Middle of the Med a dead zone?

dgadee

dgadee

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Picked up a wren (I think) today on gentle sail to Elba. It hung onto rigging for several hours. Got me thinking there was bugger all else been seen since Minorca except a few fish at anchorages. No shark fins, no turtles, only a handful of cormorants and fewer seagulls, etc.

Is it fished out here? There are protective zones all around the place but hardly any wildlife.

Have the French eaten everything?
 
Officially? No. There are however a couple of spots noted as being deadzones in the Med. Between Italy and Croatia most notably.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/v...source=embed&mid=1ZvjeRFHFayEnnmULAmZcSFCM4NI

Nasa: https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/44000/44677/dead_zones_lrg.jpg

There's this article suggesting that fish stocks are being exhausted but not quite there yet: https://phys.org/news/2017-04-state-mediterranean-fish-stocks.html

The national geographic (back in 2012 tbf) suggests that the Marine zones are the most likely place for you to see wild life, but as for how well they are policed I don't know.

https://blog.nationalgeographic.org...much-of-mediterranean-a-dead-sea-study-finds/.
 
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dgadee said:
...Long spindly legs, good size beak. Crew said something about a long tail...
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Sure it wasn't an Icterine Warbler?
Those buggers have form: We once had one come aboard about 30 miles out of Menorca, enroute to Barcelona, it ate most of the digestive biscuits, shat everywhere, then just as we approached Port Vell, it flew away heading in the direction of Monjuic, selfish bugger didn't even wait to take a line and help us moor up.
 
BobnLesley said:
Sure it wasn't an Icterine Warbler?
Those buggers have form: We once had one come aboard about 30 miles out of Menorca, enroute to Barcelona, it ate most of the digestive biscuits, shat everywhere, then just as we approached Port Vell, it flew away heading in the direction of Monjuic, selfish bugger didn't even wait to take a line and help us moor up.
Click to expand...

Birds are outwith my ken, but we have a bird book onboard. Looked like the picture of the juvenile icterine warbler.
 
Several times on deliveries across the Med Ive found floating nets over 8 miles long. Dunno if that is still the practice but it was clearly devastating.

I see a big reduction in Tuna nets now in most countries..... they almost killed off bluefin.

Bit sad really but suppose telling some local fisherman his kids aint gonna eat is sadder still.
 
After four weeks of cruising sailing in Turkey we saw our first pod of dolphins yesterday. Today, pulling down the genoa to put it away for winter, we found a small bat hanging onto the stitching at the head. About three centimetres long. Wired!
 
I once had a passenger in the middle of Biscay

dscf0240-300x225.jpg
 
Actually looks quite similar to the images of the Winter Wren, perhaps breeding season? I think the angle is making it look longer than it is. (I blew (as in expanded the image, not stuck some dynamite to it) it up several fold). See the marking above its eye?

https://avibirds.com/winter-wren/

Edited: For clarification, in case someone tries to sue for animal cruelty.
 
Winter Wren is a N American species so not likely in the Med. Picture of visitors tail also not very erect for a wren and bird not ball like, though hard to be sure from pic. Its not migratory in the Med area so dont see why it should be crossing the Med anyway
 
oldmanofthehills said:
Winter Wren is a N American species so not likely in the Med. Picture of visitors tail also not very erect for a wren and bird not ball like, though hard to be sure from pic. Its not migratory in the Med area so dont see why it should be crossing the Med anyway
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Having done more research it has become clear that other Wren's also have a similar marking across the eye so may indeed not be a Winter Wren. I'd also point out that the Wren's tail is used for balance and may adjust depending on its needs. The Wren as a whole species is indeed migratory (perhaps not the scale of geese, but still).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_wren

There are plenty of images of Wren's which do not have their tails pointed up and are not spherical, often due to how they are balanced. Yet appear to fit the characterizations of the bird in the picture. (If a bird watcher is prepared to come along and give a better classification instead of simply saying, it's not, when all indications point to: We can probably say 70% sure it's a wren, then by all means).

https://www.google.com/search?q=Wren&source=lnms&tbm=isch
 
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