BBC Wildlife - Killer Country

JULY

2022
Issue 08 Vol 40

discoverwildlife.com Meet the exotic Ibex: the ultimate
umbrellabird Alpine rock stars
Why wind farms
are bad for nature

10
TSOESAFUISNMHDMELTELHRSIS

KILLER COUNTRY

Why the orca is still making a splash
in British Columbia’s waters P40

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There’s no need
to shell out at
the seashore

COVER: DAVE HUTCHISON/ALL CANADA PHOTOS/ALAMY; THIS PAGE: ID CHART: BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION; JERSEY TIGER: LUIGI SEBASTIAN/BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION; SHELLS: ALEX HYDE/NATUREPL.COM. Homemade tipples

Homemade tipples I used to wonder where all
the shells came from
Butterfly Conservation can supply
an ID chart – and moths, such as PAUL McGUINNESS, EDITOR
the jersey tiger here, count too!
Growing up by the coast, many of my happiest
Get ready for the childhood memories are from days spent at the
Big Butter y Count seaside, splashing along the shore and exploring
the rockpools. By home time, I would invariably
The world’s largest survey have a fresh stock of interesting shells in my
of butter ies needs your bucket to take and add to my collection.
help! It takes place from
15th July until 7th August Back then, like a lot of children, I thought shells were things
and all you need to do is that animals lived in, rather than them actually being part of the
animal itself. It came as quite the eye-opener when I twigged.
nd a sunny spot, spend
15 minutes counting the Ever since my ‘road to Damascus’ moment, I’ve been fascinated
butter ies you see, and by how shells grow. Their ba ing mathematical complexity is a
submit your records via great example of the gobsmacking beauty of nature.
the website or app. Learn
more at discoverwildlife. Helen Scales’ brilliant feature about
com/bigbutter ycount. them this issue (p64) has me itching to
get back to the shoreline with my son
Keep in touch this summer and see what he’ll choose
for his own bucket.
[email protected]
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Jo Price Richard Eccleston
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Gillian Burke, Jo Caird, Laurie Campbell, Mark Carwardine, JV Chamary, Philippe Clement, Brandon Cole, Lucy Cooke, Murray Cooper,

Hannah Couzens, Mike Dilger, Theo Douma, Georgette Douwma, Oliver Edwards, Holly Exley, James Fair, Michelle Gachet,
Dave Hamilton, James Hanlon, Ben Hoare, Sam Hobson, Ross Hoddinott, Alex Hyde, Laurie Jackson, Adam Jacot de Boinod,
Richard Jones, Roz Kidman Cox, Dan Kitwood, Alexander Lees, David Lindo, James Lowen, Archie McGuinness, Alex Mustard,
Steve De Neef, Flip Nicklin, Paula Olson, Kush Patel, Marcos Ponce, Jenny Price, Andy Rouse, Helen Scales, Peter David Scott,

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4 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

SHAKE

IT UP Immerse yourself Get your
in nature this paws on a
year with a great deal
subscription
to the world’s best over on
wildlife magazine page 38!

Jul.
BBC W N . 08 V . 40

48

The Alpine ibex is thriving in the Western Alps

THE COVER

Nature photographer Dave
Hutchinson spotted a pod of
orcas playing off Vancouver
Island. “I sensed action was
going to occur and was ready
with my camera, pre-focussed
and settings dialled in for the
shot,” he says. Dave used a
Nikon D850, 300mm, 1/1600th
sec at f7.1, ISO800.

Every month, only in BBC Wildlife

NICK BAKER GILLIAN BURKE MARK CARWARDINE LUCY COOKE MIKE DILGER
“The oddest and most
interesting thing about The Springwatch presenter “The world’s first “The mole sow has The broadcaster and
star-headed liverworts is asks whether slow travel commercial octopus farm is bulging male gonads that naturalist tells us about
their sex life” P.34 may be the answer for a an appalling concept.,” says give her an evolutionary how gannets have adapted
sustainable future P.17 our frank columnist P.25 edge underground.” P.27 to dive for fish P.30
6 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

displaying

08 Wild Times 72

Catch up with all the latest Wattle it be? Discover the male long-wattled umbrellabird
developments and discoveries
BAT: THEO DOUMA/AGAMI/ALAMY; MYA ROSE: OLIVER EDWARDS; IBEX:EMILE SÉCHAUD; UMBRELLABIRD: MURRAY COOPER making headlines in the world DiscoverMORE
of wildlife
‘Birdgirl’ Mya- 82 Q&A
30 Speed of sound Rose Craig talks
about her new Are bluefin still endangered?
Mike Dilger on the fishing and book p86
breeding habits of the gannet, 86 Go Wild
Britain’s largest seabird
The Syrian refugee helping
34 Hidden Britain refugee families get back to
nature, plus our books round-up
Fertilising the tall starry heads of
the star-headed liverwort is a tricky 89 ID Guide
business, but a drop of water goes
a long way Top tips for identifying
dragonflies this summer
40 Cover feature:
killer country 97 Crossword

Orcas can still be seen off the coast Plus Spot the Difference
of British Columbia, but we find out
what is putting these apex predators 98 Photo Club
in peril
This month’s competition
48 Ibex: the ultimate
Alpine rock stars 102 Your Letters

We follow French nature Join the debate
photographer Emile Séchaud
on the trail of the Alpine ibex 106 Tales from the Bush

58 Why wind farms are bad A loo with a view in the
for nature Guyanese jungle

Renewable energy is a necessity
as we aim for net-zero carbon
emissions, but is our wildlife paying
the price?

64 10 seashells to nd
this summer

The intricate shape and form of
seashells reveal so much about their
mysterious former inhabitants

72 Meet the exotic
umbrellabird

This extravagant-looking South
American avian has long eluded the
limelight. Now, one photographer
has brought it out of the shadows

DON’T MISS...

...greater mouse-
eared bats
pretending to be
insects to avoid
predation by owls
Page 14

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 7

OLAV THOKLE What’s happening right now

BEAR’S PICNIC

Berries, fungi, mosses, grasses
and insects all make rich pickings
for a foraging brown bear. This
individual in eastern Finland,
snapped very near the Russian
border, might well be searching
forest clearings in order to
pack on the pounds before the
long winter hibernation ahead.
Surprisingly, despite having the
fearsome strength to take down
a moose, only about a third of
the bear’s diet comprises meat.

8 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 9

10 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

ALEX MUSTARD/NATUREPL.COM Keeping
an eye out
in the reefs

Community-run patrols
are guarding marine life
against illegal shing

T RA
are home to the greatest diversity
of marine species anywhere in the
world, boasting an estimated 1,400 fish
species and over 550 species of coral.
Yet the creatures that live there, such
as this margined sole (Brachirus heterolapis),
seen here in extreme close-up, face intense
pressure from both climate change and
destructive fishing practices, including the
use of dynamite and cyanide.

Blast fishing is illegal worldwide,
but local authorities simply don’t have
the resources to effectively police Raja
Ampat’s entire marine area (which covers
46,000 km2). Fortunately, community-run
monitoring groups – known as Pokmaswas
– have stepped in to fill the gaps, with local
fishers, both women and men, patrolling
in their own boats. They report any illegal
fishing activity via Whatsapp groups that
include representatives from the marine
police, the park agency and the Indonesian
navy, who can respond straightaway.

MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER

“Finding it is the

rst challenge”

British underwater photographer
Alex Mustard spotted this margined
sole fish on a patch of sandy seabed
off the small island of Sanoek in the
Raja Ampat archipelago.
“The photographic
challenge is telling
the story of the
camouflage,”
he says.
“Either the
viewer can’t
work out what
they are seeing
or they’ll think it
isn’t camouflaged
at all!”

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 11

Moving
on up

Climate change is causing dragon ies
to dramatically expand their ranges

W,
dragonflies are the canaries in the coal mine.
Arguably more than any other group of
animals, they are showing dramatic changes
in distribution, with some species advancing
north and west, and new arrivals reaching
the south (eight species have colonised the UK since
1995). A recent survey, ‘State of Dragonflies in Britain
and Ireland 2021’, reported that the emperor dragonfly
has expanded its range the most, pushing into much of
Scotland, where it was not found before 2003.

A truly impressive beast, the emperor is our largest
and heaviest dragonfly, both in its adult and aquatic
larval form. June and July are peak season for the flying
adults – and indeed for many dragonfly and damselfly
species. Females have a green abdomen, males blue,
while the huge eyes can be either colour.

