolling deck of a medium-sized boat, shading your eyes as you stare at the dark blue water. You are keenly searching for a shape, a flicker of movement, a splash that will tell you one is near. Then imagine the water a mere 30 metres from your craft erupting in a fountain of spray as a massive dark body rockets skyward for an awe-inspiring moment before crashing back. You probably never imagined that whales were so big, or that they would come so close to a boatload of people, all eager to learn about them. You and your shipboard companions are there to witness the annual phenomenon of humpbacks and…

Mountain hare Lepus timidus Tomatin, Inverness, Scotland To take this shot Jamie took his camera off the tripod and got down low, placing the device on a small mound of heather for stability. This enabled him to throw the foreground of his image out of focus and make this mountain hare stand out in the frame during a wet and windy spring. The lone grass stalk is an unintended extra that makes the composition of the picture more intriguing. Category sponsored by BBC Wildlife Magazine…

Mute swan Cygnus olor Millwall Docks, London, England For several weeks Seren had been watching this family of mute swans at Millwall Docks in London. First she waited for the eggs to hatch and then followed the cygnets closely as they grew up. She noticed that the youngsters would often hitch a ride on their parents’ backs and snuggle beneath their warm feathers and chose this as the subject of her photo. Both adults take care of the juveniles, often until next breeding season in mid-April. Category sponsored by RSPB Wildlife Explorers…

Contrary to popular belief, the most dangerous mammals in North America are not bears, wolves or big cats. Every year, in the USA alone, 200 people die in vehicle collisions with deer. And accident rates are increasing, primarily due to burgeoning deer numbers, which is in turn partly due to declines in natural predators. “I think everyone on the East Coast has either hit a deer or knows somebody who’s hit a deer, so it’s a very real problem for people,” said biologist Laura Prugh of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Prugh’s research suggests that casualties could be reduced by boosting cougar numbers. Her calculations show that, over a six-year lifespan, a cougar kills 259 deer and prevents eight accidents. Re-establishing cougars in the Eastern USA could prevent 155 fatalities…

IT’S THE TENTATIVE BEGINNING OF A RETURN, ALBEIT ONE MADE WITH OUR HELPING HAND. I’m heading over to the Elan Valley this morning. I’m tired but happy, despite the fug of endless mist and drizzle. I’m cheerful because the previous day, for the fifth day in a row, we failed to catch one of our pine martens. This might seem odd, given that our aim is to catch her. But it never fails to improve my mood when I take a step back and appreciate the point we’ve reached in our work for the Pine Marten Recovery Project. It was less than a year ago that we translocated 20 pine martens from Scotland to Wales and spent a thrilling, anxious winter tracking their movements and fretting over their fate. We’ve…

BECAUSE OF THEIR DIET, GELADAS FORM SOME OF THE LARGEST AGGREGATIONS OF ANY NON-HUMAN PRIMATE. Cecilia and her sister, Carmen, were a bit unsure of the new guy, Orion, who had just joined their group. They stayed far away from him and kept their babies close by. There was a good chance that he could hurt them or, more likely, their infants. Fortunately Doug, the father, was around to protect them. No, this isn’t a recap of a recent soap-opera episode – it’s just a day in the life of a group of geladas. If you’re ever above the clouds, on the lush plateaus of East Africa, you might find yourself surrounded by thousands of monkeys diligently foraging for food. But these animals aren’t swinging from tree branches like some…

Leaves must produce food out of thin air, or else there is no tree. Luckily for nature and all of us, they are extraordinarily good at it. There is, for example, a stupendously beautiful oak tree at Ariundle, within the Sunart oakwoods of coastal Argyll, that is perhaps 80 feet tall and of a still mightier girth of limbs. It is also an old acquaintance of mine. Consider first that the whole edifice is the work of its leaves, and that no leaf lives longer than six months. Then marvel at nature. Then believe in magic. Leaves begin life tight-packed in a bud. In spring, they start to expand, then they start to draw the sap up through the tree. How do they do that? That is absolutely my favourite…