They are fast and powerful fliers, and you’ll seldom
see one resting on waterside vegetation. Like hobbies
and some other falcons, they may devour prey in midair,
passing it to the jaws with their bristly legs. Ben Hoare

12 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

A male emperor
dragonfly, caught at a

rare moment of rest

The conservationist
John A Burton, who
died on 22nd May
2022 at the age of 78

OBITUARY

JOHN A BURTON

1944 2022

A, It was in 1971 that he became assistant
right reasons, John A Burton editor of this magazine – at that time called
ditched school for an education in Animals – staying in post for a year. He
the woods, fields and bomb sites went on to become a long-term contributor
around his South London home. – campaigning among other things to bring
He was already a brilliant naturalist back the lynx – and eventually joined BBC

by his early teens though eschewed Wildlife’s advisory board.

university in favour of fieldwork. In 1975, at the age of 31, he became

The one institution he loved was the the first leader of IUCN’s TRAFFIC

Natural History Museum. Based on his International – the trade watchdog – and DRAGONFLY:ROSS HODDINOTT; JOHN BURTON:DAVID BEBBER/WLT

field skills alone, in 1963 he executive secretary (CEO)

got a job there, as assistant He was always of FFPS, now Fauna and
information officer. Then at the head Flora International – a
in 1969 he became assistant of the wave supporter of on-the-ground
editor of the partwork conservation groups.

Birds of the World. John’s In 1988, he and his wife

subsequent journey through Viv Burton set up the highly

the world of wildlife journalism and effective World Land Trust, of which he

conservation is long and varied, but he was was CEO for 30 years, fundraising through

always at the head of the wave. the simple idea of ‘selling’ acres to help

In 1970 he became a consultant to the local conservation groups buy valuable

fledgling Friends of the Earth, lobbying habitats. He died on Biodiversity Day,

for changes in legislation. He was also 22nd May 2022.

founding chairman of the Bat Conservation Roz Kidman Cox, former BBC Wildlife editor

Trust. By that point, he was writing and

editing natural history books – more than Look out for a full feature on John A Burton

40 by the end of his life. and his conservation work next month.

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 13

Buzzing bats
bamboozle birds

In the rst documented case
of its kind in a mammal, a bat
sounds like an insect to
scare o bat-eating birds

R’ Now a team of researchers, led by the birds heard calls recorded from relaxed
can be a good way for a potential Danilo Russo from Università degli Studi bats, they often approached the speakers, an
prey species to deceive a predator. di Napoli Federico II in Italy, has found effect strongest in owls that had spent some
Some harmless, palatable insects what is claimed to be ‘acoustic mimicry’ in time in the wild. But the owls moved away
mimic distasteful ones to deter a mammal. The study was developed after from recordings of both distressed bats
hungry birds, for example, often Russo noticed that greater mouse-eared bats and hornets, suggesting that by mimicking
through conspicuous warning (Myotis myotis) made loud buzzing noises a stinging insect, greater mouse-ears could
colouration that gives a false when handled, akin to those made deter predators.
impression of nastiness. Known by hornets and wasps.
as ‘Batesian mimicry’ after the Victorian The researchers reckon that there’s
naturalist who discovered it in Amazonian This was confirmed by now fresh scope to explore the
butterflies, the effect has fascinated computer-based analysis of evolutionary meaning of sonic
evolutionary scientists, from Charles Darwin greater mouse-eared bat mimicry of insects. Sounds
onwards, for 160 years. distress calls and those from like it would be music to
several stinging insects. Darwin’s ears. Kenny Taylor
Most examples involve visible overlap
between creatures that are very different in Russo’s team then played Danilo Russo has identified
terms of food potential. Deceptive mimicry recordings of both hornets acoustic mimicry in bats
using sound is noticed much less often. and bats to captive owls, and
filmed their reactions. When

14 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

A spotted
flycatcher's prey
includes moths
and butterflies

Steve
Backshall
presents
spotted
flycatchers on
Tweet of
the Day

Catch me if you can

From common visitor to rare sighting, the spotted
ycatcher is more precious than ever

Tof those ‘little brown jobs’ that Down, describes the flycatcher’s there-and- BAT: THEO DOUMA/AGAMI/ALAMY; SPOTTED FLYCATCHER:ERIC WOODS; SIR DAVID: ANDREW MATTHEWS POOL/GETTY
somehow still has bags of charisma. back sallies as “crochet loops” – as if the bird
Its pale brown and white plumage is is stitching the air.
unremarkable – dull, even. Despite
this, it is an entertaining bird to watch For birders over the age of 40, mention
on a July day because of its habit of sitting of this summer migrant is tinged with
on an exposed twig, flitting out to catch a sadness, for its British population has
passing insect with an audible snap, turning crashed during their lifetime, a decline of
180° and landing back on the same perch. 87 per cent between 1967 and 2016. Old
Nicola Chester, in her book On Gallows bird books treat it as a common visitor to
gardens, churchyards and woodland glades;
now, any sighting is a red-letter day. BH

IN BRIEF David was FACT.
knighted
Royal honour in 1985 Mixing chemicals
can be deadly –
The greater mouse- David Attenborough – ask a bombardier
eared bat feeds on who is the same age as the
larger flying and Queen at 96 years old – has beetle. If
ground insects received a prestigious royal threatened,
honour for his services to it opens two
television, broadcasting and chambers in
conservation. The accolade, its abdomen
Knight Grand Cross of the to create an
Order of St Michael and St explosion of
George, was awarded by the boiling poison.
Prince of Wales at a special
investiture ceremony held at discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 15
Windsor Castle.

The non-native Welcome ROSE:GEORGETTE DOUWMA/GETTY; HARLEQUIN:SABENA JANE BLACKBIRD/ALAMY; TWO SPOT:JAMES LOWEN
harlequin ladybird garden
(inset) is a cause of guests
the two-spot ladybird's
population decline The characterful
two-spot is just one of
ORIGIN our 46 ladybird species

OF PIECES Lcolourful and abundant beetles, but
people are often only familiar with the
AN ANATOMICAL MISCELLANY seven-spot variety and don’t realise
Britain actually has 46 species (there’s
A rose’s thorns a great guide at discoverwildlife.com).
Many are named after their number of
O, spots, though names can be misleading. The
and prickles are different names for two-spot ladybird can boast as many as 16
the same things. Botanists would spots. You may well have the species in your
disagree, though. They are different
structures used for a common garden or local park: it’s frequent in urban
purpose: defence against hungry and suburban areas. Consider yourself
herbivores. Spines – most spectacularly lucky if you do, as it is every gardener’s
deployed by cacti – are highly modified friend, a voracious predator of ‘pest’
leaves. Thorns are pointed branches or aphids such as greenflies.
stems. While a hawthorn’s thorns are true Entomologists have long known
thorns, a rose’s famous ‘thorns’ are actually that the recent population decline
prickles – outgrowths from the bark more in several ladybirds, this one among
akin to thick, sturdy hairs. Stuart Blackman them, is due partly to the spread of
another ladybird, the harlequin. The
16 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022 invasive species, originally from Asia,
unfortunately preys on the larvae, pupae

and eggs of its relatives. BH

A rose's ‘thorns’
help protect the
plant from predators

I Catch up with
anymore. We are, after all, in Springwatch
a climate emergency. Yet, there
I stood in a queue, making on iPlayer.
painfully slow progress towards a glum-
looking immigration official in Nairobi’s Slow travel is
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. about taking
Meanwhile, a herd of elephants, wild and your time not
free, could be seen moving serenely across packing things in
the TV screens mounted throughout the
terminal. As they basked in the backlit glow OPINION
of an African sunset, it was as if they were
mocking the human spectacle below. GILLIAN BURKE
Wild animals did once roam free, not just
on the TV screens, but on the very soil where “Could we travel the world,
the airport now stands. This is recent enough without costing the earth?”
for me to remember keeping a watchful eye
HANNAH COUZENS for the long neck of a giraffe rising above the slow travellers go completely flight-free, What if things were different? What if,
acacias around the airport perimeter. finding their way around the globe by any as in Iceland, we embraced shorter working
Air travel has done more than contribute other means available. A more moderate weeks and flexible working hours? What if
to a warming planet: it has literally robbed approach to travel is simply to slow down sabbaticals were encouraged and mental health
these animals of a home to serve tourists and and seek deeper connection to people and breaks prescribed? With the huge strides that
film crews alike as they flock to Kenya. It environment – the net effect is an altogether have been made in remote working, for at least
has enabled us to reach the remotest corners more sustainable experience. some professions, you might find you can even
of the globe so that we can experience and take your job with you.
share the natural wonders of our beautiful There are a few snags, however. As the
planet. But there is one big elephant in name implies, slow travel takes more time, Slow travel may not be for everyone,
the room: our passion also helps pump up something regrettably few of us have enough but for those of us that make up this merry
carbon emissions and destroy habitats. of. My mind is quick to pounce on this as a band of wildlife travellers, this feels like
If I know all this, then what was I doing reason why slow travel won’t work. But isn’t the leading edge of a movement that could
there along with all the other travellers? I it strange how it is easier to argue for the transform the way we all travel in years to
wanted to see my mum. But was this enough world we know, when we could be fighting come. Just imagine it: a way of seeing the
to break my flight-free pledge? I have had the for the world we dream of? world, without costing the earth.
good fortune of living and working on every
continent bar Antarctica. Now, as I begin
the hopefully slow descent to my inevitable
touchdown, my plan is to move to a cabin in
the woods, grow hairy and die.
Family ties aside, reeling in my horizons
and going flight-free is an easy sell. But what
about my children? My daughter wants to
see Hawaii and my son dreams of Siberia.
What would flight-free holidays mean for
future generations? And what of the wildlife
and communities that now depend on
eco-tourism? If ever there was a moment
for an ‘It’s not easy being green’ hashtag,
this surely is it.
For the most part, travel has gone the
way of fast food, one-click shopping and
swipe-right dating, where instant holiday
gratification means crash-landing into a
fantasy world of all-you-can-eat buffets,
pool parties and open bars. Before I talk
myself into booking an all-inclusive, there
is another way.
Slow travel is the art of exploring
the world by becoming fully immersed
in the environment. At its most extreme,

For further reading, try
Slow Travel: A Movement
by Penny Watson and
Overland: Travelling with No
Plan by Richard Kauffman

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 17

Common blue
butterflies are the
most widespread of
our blue butterflies

BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR

On drowsy July days, male common blue butterflies dazzle like
scraps of summer sky that have fallen to Earth. Research has
shown that the colouration is a form of territorial defence,
warning rivals against flying over ‘their’ piece of grassland heaven.
Females, by contrast, have mostly brown upper wings in many
regions – except Scotland and Ireland, where they’re usually bluer.

18 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

Sericomyrmex Alexandra Narváez
radioheadi was the first woman
to join La Guardia
10 celebrity forest patrol
species names
COMMON BLUE:ROSS HODDINOTT; GREAT TIT:GETTY; ANT:ANA JESOVNIK; ALEXANDRA NARVÁEZ X2 : MICHELLE GACHET/GOLDMAN ENVIRONMENTAL PRIZE MEET THE SCIENTIST
Many scientists have taken inspiration from
popular culture when naming new species Alexandra Narváez

1 ALEIODES SHAKIRAE Wasp species Goldman Environmental Prize 2022 winner for
named after the Colombian singer- environmental activism against illegal gold mining
songwriter Shakira
TG E P which was formed in 2017 to monitor and
2 PLINTHINA BEYONCEAE Horse fly halt illegal activities taking place in Cofán
with a golden abdomen, named after honours the achievements of grassroots territory. It was La Guardia that discovered
the popstar Beyoncé that the Ecuadorian government had issued
environmental activists from around 20 large-scale mining concessions without
3 HETERAGRION FREDDIEMERCURYI informing or consulting the community.
ET AL Damselflies named after the the world. Alexandra Narváez and Alex
four members of the rock band Queen While Narváez organised patrols and
Lucitante from Ecuador were announced served as the spokesperson for Sinangoe,
4 SERICOMYRMEX RADIOHEADI Alex Lucitante organised the legal and media
Ant named after the band Radiohead, as joint winners of one of this year’s prizes. strategies. “The legal precedents that we
honouring their environmental activism achieved in 2018 and in 2022 have inspired
The pair led an indigenous movement to other communities to fight for their land and
5 PINKFLOYDIA A genus of orb-weaver stand up for their rights,” says Narváez.
spiders was named after the rock band protect their people’s ancestral territory “We all have the responsibility to take care
of the planet and say ‘yes’ to life.” Jo Price
6 ETMOPTERUS BENCHLEYI The ninja from gold mining. Their efforts resulted
lanternshark was named after Jaws
author Peter Benchley in a historic legal victory in October 2018,

7 BAICALELLIA DAFTPUNKA Flatworm when Ecuador’s courts cancelled 52 illegal
named after the electronic music duo
gold-mining concessions. Their action also
8 PRISTIMANTIS GRETATHUNBERGAE
A rainfrog, one of many species
named after the environmental activist

9 ELSEYA IRWINI Turtle discovered by
the late zookeeper Steve Irwin

10 NANNARIA SWIFTAE Millipede named
after the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift

contributed to the country’s supreme court

IN BRIEF ruling for stronger land rights for indigenous

communities in early 2022.

Great tits are “The A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe
the largest of consists of about 300 people, and we protect
about 63,000ha of land, including some of
the UK’s tits the most biodiverse flora and fauna in the
world,” says Narváez. The Sinangoe live
Boxing clever on the shores of the Aguarico River, in the
Ecuadorian province of Sucumbíos and
The famous University of Oxford have relied on the natural environment
study of great tits at Wytham Woods for subsistence farming, hunting and wild
celebrates its 75th anniversary this harvesting for thousands of years.
year. The project, which involves 1,209
nestboxes, has produced more than “I saw my father, as a former president Alexandra Narváez (right) while on patrol with
350 research papers on the birds’ of the community, always leading, and La Guardia in Ecuador
ecology, evolution and behaviour. my grandfather emphasising the need to
This year, the first egg was laid a preserve our culture and land,” she says.
month earlier than in 1947. “Although it was all our responsibility to
defend our territory, I didn’t see a lot of
women taking up the fight.” Narváez decided
to join a forest patrol called La Guardia,

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 19

Spoonbills have FISH: REINHARD DIRSCHERL/ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY; SPOONBILL:GETTY; SLAMANDER: MARCOS PONCE
been breeding in
the UK since 2010

Panamanian
scientists
saw red!

Warm reception NEW SPECIES DISCOVERY

Amateur naturalists tend to be welcoming of Chiriquí re
species arriving on our shores in a changing world salamander

Ato rising temperatures, a new survey rise. Nearly two per cent of our native WHAT IS IT?
by the University of Exeter reveals species, including the little bittern, This brightly coloured amphibian is a
that wildlife enthusiasts are broadly spoonbill, small red-eyed damselfly (see p22) newly described salamander, encountered
welcoming of new arrivals from and the mottled shieldbug, arrived on our by Panamanian scientists during an
mainland Europe. shores only after 1900. expedition. Bolitoglossa cathyledecae can
Britain is currently gaining more species be distinguished from its close relatives
than it is losing, according to Regan Early, The survey, published in People and by its colour (pinkish flesh with flame
who led the new research. While some of Nature, sought the opinions of people who scarlet speckles), the appearance of the
these additions have been introduced – are actively involved in recording UK wildlife. webbing on its hands and feet, and the
deliberately or accidently – by humans from “Understanding how people think about fact it has more upper teeth. The scientists
far-flung places, often to the detriment of these species is incredibly important if we suggest that it should be classified as
are to decide how to treat them,” says Early. critically endangered by the IUCN due
resident wildlife, many to its restricted distribution and the high
others have made their “Wildlife recorders viewed range-shifters likelihood of anthropogenic pressure in the
own way here by more as vulnerable ‘ecological refugees’ than areas it inhabits.
expanding their as threatening ‘climate opportunists’,” the
ranges northwards scientists found. Respondents expressed WHERE IS IT?
as temperatures strong opposition to eradicating or The team had been investigating the
controlling range-shifters, although they Panamanian side of Cordillera de
The University of were not in favour of efforts to actively Talamanca, one of the least-explored
Exeter’s Regan Early conserve them or to boost their numbers. regions of Central America. The species
led the research into was found in the Boquete district in
range-shifters There is little evidence that range- Chiriquí province, at an altitude of 1,900m.
shifters, unlike introduced species, have
20 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022 negative impacts on resident wildlife, WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND THE
according to Early. Stuart Blackman SCIENTIFIC NAME?
The scientists honoured Cathy Ledec,
a long-time supporter of conservation
organisations working to preserve the
habitat of neotropical salamanders.