“SOME USERS TOLD US THAT EVEN PICTURES OF DEAD RHINOS WERE LIKELY TO INSPIRE PEOPLE TO USE HORNS.” The announcement in May of this year that the governments of the USA and Vietnam were launching a new partnership to tackle wildlife crime sounded like good news, but not everybody was convinced. “I know several conservation organisations have applied for some of this money for what they call demand reduction campaigns,” says behaviour-change consultant Lynn Johnson. “I hope this money is not wasted.” In her spare time, Johnson is also the founder of Breaking The Brand, a campaign group she set up to stigmatise the use of rhino horn in the top echelons of the Vietnamese business world. Everybody agrees that the consumption of rhino horn has gone beyond seeking a…

“ON THESE SANDS, GILA MONSTERS STALK FROM SHADY LAIRS TO WOLF DOWN QUAIL EGGS” Wild West TV BBC Two Due to air at 8pm on 9 October. Check Radio Times . America’s west is wilder even than the films of John Wayne and Ford would have you believe, as this new three-part BBC Two series reveals. Each episode, narrated by actor James Norton, explores one of three contrasting habitats. Desert Heartlands delves into the arid expanses of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert and California’s Death Valley. On these sands, Gila monsters stalk from shady lairs to wolf down quail eggs, the sticky tongues of horned lizards snare harvester ants, and woodpeckers feast on the cactus bees that emerge en masse each year. There’s also love and new life among the harsh landscapes:…

In the UK, the weather is a talking point. But in much of Asia and northern Australia, all life is in thrall to the capricious moods of the monsoon. This five-part series explores the swathe of the east between the Himalayas and Australia’s Top End, where the arrival of the rains is the pivotal point of the year. Episodes chart the climatic cycle – waiting for the rains, the arrival of the deluge, the post-rains drought – as well as introducing species adapted to life on tropical islands, and peoples whose faith, culture and livelihood depend on the rains. Some characters are familiar – tigers stalking prey in monsoonal forests, orangutans swinging through the jungle – while others were filmed for the first time. Highlights include little red flying foxes…

THE SOUTH LUANGWA NATIONAL PARK Widely regarded as one of Africa’s finest Parks, the South Luangwa has a rich diversity of flora and fauna. A few permanent camps in the central part of the Park are supplemented by a network of small seasonal camps in remote areas typically catering to a maximum of six or eight guests. Walking safaris were pioneered here back in the 1950s by the legendary conservationist Norman Carr and there is simply no better way to experience the African bush. The quality of guiding in Zambia on the whole is exceptional but the guides in this Park set the standards. Night-drives provide visitors with excellent opportunities to see predators hunting, but with one of the densest populations of leopard in Africa, daytime sightings of this cat…

Sometimes it’s nice to spend the day in your pyjamas – but your whole life? This squat, rotund little cephalopod is a striped pyjama squid. It grows to only about 5cm in length, and also goes by the name of striped dumpling squid. Native to shallow coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific, it spends its days in bed – seagrass beds to be precise – buried in sand with only its eyes protruding. It emerges only at night to hunt small crustaceans and fish. Despite its sleepy habits and appearance, it is no pushover. Those distinctive stripes may be a warning to predators. When threatened it produces copious quantities of slime, which is thought to be toxic – a rare example of a poisonous predatory mollusc.…

October is a high point of the year for wildlife photographers. Migrant birds are arriving for the winter, seals are getting ready to give birth to pups, bellowing stags rut on misty mornings and fiery autumn leaves are bathed in golden afternoon light. With so much going on, it’s easy to forget about a mysterious natural wonder occurring all over the country. Weird and wonderful forms – often brightly coloured, with delicate gills – erupt from woodland undergrowth overnight, providing the perfect opportunity to get creative with your photography and really capture the magic of mushrooms. Sam Hobson Wildlife photographer LINE THEM UP Tiny brown and beige stalks could easily be overlooked when walking through deciduous woodland, but a clever composition can reveal their beauty. Macro lenses tend to…