Find out more: bit.ly/ChiriquiFireSalamander

IN BRIEF

Tra c calming

Scientists cut noise
from motorboats
on three reefs in
Australia for an
entire breeding
season. They
tracked the
breeding of
spiny chromis and
found 65 per cent of
nests on quieter reefs
still contained offspring at the end of
the season, compared to 40 per cent
on reefs with busy motorboat traffic.

ZAMBIA

LET’S EXPLORE

To start your exploration, contact us via

[email protected] | www.zambia.travel

zambiatourism tourismzambia tourismzambia

The common winter
damselfly could be
pioneering natural
range expansion in a
changing climate

Lost & Found

VAGRANT SPECIES DIARY

Common winter damsel y

WTerry Crow posted pictures online the footsteps of others such as the southern IN BRIEF
in May of an apparent common and willow emeralds, and the small red-eyed
blue damselfly he’d seen near damselfly – the latter two are now common Monkey hybrid
Southampton, he couldn’t have and widespread in southern England.
expected what was to come. His A primate spotted in a Bornean
subject was reidentified as a female common Rarer damselflies are easily overlooked, forest fragment is a thought to be a
winter damselfly – potentially only the being small and similar in appearance to hybrid between a proboscis monkey
second British record following one found commoner congeners. Once a new colonist and a silvered leaf monkey, reports
inside a house in South Wales in 2009 and species is on the radar for enthusiasts,
a presumed vagrant that may have come other colonies are often quickly discovered, International Journal of
from somewhere along the French coast. although it’s too early to say whether that’s Primatology. The find is
what’s likely to happen here. This individual yet further evidence of
The species, like the similar Siberian could be an exceptionally rare visitor the ecological turmoil
winter damselfly, overwinters in its adult doomed never again to see its own kind, part that has followed
form, hence its name. Its geographical of an undiscovered colony, or it may become the destruction of
range includes northern Africa, southern a colony founder itself if it can find a mate. lowland rainforests.
and central Europe, and western Asia. It
has occurred (and possibly bred) on the This occurrence highlights how social
Channel Islands and has been tipped as a media and the internet has revolutionised
potential UK colonist, expected to follow in the discovery of those lost – or perhaps not
so lost – rare visitors to our shores.

James Hanlon
DAMSELFLY:RAMOS HERNANZ IGNACIO/ALAMY
MONKEY:NICOLE LEE; RAGWORT:LAURIE CAMPBELL

22 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

Poet John Clare
revelled in ragwort’s
simple beauty: “...thou

humble flower with
tattered leaves...”

SUNNY SIDE UP

This golden wildflower, seemingly everywhere in July, is the hen
harrier or fox of the plant world – stunning, native, yet reviled
by many. The notorious 1959 Weeds Act deems it a menace on
grounds where it can be toxic to livestock. However, they would
need to eat large amounts to su er, and studies show ragwort is
one of Britain’s most valuable plants for pollinators.

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 23

Vaquitas in the Gulf Vaquita not vanquished
of California, Mexico.
Below: a vaquita New research provides a thread of hope for the future
caught in a gillnet for of the world’s smallest – and rarest – cetacean
sharks and other fish

A, samples from preserved specimens shows
the world’s most endangered marine that vaquitas’ genetic diversity has always
mammal, which is now confined to been low.
a small refuge in Mexico’s Gulf of
California. The vaquita’s decline – “Genetically they still have the
the result of entanglement in gillnets diversity that let them thrive for hundreds
– has been precipitous. Numbers have fallen of thousands of years, until the gillnets
from 567 in 1997 to just 10, all confined to a arrived,” says Jacqueline Robinson of the
24km-by-12km area in the north of the gulf. University of California, first author of the
study published in Science.
There are also concerns that recovery
might be further hampered by inbreeding, The team estimates that, if gillnet
which is inevitable within such a small fishing can be entirely eliminated within
population. But a new analysis of tissue the vaquita’s range, the chances of recovery
are high. Stuart Blackman

COLLECTIVE The collective noun RHINOS:DAVID WALL/ALAMY; GILLNET:FLIP NICKLIN/MINDEN/NPL; VAQUITAS:PAULA OLSON/NOAA
for rhinos is linked to
NOUNS
their poor eyesight
WHAT’S IN A NAME?

A crash of
rhinoceroses

T‘ ’
refers to the fact that while a rhino
can run up to 48kph it can only see
9m ahead. So, when a number of them
move at full speed, they’re not exactly
sure what is in front of them and
hence could cause a crash. As big herbivores
they impact their habitat by spreading seeds
around and disrupting vegetation. Their
other collective nouns include herd as well
as stubbornness. Adam Jacot de Boinod

24 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

’ At up to 27m long and
octopus farm, in the Canary weighing almost 80
Islands, aims to be fully operational tonnes, the fin is the
by 2023, and to produce 3,000 second largest species
tonnes of octopus meat a year by of animal on Earth after
2026. It’s an appalling concept. the blue whale.
It consumes nearly 2
The world’s appetite for tonnes of food daily.
octopus is growing exponentially:
Pacific giant
Tat least 420,000 tonnes is caught octopuses have
learnt to open
each year (more than 10 times the amount jars, mimic other
caught in 1950) and annual global trade in octopuses and
octopuses is now worth $2.72bn. solve mazes

Not surprisingly, most of the world’s “It’s the beginning of a slippery slope
biggest octopus fisheries, in China, Japan, – a disaster waiting to happen”
Morocco, Mauritania and the EU (mainly
Spain, Portugal and Italy), are already MARK CARWARDINE
over-exploited.
OPINION
The owners of the new octopus farm
argue that it is the only way to ensure I think they are among the least-suited renowned escape artists, clearly do not like
sustainability while satisfying demand. But
that’s rubbish. It’s the beginning of a slippery animals in the world for commercial farming being kept in tanks.
slope – a disaster waiting to happen.
– and that’s saying something. Yet, where Octopus is a delicacy – not a staple
There are three fundamental problems.
Octopus farms are likely to stimulate a octopus farming is being developed, there food. It’s particularly popular in South Korea
greater worldwide demand for octopus,
which will add to the growing pressure are no laws to regulate their welfare or (where live animals are cut up and served
on wild stocks; as with many forms of
aquaculture (the fastest-growing food- farming practices. raw, still wriggling on the plate), Japan,
producing sector in the world) they will
hoover up wild stocks of other overfished Fortunately, octopus farming Spain, Italy, Portugal, Mexico and, lately,
species (fish, prawns, crabs and mussels) to
feed the octopuses – which consume about is far from easy. The prize the USA.
three times their weight in food a day; and,
quite simply, octopus farming is unethical. is cultivating an animal that “Octopuses are Many other countries
grows quickly, reproduces impressively eat smaller quantities (about
Octopuses are about as close to easily and commands a bright, capable of 1,300 tonnes of octopus is
intelligent aliens as we’re ever likely to get. high price, but concerted consumed in the UK every
They have three hearts, blue blood, eight
BRANDON COLE/NATUREPL.COM sucker-covered arms and nine ‘brains’ (each efforts in Australia, Mexico, learning, solving year). But it’s a luxury
arm can act intelligently on its own). Hawaii and Japan have so problems, playing product. By no stretch of the
far failed to solve the myriad imagination is it essential to
They can change colour and texture to
match their environment – or their mood challenges it poses. and using tools.” food security.
– and their boneless, eight-legged bodies The delicate larvae eat The only intelligent
have no fixed shape. The largest species, the
giant Pacific octopus, has an average arm only live food and need a solution is a complete
span of 16 feet and yet can squeeze through
an opening just a few inches wide (the only carefully controlled environment (which worldwide ban on octopus farming. And
limiting factor is its tough beak).
is why, until now, octopus ‘farming’ has those affluent consumers will just have
Most of all, they are impressively bright,
capable of learning, solving problems, playing involved capturing young octopuses in the to pay more for increasingly scarce, wild
and using tools. Indeed, the Animal Welfare
(Sentience) Act 2022, which is moving

slowly through our own
Parliament, specifically
includes octopuses as
sentient beings.

Conservationist
Mark Carwardine
highlights the
fundamental
problems with
farming octopuses

wild and growing them to market size in octopus (or, better still, not eat them

aquatic pens). at all). Surely, we’re not going to repeat

The adults are highly territorial and the mistakes we’ve already made with

solitary by nature and, given that they’re factory-farmed terrestrial animals?

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 25

The colouration of
a green shore crab
relates to its age
and whether it is
breeding season

On the rocks

It’s prime time for rockpooling, and the green shore crab is the star of the show

W rockpools in the summer? In are “as silent and beautiful and claws. Often, one bigger pincer acts a
his brilliant book The Sea is Not full of threat as any rats’ alley or crusher, while the small one is used
Made of Water, Adam Nicolson Roman circus”. for cutting.
calls these magical miniature
habitats “half-worlds”. The Crabs are near the top of any If you’re bold enough to pick a crab
book has several chapters on myriad rockpooler’s spotting list, and the up, placing a finger each side of the shell,
animals that call them home. Rockpools green shore crab is the species you will gently turn the animal over. In males, the
probably find. In French, it is le crab central plate is pointed and triangular; it
enragé, as it defends itself with open is rounded in females. BH

26 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

FEMALE

OF THE SPECIES

EUROPEAN MOLE

Lucy Cooke on a mammal with an
extraordinary evolutionary edge

Wildcat lifelineCRAB:JASON STEEL; CAT:ANDY ROUSE/NPL CAPTIVE ; WHALE SHARK:STEVE DE NEEF/VW PICS/GETTYT I’ Talpa europaea
ILLUSTRATION BY HOLLY EXLEYunderground to meet a highlyrarely emerge
The first eight Scottish wildcat kittens secretive female: enemy above ground
were born at the Highland Wildlife number one of the landscape
Park this spring as part of the Saving gardener and greedy consumer evolutionary path and formed a useful new
Wildcats project. The hope is that of worms. I’m talking about the digit for shifting extra earth. But perhaps
the youngsters, whose parents are mole (Talpa europaea). most impressive of all are the female mole’s
genetically close to pure-bred wildcats, Most of you will be familiar bulging male gonads.
will eventually be released. “These with the mole’s handiwork,
kittens are the future of wildcats if not the beast itself. Their conical Described as ‘ovotestes’, these internal
in Scotland,” says Saving Wildcats piles of freshly turned earth can make a reproductive organs consist of ovarian tissue
conservation manager, David Barclay. manicured lawn look like a chronic case at one end and testicular tissue at the other.
of acne – the ultimate pain in the grass. The ovary side produces eggs and expands
UP during the short breeding season, from
The female mole – known as a sow March to May.
DOWN – is indeed a wondrous creature: a solo
operator who makes her living by hunting Once the job of reproduction is done,
Whale sharks worms using a network of tunnels that act this egg-making tissue shrinks, and her
killed by ships as her own form of animal trap. When a testicular tissue expands until it is actually
worm pushes through her subway ceiling, larger than the ovarian. It doesn’t produce
Whale shark numbers have declined she quickly sniffs it out using a long pink sperm, but it does pump out testosterone,
steeply in recent years. A University of snout that can actually smell in stereo – each which gives the mole sow an evolutionary
Southampton tagging study, published nostril acts independently, allowing her brain edge underground: extra digging power and
in Proceedings of the National to accurately compute the direction added hostility for defending her pups and
Academy of Sciences, reveals this is of dinner in the pitch black. worm larder.
due to collisions with ships. Whale
shark migration paths coincide with Once caught she doesn’t kill her quarry Such high levels of testosterone also give
shipping lanes – as plankton feeders, immediately, but paralyses it with her the sow genitalia that are indistinguishable
the sharks often swim just below the venomous saliva so it can be stored alive in a
surface, making them very vulnerable. specially constructed larder without rotting. from the male’s, including a vagina that
As many as 470 wrigglers have been recorded seals up outside of breeding. From
in one mole’s pantry, which is helpful as she a gonadal, hormonal and genital
needs to consume over half her body weight level the female mole challenges
in worms each day. age-old assumptions about
what distinguishes the sexes.
Life underground is tough. Burrowing It illustrates the extraordinary
earth is exhausting and there’s little plasticity of sex and its
oxygen to breathe. To survive this hostile expression in nature.
environment, evolution has equipped the
female mole with some extremely
cunning specialisations.

Her specialised red blood
cells enable her to eliminate
toxic waste gases from her
blood more efficiently, and she
sports an extra ‘thumb’. Just
like the panda, a bone from her
wrist has shot off on its own

Catch Lucy is a broadcaster,
up with zoologist and author of
Political Bitch: A Revolutionary
Animals, Lucy’s recent Guide to Sex, Evolution
three-part series and the Female Animal.

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 27

Rabbits can turn their Breeding
ears 180° to listen out like rabbits
for signs of danger
High predation means that
POO multiple litters are a must

CORNER BJ , ,
does, will already be raising their
ID GUIDE third or fourth litter – and some
born earlier in the spring are now old
Noble chafer enough to breed for the first time.
Not for nothing do we talk about
Rare in the UK, noble chafer beetles are ‘breeding like rabbits’! The phrase can be
found in old, hollowing fruit trees in traditional offensive, but in rabbit terms the behaviour
orchards and in old beech and oak trees in the is crucial, given their many predators.
New Forest. “The larvae feed on the rotting
heartwood inside living trees, and produce Rabbits have a hierarchical breeding
droppings called frass,” says Laura Bower, system, which means lower-ranking does
are kept away from the best burrows. Forced
conservation officer at wildlife to use less attractive areas, their kittens
charity People’s Trust for are even more likely to be predated. Fights
Endangered Species. between does can be vicious.
“Sometimes you just find
frass scattered amongst In his new book, Birds, Beasts and
the wood mould but Bedlam, conservationist Derek Gow says
occasionally, if you it was impossible to keep two does in the
disturb a loose piece of artificial warren he constructed for BBC
bark, it can pour out of Two series The Burrowers. They would
the base of hollow trees.” always fight to the death. BH
Megan Shersby
The pellet-like
28 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022 droppings of the
noble chafer are

called frass

CHAFER:ROSS BOWER; DROPPINGS: PTES; RABBITS: LAURIE CAMPBELL

Global bird The endangered secretary
populations bird will hopefully not
face huge follow the path of the
declines now-extinct Alagoas

Human behaviour is to foliage-gleaner (below)
blame for the downward
spiral of bird species
– but there is hope

Apopulations around the world is being
driven by increasingly destructive
human impacts, say scientists in a
stark new global review.
Half of all the world’s 11,000 bird
species are undergoing population declines,

while just six per cent are increasing, lead author of the study from Manchester

according to BirdLife International’s State Metropolitan University. With the

SLOW WORM: KRISTIAN BELL/GETTY; ALEXANDER: ROBERT MARTIN; GLEANER: of the World’s Birds report. With the best continuing collapse of natural habitats, the
ANDY & GILL SWASH/AGAMI/ALAMY; SECRETARY BIRD: ALEXANDER LEES
available data coming from North America review warns that the world is entering a

and Europe, almost 3 billion individual birds period of unparalleled change.

have been lost in North America since 1970, “We are now witnessing the first

with a loss of up to 620 million individual signs of a new wave of extinctions of

birds across Europe since 1980. continentally distributed bird species,

The review identifies the key human which has followed the historic loss of

activities having a negative impact on birds, species on islands, like the Dodo,” says Lees. the black-browed albatross, where mitigation
measures have reduced albatross bycatch
from the destruction of natural habitat and The near-total destruction of the Atlantic fatalities in the hake trawl fisheries of South
Africa by up to 99 per cent.
the climate crisis to pesticides, pollution and forests of north-east Brazil for sugar cane
“The good news is that conservation
invasive species. production, for example, has led to does work, and we have turned various
species away from extinction through
The fate of the world’s the extinction of three endemic conservation,” says Lees, adding that people
have a vital role to play in reversing the
birds is viewed as a valuable bird species within the past decline in bird populations.

barometer as to the state of two decades: the Pernambuco “The decisions we take on a daily basis
as individuals over what we buy and eat all
the natural world. “We use pygmy-owl; the Alagoas add up to the human impact on the planet.”

birds as indicators of the foliage-gleaner; and the Simon Birch

health of global ecosystems cryptic treehunter.

because we know more Despite the plentiful bad

about birds than any other news, the review nonetheless

group of animals,” explains Lead author highlights conservation

ornithologist Alexander Lees, Alexander Lees success stories such as that of

FROM THE BBC WILDLIFE ARCHIVE July 1998 NEXT ISSUE

Reptiles among the relics SLOW WORM

Discovering a species somewhere unexpected is always intriguing – so imagine Learn why the female
Andrea Bonetti’s surprise when he came across a population of chameleons among slow worm gives
Roman relics in Greece that were far larger than those living in the rest of Europe. birth to hatchlings
“I suspected that I’d found something special, but I couldn’t prove it,” writes Bonetti and not eggs like
in the July 1998 issue. DNA sequencing later confirmed that the animals are fellow reptiles
ancestors of Chamaeleo africanus, a species thought to have been introduced to
the Mediterranean by the Romans, who were known to keep chameleons as pets. discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 29