1 OUTDOOR CLASSROOM My family and I were looking for wildlife at Clitheroe Castle, Lancashire, and we weren’t having much luck at finding anything, until we discovered a patch of flowers covered in pollinators. I took this photograph of a buff-tailed bumblebee and was able to use it to explain how the insects collect pollen to my two very young children. Danielle Hancock, Burnley, Lancashire, UK 2 SHALL WE DANCE While on a photographic safari in May, I spotted a female leopard and her 14-month-old male cub separately on a morning game drive in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya. Later, the mother and son found each other and I spent time watching them ‘play’ until the mother seemed to have had enough and cuffed her son away. Jane Gross, Uckfield, East…

Garden spider Araneus diadematus Nottinghamshire, England Jacqueline was home due to her husband’s ill health so she ventured out into the garden in search of photography inspiration. Underneath their BBQ she spotted a garden spider’s web with a tight moving cocoon in it. When the wind blew, the photographer saw spiderlings scattering in all directions. The light shone perfectly on the blue gas bottle and illuminated the youngsters. Category sponsored by Shetland Nature…

Atlantic puffin Fratercula artica Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales Skomer Island provides a fantastic habitat for ground nesting birds such as the Atlantic pu n. Rebecca spent two days on the island with her father and took the opportunity to photograph its resident sea clowns. Her image highlights the more aggressive behaviour of these charismatic seabirds during the breeding season. The young photographer had not witnessed this kind of interaction before and documented her observation with a fantastic action shot. Category sponsored by RSPB Wildlife Explorers…

Common weasel Mustela nivalis Thixendale, North Yorkshire, England When Robert spotted a weasel in his garden he seized the opportunity to watch this speedy and elusive mammal up close. The photographer left food out in specially designed boxes for the minute female predator and once she had become a reliable visitor, he developed his backyard into a ‘weasel town’. Twelve surveillance cameras placed at strategic points were linked to TV screens in Robert’s house, which enabled him to track the mustelid’s movements. He followed the female’s incredible story, from the moment she mated through to the birth of her kits. These pictures provide a fascinating insight into the secret world of a weasel family throughout all four seasons. Category sponsored by Páramo…

Dr Doolittle isn’t the only one who can talk to the animals. The Yao people of Mozambique can talk to birds, and the birds in turn, know what they are saying. Honeyguides are famous for leading human honey-hunters to bees’ nests, but new research reveals an unrecognised level of intimacy in the relationship. The hunters engage honeyguides with a specific call passed down from generation to generation. “The ‘brrr-hm’ call more than tripled the chances of a successful interaction, yielding honey for the humans and wax for the bird,” said Claire Spottiswoode of the University of Cambridge. Intriguingly, elsewhere in Africa, hunters use very different sounds for the same purpose. “We’d love to know whether honeyguides have learnt this language-like variation in human signals across Africa, allowing them to recognise…

North American peregrine falcons have recovered spectacularly since the pesticide DDT almost wiped them out in the 1960s. They have even colonised entirely new territory, including inner cities such as Chicago. “Whenever you have animals living in habitats that have been influenced by human development, you have to wonder how the animals’ life histories will be altered” said John Bates of Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. “They’re in much closer proximity to each other than they’d be in a more rural environment, and we thought they might be more promiscuous with more potential mates nearby. “Each spring this population also has migratory peregrines passing through on their way to Canada,” Bates added. “But it turns out that almost all of the mated pairs in the city remain monogamous.” Just…

PINE MARTENS KILL IN NUMBERS SO THEY CAN COME BACK FOR MORE ON SUBSEQUENT NIGHTS AND FEED THEIR FAMILY. Dusk, and a pair of pine martens is on the move. They’re hungry and searching for food but don’t have to look for long as there’s a plentiful supply of berries around. Berries are one of their main foods and it’s been a good year for rowan, but the pine martens still have to beat the Scandinavian winter thrushes, redwings and fieldfares, to the crop. The problem facing this pair of mustelids is getting at the fruit hanging off the branches, but the mammals know how to solve it. The heavier male climbs into the tree and, while the female waits below, he slowly edges along the thin branches that bend…