Mike Dilger’s

WILDLIFE SPECTACLES

The broadcaster, naturalist and tour guide shares the
most breathtaking seasonal events in Britain

SPEED OF
SOUND

GANNETS “Rocky cli s,
islands and
Be wowed by torpedo-like gannets stacks transform
plunging into the sea for sh during into noisy
seabird cities”
the summer breeding season
Watch Deadly
CHICK: SAM HOBSON/NATUREPL.COM; UNDERWATER: SCOTLAND: THE BIG PICTURE/NATUREPL.COM B’, sites such as Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth Predators to see
windswept coastlines are the must- are truly gannet-free zones. Steve Backshall
visit habitat for any ardent ‘spectacle
spotter’ come high summer. For this Gannets are generally monogamous and testing the
is when a select number of rocky long-lived species, with breeding success speed of a
cliffs, islands and stacks become enhanced by mate fidelity. Well-established gannet dive
transformed into noisy seabird cities, with pairs will not only return to the same
guillemots jostling for ledge space with ancestral site year upon year, but may even
razorbills, while kittiwakes and fulmars plug use precisely the same nesting location
the gaps in between. Substantial colonies of within the colony each season. This small
Britain’s largest and arguably most majestic patch of real estate is vigorously defended
breeding seabird, the gannet, also grace 21 by the male, with help from his mate, against
of these locations. both pushy neighbours and any young
pretenders trying to muscle their way in.
Reaching a wingspan of about 180cm,
the tips of an adult gannet’s snow-white Rearing only one youngster each season,
wings are inked black and, when combined the parents’ chick will generally emerge in
with a distinctive yellow-orange head and
nape, make the gannet confusable with the first half of June. For the first few
no other. It’s also the seabird weeks it will need to be
most strongly linked to its
breeding colony location, Did you know?
with perhaps November
to early February being Gannet chicks start off naked,
the only period when so the parents sit on them until
they grow a fluffy white down

30 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

Britain's coasts host
60-70 per cent of
the world's total
gannet population

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 31

Mike Dilger’s WILDLIFE SPECTACLES

TOP 1TROUP HEAD 2HERMANESS
RSPB RESERVE NATIONAL
FIVE on the Moray coast NATURE RESERVE on
is Scotland’s largest Unst in the Shetland
PLACES mainland gannetry, Isles has one of Britain’s
with a portion of the most impressive seabird
5BASS ROCK in the 5,000 pairs easily colonies – 30,000 pairs
Firth of Forth has viewable from the of gannets nest here
over 75,000 gannet clifftop walk. each summer.
pairs at the height of the
breeding season. You 4GRASSHOLM RSPB 3RSPB BEMPTON
can see the colony from RESERVE is an CLIFFS and its
the Scottish Seabird uninhabited island off the adjacent coastline
Centre in North Berwick Pembrokeshire coast. It is hosts half a million
on the mainland. the third largest gannetry in seabirds each summer.
the world and hosts about The gannet population
39,000 pairs or about 13 rapidly increased from
per cent of the entire British about 2,550 pairs in
population each summer. 2000 to 23,400 in 2017.

guarded around the clock by at least one of from heights of about 30m (although 10-15m LOOK CLOSER

them from opportunistic predators such as is more common), the descent is mostly Fishy kisses

herring or great black-backed gulls. This will powered by gravity. By folding its wings both Established pairs will reaffirm their
bonds by standing breast
leave the other parent free to fish out at sea, inwards and backward from the tail, the to breast with their wings
spread, while extending
both for itself and the pair’s hungry chick gannet becomes a streamlined dart, with the their necks and bills
vertically. They will then
back at the gannetry. bill cleaving the water as it hits the surface at clack their bills together
and call enthusiastically
The gannet’s ability to locate speeds of over 90kph. in a flamboyant display.

mackerel and herring shoals has To help cushion the impact, Parenting duties

been known for centuries. In his “It becomes a gannets have an extensive When the chick is young, changeovers
seminal book The Atlantic Gannet, network of air sacs between between the parents at the nest have to
ornithologist Bryan Nelson, streamlined their powerful neck muscles be carefully coordinated to make sure the
and skin. Additionally, the base chick isn’t left unguarded. This is ensured
COLONY:DAN KITWOOD/GETTY; COURTSHIP:DAVID OSBORN/ALAMY; BASKING SHARK:REBECCA BELLENI/GETTY quoted Clyde fisherman Donald dart, hitting by one of the parents pointing its bill
directly upwards, which can be translated
McIntosh, who said “when ye see the surface at of the bill possesses a spongy as ‘I’m about to leave the nest’. Once
them hinging’ yon way, cocking shock-absorbing plate, and the acknowledged, this leaves the sky-pointer
their nebs, that’s when the herrin’ speeds of internal nostrils close to prevent free to go fishing.

wir right thick”. While foraging over 90kph” the entrance of water. To help Seafood scraps
expeditions have been recorded protect feathers over repeated
Gannets will take advantage of any
at distances of over 300km from dives, their waterproofed nature external help on offer in their perennial
search for food. They will not only pick off
land, gannets will equally feed far closer is maintained by a sebaceous (oil-producing) any weakened fish that have been herded
out at sea by feeding whales and dolphins,
to home when opportunities prevail. gland, while a subcutaneous fat layer (deep but also take advantage of any discard left
in the wake of commercial fishing trawlers.
Binocular vision and polarising eyesight within the skin) and dense down feathers
NEXT MONTH
help them spot shoals while covering large enable the handsome birds to withstand the
How to see basking sharks
areas – even in choppy waters. Once fish are cold temperatures. swimming off the UK coast

located, the gannet will fly into the wind to Rarely diving deeply, they can, if

give it the necessary control while assessing necessary, use their wings and feet to propel

the best line of attack. Capable of diving them the short distance to their target. Most

dives last just a few seconds, during which

time they will hope to grab the slippery

customer with the help of bill serrations,

before their positive buoyancy returns them

to the surface.

When a shoal is discovered, the sight

of one gannet rising up before successfully

plunging into the water will not go unnoticed

for long as news travels along the gannet

grapevine. And with more than enough to

go around when large shoals are located, a

huge feeding frenzy can quickly develop as

Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire host the biggest hundreds of birds plummet beak-long in a

gannet breeding colony on the UK mainland series of criss-crossed dives.

32 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

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are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. Please note some excursions are not included in the per person price and will be an additional charge (subject to availability).
Images © Hurtigruten/Olaf Heitplatz.

Nick Baker’s Star-like female
parts (top),
HIDDEN BRITAIN
table-like male
The popular naturalist, author and TV presenter parts (bottom
reveals a secret world of overlooked wildlife right) and cups
holding special
REACH FOR reproductive
THE STARS tissue (below)

STAR HEADED LIVERWORT

Fertilising the tall starry heads of
this mossy plant is a tricky business,
but a drop of water goes a long way

T ,- thin upper layer containing chloroplasts, “Perhaps the
liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha) while below is a layer of spongy cells acting oddest and most
is at the peak of its reproductive as a store for the synthesised sugars. interesting thing
cycle. For most of its life, the species about liverworts is
is a thin, flat-lobed ribbon of green But perhaps the oddest and most
about 1-1.5cm wide. The thallus (plant interesting thing about liverworts is their their sex life”
body) hugs anything on which it grows – it sex life. Over 50 per cent of them are what
is a lumpy carpet of flattened fingers quietly are known as dioecious, meaning they exist
getting on with photosynthesising. as separate male and female plants. If you
start looking around for liverworts, you’ll
Liverworts are, however, unlike other also notice that they only grow in shady or
plants. They are descendants of some of damp locations.
the first life-forms to tackle a terrestrial
existence. Get down close to them and There are two good reasons for this:
you’ll see a strange landscape. Their surface first, because they don’t have a vascular
is broken up into polygons, like reptilian system they rely on direct diffusion over
scales, each punctured by a white pore their surface. Liverworts have, at least
through which the gasses of photosynthesis evolutionarily speaking, only just left the
pass in and out. water. They need to be thin and must stay
damp to survive.
Lift a liverwort and you’ll see they are
pinned down by thread-like rhizoids on the The second good reason for staying
underside. These are not really roots – each wet is, well, sex. During the summer ‘Mr
consists of just a single cell. If you were to and Mrs’ Marchantia become easy to tell
slice through one and examine it under a apart. Female star-headed liverworts have
microscope, you’ll see it is divided into a a tall, star-shaped head – a fan of green
fingers looking like a cocktail umbrella.