IN MONITORING BY NATURAL ENGLAND, JUST 1.81 PER CENT OF ITS STAFF SAID THEY HAD ETHNIC-MINORITY HERITAGE. Picture a warden at work on a nature reserve, counting nesting birds and meeting visitors. Hold onto that mental image. Now think of a super-keen young birdwatcher, a TV celebrity at a birdfair, a professor of entomology, a wildlife film-maker, a rural poet with a deep love of nature, a countryside management student, a spokesperson for a conservation charity and a student hoping to work for the prestigious United Nations Environment Programme. Did the eco-warriors you just imagined have anything in common, besides a passion for nature? Did most, by any chance, have white Anglo-Saxon ancestry? And yet while researching this article I interviewed all of these British people – and none share…

WILD FOR ALL RSPB, 2003–06 Award-winning London project in partnership with The Royal Parks. Followed by three other schemes in the capital; together they have engaged tens of thousands of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in conservation. GREEN ACADEMIES PROJECT (GAP) NATIONAL TRUST, 2009– Helps people aged 11–24 from run-down parts of the West Midlands to gain qualifications in conservation management. There are Green Academies in Newcastle/Gateshead, Wrexham, Manchester and South London. INSPIRING GENERATIONS WWT, 2012– Free action-packed day at a WWT centre, for schools with at least 20 per cent of pupils on free school dinners. “Our research shows that children from schools in poorer areas show less of an interest when they first come, but benefit most” says WWT’s Lorna Fox. ACCESS-COMMUNITY-EDUCATION (ACE) NOTTS WILDLIFE TRUST, 2013–15 Part…

Grunt A soft call that is used when a gelada approaches or grooms a group member. Display call A loud call uttered by males during competitive interactions. ‘How’ bark A loud bark used in similar situations to a display call. Wobble A soft call produced by males while ‘lip-smacking. This closely matches the cadence of human speech. Yawn A vocalised yawn, usually given while grooming, after mating or in competitive situations; in males, this is often accompanied by a ‘lip-flip. Copulation call A loud grunt given by both sexes before and after mating.…

Nearly one third of wildlife declines in the UK have been driven by the intensification of farming since 1970, conservationists say. The latest State of Nature report, published by a coalition of 52 different groups, has quantified the impacts of all the different causes of both wildlife losses and gains, from farming and climate change to urbanisation and the creation of new nature reserves. Over 60 scientists assessed the effects of 10 drivers of change on more than 400 species to produce an overall picture. The intensification of agriculture in the past five decades was judged to have had by far the biggest negative impact on nature (though there have been some positive ones, too), with climate change coming next. Climate change has had an overall positive impact to date,…

DESPITE ITS SMALL RANGE,THE LIZARD’S COLOURATION IS MORE VARIABLE THAN THAT OF ANY OTHER REPTILE ON EARTH. The sun was still low but the air was already warm as Nate Dappen, an American biologist and photographer, manoeuvred our car along one of Formentera’s bumpy gravel roads. Coming to a stop in a small parking area, we shouldered our cameras and hiked toward the sound of gentle surf. A few glittering blue-green lizards skittered off the trail and into the shadows as we passed. We emerged from the dense scrub, but the trail continued along a narrow, rocky finger stretching north to the horizon: the Trucadors Peninsula. On each side, the Mediterranean was sparkling blue and gin-clear. We weren’t alone as we continued north: early-rising beachgoers were settling on the sand,…

Secrets of the Seas: A Journey into the Heart of the Oceans By Alex Mustard and Callum Roberts Bloomsbury £25 Out 10 November 2016 Callum Roberts is a passionate and erudite professor of marine ecology. Alex Mustard captures jaw-dropping images of the underwater world. So I knew I would love any book compiled by these two champions of the seas before I even opened the cover. Though Mustard’s photography is certainly wonderful this is more than just a coffee-table book. It is impossible to simply glance at the images – rather, they draw you into a lengthy narrative, further enhanced by Roberts’ writing. His knowledge and enthusiasm bubbles over on every page. This gorgeous book is a celebration of the global marine environment, showcasing the wonder of the creatures found…

Autumnwatch (& Unsprung) TV BBC Two 24–27 October, 8pm Springwatch is a seasonal treasury of nature tales – and sometimes the series ends with a cliffhanger. So it’s a delight that Autumnwatch picks up the story of the Scottish golden eagle chick filmed so beautifully back in May, tracking its progress to fledging and beyond. The familiar team of Michaela, Chris and Martin, based this year at RSPB Arne in Dorset, will again introduce films by a range of roving presenters including biologist Gillian Burke, who will report from the south coast. As well as a celebration of autumn colours, from turning leaves to fruiting fungi, the team will look at the rutting behaviour of the little-filmed sika deer, and follow the journey of WWT’s Sacha Dench, who took to…

Every whale shark can be identified by its unique pattern of white spots Polls to find the world’s best wildlife-watching adventures invariably feature snorkelling with whale sharks. Everything about these gentle giants is superlative – they average 7–8m long, their huge jaws span up to 1.5m and they can strain 6,000 litres of seawater an hour. Yet despite their size, these filter-feeding leviathans are astonishingly graceful and placid. And there’s no better place to meet them than Ningaloo. Hugging the heavenly coastline of Western Australia’s North West Cape, Ningaloo Reef stretches for some 260km. At the northern end of the reef is the tiny township of Exmouth, which has a small airport with direct flights to Perth, while the resort of Coral Bay lies in the south. The entire reef…

CYCLE Rottnest Island “Rotto”, as the locals call it, is an island paradise without cars just 30 minutes from Perth. An A Class Nature Reserve, it’s home to 63 secluded beaches, 20 bays, and 50km of road to explore by pedal power. Freewheel between beaches before exploring Rottnest’s natural underwater sculptures, 400 species of fish and 20 species of coral. Do a guided snorkel trail at Parker Point with 12 underwater plaques along a 2km loop. Watch for stingrays in the shallows of Thomson Bay or spot bottlenose dolphins in Salmon Bay. And don’t forget to meet the quokkas! KAYAK Ningaloo Reef A new sea-kayaking trail is being developed along the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, the longest fringing reef in the world and one of Australia’s best wildlife spots. The…

Lion’s mane jellyfish Cyanea capillata St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, Scotland George was working for Scottish Natural Heritage on a project to assess the current biological status of major sea caves around some of the UK’s most remote islands when he took this amazing photograph. At the end of one of his dives he was swimming back to the boat when he came face to face with the largest coelenterate he had ever encountered. The lion’s mane jellyfish can grow up to 2m wide and is named after its very long, hair-like tentacles. As George approached cautiously he noticed a number of small fish amongst the appendages. Category sponsored by WWF…

Northern gannet Morus bassanus Bass Rock, East Lothian, Scotland The uninhabited Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth is home to the world’s largest northern gannet colony. There are approximately 150,000 seabirds nesting on the island, which is located 2km offshore. The species use every available space on the Bass to rear their young. Charles took this photo from the mainland, which captures the sheer number of gannets surrounding the ruined St Baldred’s chapel. Category sponsored by The Wildlife Trusts…

Harvest mouse Micromys minutus Moulton College, Northamptonshire, England Harvest mice have been reintroduced to many UK sites in recent years to stem the decline caused by modern farming methods. Their lifestyle above ground and tiny size make it hard to assess their survival rate and spread using traditional mammal-traps. Nick photographed some ingenious new ways of tracking released mice at Moulton College. Emily Howard-Williams is working on the study and follows these tiny mammals with help from her dog Tui. The canine sniffs out for her which feeding station grain bottles have been visited by the species. Automated microchip feeders at feeding stations around the release site also record the microchipped mice.…