34 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

Males of the same species have a growth ILLUSTRATIONS BY PETER DAVID SCOTT/THE ART AGENCY
that looks like a small, round table, known
as an antheridiophore. On top of this table
sit structures called antheridium and, when
ripe, they produce sperm.

The sperm cell can only swim a short
distance and needs a continuous film of
water between it and the egg cell to manage
(fertilisation is external in liverworts). The
eggs are held on the star-like ‘umbrellas’
(archaegoniophores) of the female
liverworts. Once fertilisation takes place
here, the sporophyte, which produces the
spores, grows in situ on the umbrella. Each
spore is then capable of either making a
male or female plant.

To think this complicated sex life
could be happening on your driveway is
incredible enough, but it is fraught with
risk. To guarantee they can spread and
colonise suitable habitats, liverworts have
another trick up their sleeve. Look again
at the surface of the thallus and you might
see what look like little cups. These hold
another secret. Inside there are gemmae
– asexual reproductive buds of tissue that
look like tiny green birds’ eggs. All it takes
is a drop of rain or splash of water and the
gemmae are spread further than any sperm
might swim: from this speck of life, a new
clone of the original liverwort can grow.

There are over 300 species of liverworts in
the UK: whipworts, notchworts, earworts,
threadworts, fingerworts, frostworts,
ghostworts and veilworts among them.

LOOK CLOSER

Helical, ribbon-
shaped elaters
with released
spores

Dri away

The spores of a liverwort need dry
conditions to waft away and start a new
plant. To help, specialised cells called
elaters respond to changes in humidity
– they are hygroscopic, meaning as they
dry out, they change shape. So when it
is dry, the liverwort’s elaters twist out of
the sporangium (spore-holding) capsule
and push the spores out with them.

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 35

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BBC Wildlife magazine is full of breathtaking photos
and fascinating features on the most interesting animals

and habitats in the UK and around the world.
With the latest news and conservation issues, practical
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O SEASHELLS SEASHELLS O

This fabulous
array of seashells
was discovered on
the Isle of Skye

Seashell secrets

ALEX HYDE/NATUREPL.COM Heading to the seaside this summer? Take a
moment to admire the intricate shape and
form of seashells, which reveal so much about

their mysterious former inhabitants.

By HELEN SCALES

64 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022 discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 65

Enjoy our Premium App experience now available from

ORCAS ON
THE EDGE

Orcas are surviving o the coast of British
Columbia, but only just. We nd out what
is putting these apex predators in peril.

By KUSH PATEL

40 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

ORCAS O HIROYA MINAKUCHI/MINDEN/NATUREPL.COM

Sometimes called
killer whales, orcas
are in fact a species
of dolphin
discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 41

O ORCAS

I 2018,
experienced an unusual
connection with another
species. Tahlequah, an orca,
was seen carrying her dead
calf for 1,600km around the
Salish Sea. Apparently grieving
her youngster, she sacrificed
feeding and compromised
her own health.

42 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

Kush came thrillingly
close to an orca pod
when kayaking in
Blackfish Sound

Here is an apex predator struggling
to ourish in what, on the surface,
appears to be pristine wilderness

Headlines filled every major news outlet I drop into a kayak and, together MAIN IMAGE: DAVE HUTCHISON/ALL CANADA PHOTOS/ALAMY; KAYAK: KUSH PATEL
and social media carried outpourings of with seven companions, paddle out into
support for Tahlequah. Orcas, particularly Blackfish Sound. Within minutes, an orca
the Southern Resident population – the appears. I lean forward, eyes straining on the
well-studied group in the eastern North featureless water ahead. Without warning,
Pacific to which Tahlequah belongs – were a column of spray erupts as if from the
in the spotlight, highlighting their precarious chimney of a steam engine. A 2m fin slices
survival. Having experienced two decades of the water – a silky black triangle with a
recovery following the 1974 ban on capturing white brushstroke circling its base. The size
orcas for marine parks, with numbers indicates it’s a male! Seconds later, he dives.
increasing from 71 to 98, the population has
since shrunk to 74, a result of declining prey, The summer sun is fuelling a rich
pollution and disturbance from ocean traffic. food-web encompassing everything from
microscopic plankton to 40-tonne humpback
Here was an apex predator with an whales. If you’re an orca in these waters,
apparent sensitive side, struggling to you’ll be after one thing: salmon. “Salmon,
flourish in what, on the surface, appears to particularly chinook, are critical for the
be pristine wilderness. So, in August 2018, I survival of Resident orcas,” says Deborah
went to see these iconic creatures for myself. Giles, science and research director at
conservation organisation Wild Orca.
V I, -
Salmon migrate for miles along this
west Canada, is a lozenge coastline and return to their historic
spawning grounds in the region’s many rivers
of land that shelters the to breed. From May to October, the glut of
travelling salmon brings orcas into inland
mainland from the whims of waters, where they can be seen chasing

the Pacific Ocean. Nestled ABOUT THE AUTHOR

in its embrace is a scattering of islands, Raised in Kenya, Kush Patel has
a deep interest in the natural
some no larger than a sea lion’s sun-lounger, world. Through his writing,
he aims to inspire others to
This orca belongs to that make up the Broughton Archipelago. discover nature and preserve
the Transient group our diminishing wilderness.
which migrates along Hanson Island is one of these, positioned
the west coast and
preys on marine strategically between the aptly named
mammals
Blackfish Sound and Johnston Strait – prime

orca habitat. Here, under a canopy of firs,

a simple camp is my home for the next few

days. I am surrounded by mountains, forest

and air so fresh it almost stings.

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 43

O ORCAS

Is it play? Scientists are
working to understand
the meaning of tail
slapping, flipper
waving, rolling and
other orca behaviours.

Underwater, the orcas are echolocating, rattling o
clicks into the seascape to locate prey up to 150m away

down their prey. But with salmon stocks Climate change and pollution have reduced off clicks into the seascape to locate prey up POD, SEA OTTERS & HUMPBACK: ROLF HICKER PHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY; SPYHOPPING:
now severely depleted – a result chiefly of the salmon’s food supply, so populations are to 150m away. As the signals bounce back, BRANDON COLE/NATUREPL.COM; SALMON: DAVID HALL/NATUREPL.COM
overfishing and habitat loss – feeding is continuing to decline, despite the releases. the vibrations are absorbed by the orca’s
becoming ever more challenging. Hatcheries are also known to reduce genetic fat-filled lower jaws and channelled straight
diversity – something that is key to ensuring into their ears. So honed is this technique
Sto orcas, but are also a resilience – and tend to breed smaller, less that they can distinguish one species of fish
vital economic commodity. nutritious individuals. from another, allowing them to specifically
Governments, industry, target chinooks. Like a team of synchronised
indigenous communities and Orcas take vast amounts of salmon, swimmers, they surface and dive in front of
conservationists have been rearing salmon but so do humans. “Commercial fisheries us in a spectacular 10-minute show.
fry in hatcheries and releasing them into are tightly regulated around the Salish Sea
the ocean in what’s known as ‘restoration and British Columbia’s waters, but further O NP
aquaculture’. “Without these hatcheries, the north, in Alaskan fisheries, 97 per cent of have evolved into three
Southern Resident orcas would not have fish caught are not native to their waters major ‘ecotypes’ depending
survived this long,” says Deborah. Dams have [and include migratory salmon]. Bycatch on their environment: the
also been removed in some rivers, such as and targeted fishing significantly reduces the Residents (comprising the
on the Elwha in Washington State, allowing salmon population, meaning fewer return Southern, Northern and Alaskan Residents),
salmon free passage upstream. Plans are south to sustain the resident orcas,” Deborah which tend to stay locally within certain
afoot to remove four more dams on the explains. “As a society we need to pay more coastal areas; the Transients, which migrate
Snake River in Washington State, previously attention to how we obtain our fish.” long distances along North America’s west
considered one of the world’s greatest coast; and the Offshores, which spend a
breeding grounds. A squadron of orcas follows in the male’s lot of time far out at sea. Each ecotype has
wake. Several females and their calves cruise developed differences in appearance, dialect,
While these strategies are working in abreast, tracing the coastline. They all belong social group size and food preference.
some places, many complexities remain. to the same family, led by an alpha female. Essentially, they have their own cultures.
Fin, our guide, informs us that underwater,
the orcas are probably echolocating, rattling

44 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

This type of breach, SPOTTERS GUIDE
when an orca raises
its head out of the Other wild
water to survey the highlights of
surroundings, is Broughton
called a spyhop

Sea otters

Sea otters have made an impressive
comeback to these waters after their
population was decimated by the fur trade.
They are often found close to Vancouver
Island, but sightings are increasing within
the archipelago. They are frequently seen
hunting along the coastline and have an
almost insatiable appetite for sea urchins.

Large and calorie-rich, Humpback whales
Chinook salmon make up
80 per cent of the Southern Humpback whales make the trip to these
Resident orca’s diet waters to feed during spring and summer.
They often use a technique of lunging
from the depths towards a mass of krill
or herring. Occasionally a humpback
breaches, providing a spectacular show for
onlookers. In autumn, they tend to head
south towards warmer waters.

Their distinct dialects are particularly
interesting. All orcas make calls and whistles
to communicate socially. To the trained
ear of a scientist, each ecotype sounds
unique. In fact, each pod has its own
distinct repertoire of sounds. “Among the
Residents, there are shared vocalisations
enabling different pods to communicate and
socialise. However, different ecotypes do
not communicate as they do not share any
common vocalisations,” adds Deborah. The
Transients, which hunt whales and seals,
tend to vocalise less, so as not to alert their
prey. The fish-eating Residents, in contrast,
are highly reliant on echolocation.

And this is where ship disturbance comes
in. “Large vessels produce sound at a similar

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 45

O ORCAS

British Columbia’s largest
marine park, Broughton
Archipelago is popular
with sea kayakers keen
to encounter orcas

Phoenix with his mother wavelength to that used by orcas, effectively
Tahlequah. Orca calves drowning out their ability to echolocate
depend on their mothers for and therefore feed,” says Deborah. The
milk for up to two years. solution is to reduce ship-based physical and
acoustic impact in key orca habitats, and
two initiatives are underway to make this
happen for the Southern Resident orcas: the
Enhanced Cetacean Habitat and Observation
(ECHO) programme in Canada, in operation
since 2014, and Quiet Sound in the USA,
launched in 2021.

Tahlequah’s story RA,
leads Quiet Sound, says
Tahlequah (J35) is a member of the Southern Resident J-Pod and is about 24 years old. She shot that by using an app that
to fame in 2018 after she was witnessed carrying her dead calf, a female known as Tali, for 17 days identifies the location
around the Salish Sea. Tali was Tahlequah’s second baby; her first, a male known as Notch (J47), of orcas, mariners can
arrived in 2010. In September 2020, she gave birth to a new calf, a male called Phoenix (J57). slow down, reducing noise and the risk
of collisions. Collaboration between the
government, industry, research and non-
profit organisations is threading the needle
between orca conservation and development,
and proving to be quite successful.

“Ninety per cent of ships participate in
the ECHO programme, and this has halved
the amount of shipping noise,” says Carrie
Brown, director of ecosystem health and
environmental programmes at the Vancouver
Fraser Port Authority. As Carrie explains, the
successes and knowledge gained from ECHO

46 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

Simply slowing down Broughton Archipelago and north to Haida
the speed of large ships Gwaii are faring slightly better, increasing
has significantly cut by 2.2 per cent a year, possibly because
noise pollution levels in they get first picks of the salmon migrating
Vancouver’s waters south from Alaskan waters. The Southern
Residents have to make do with the leftovers.

“Vessels produce sound at a similar Wa 10-strong pod. As
wavelength used by orcas, drowning the current sweeps
us around a rocky
out their ability to echolocate” promontory, the family
steams towards us. Fin ushers us into a tight
DEBORAH GILES, SCIENCE AND RESEARCH DIRECTOR AT WILD ORCA group against the rocks to give the orcas
space. I can make out some small fins –
PHONIX: ANTHONY SOUFFLE/ALAMY; AERIAL: ROLF HICKER are being adopted elsewhere and influencing concentrations at every stage of the food- babies – nestled among larger ones, including
PHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY; SHIP: MARK CARWARDINE/NPL ship-builders to construct quieter, cleaner web,” says Deborah. “Orcas, being at the top the six-footer of another huge male.
and more efficient vessels. of the chain, have high concentrations of
these toxins in their blubber.” The impacts One female has a visible back injury,
Mornings in the Broughton Archipelago are severe. According to Rachel Aronson, inflicted by a boat propeller. “The family
are frosty, still and almost ethereal. toxins, combined with malnutrition from keeps to her pace and probably help to feed
I lie awake, cocooned in my sleeping bag, a decline in prey, have resulted in 70 per her,” says Fin. Social bonds within a family
reluctant to brave the chill. Meanwhile, cent of all pregnancies failing to reach term are strong and orcas take great care of
life stirs outside my tent. A raven clears and half of all calves dying before their first one another. One orca starts tail-slapping,
its throat, a pair of bald eagles squeal, and birthday. This sobering fact is the reason perhaps as a form of play, perhaps as a
waves agitate pebbles on the beach. Then, a the Southern Resident population is not means of communication; scientists are
distant whoosh, muffled yet familiar – the increasing. Indeed, L-Pod, the largest of still trying to work out the meaning of such
unmistakable sound of a blowhole opening – the group’s three pods, has only had two behaviour. Two break the surface and briefly
followed by another and one more. I stumble successful births in the past three years, eyeball us, probably as curious of us as we
outside and make for the rocky promontory. despite containing 14 females of breeding are of them. The family passes a few feet
A pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins age, and the new arrival to K-Pod in April away, leaving me ecstatic and, with the wind
surfaces, their languid movements in keeping this year was the first since 2011. J-Pod has blowing in my direction, drenched in what
with the pace of life in this corner of Canada. seen three new calves since 2020. can only be described as orca snot. The orcas
drift into the distance, towards Robson Bight
These serene, glassy waters hide the It’s not all bad news, though. The Ecological Reserve, for an orca ‘spa’. As Fin
third major threat to the orcas here. “Toxins Northern Resident orcas that frequent the informs us, the reserve’s shallow shoreline
in the environment accumulate in increasing is lined with pebbles on which the orcas rub
their undersides – one way to scratch an itch.

Across the world’s oceans, these predators
have used intelligence and cooperation to
develop behaviours tailored to particular
areas. In New Zealand, orcas have learned
how to hunt stingrays by flipping them upside
down and rendering them catatonic. In the
Crozet Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean,
the sound of a longliner hauling up its catch
is like a dinner bell for orcas, as they have
learned to pick off Patagonian toothfish from
the hooks. Antarctic orcas create a bow wave
by swimming in sync towards a seal resting on
an ice floe, washing their quarry into the water.

“Genetic studies indicate that different
orca populations differ significantly enough
to be classified as subspecies,” says Deborah.
Geographic isolation and cultural differences
are leading to their evolution. Combined
with their specific diets, varied dialects,
complex social lives, strong family bonds and
intelligence, orcas are more relatable to us
than previously thought.

On my final evening, as the sun wanes
beneath a silhouette of hills, I ponder the
orcas I have seen. If they are to survive, they
need the same things we need: a healthy
home, enough food and safety. Tahlequah’s
story captured our hearts. Our response will
determine her species’ future.

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 47

RISE ABOVE

Roaming the crags and sheer slopes of
Western Europe’s highest mountain range,

the Alpine ibex is now thriving again –
having come perilously close to extinction

Photos by EMILE SÉCHAUD

48 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022

PORTFOLIO

Cloud cover

A lone male ibex (known as a
bouquetin in French-speaking
regions of the Alps) stands sentinel
above the clouds cloaking Lake
Geneva in France’s Haute-Savoie
region. On this December dawn, at
the peak of the mating season, he’s
on the lookout for females – hoping
that at least one will be impressed

by his hefty horns.
discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 49

PORTFOLIO

High and wild

A magnificent male grazes among
shattered rocks beneath the Mont
Blanc massif in south-west Switzerland.
Living at altitudes up to 3,300m in
summer across their Alpine range,
these large goats – a big male can top
100kg at his pre-winter peak – prefer
south-facing slopes and ridges.

Social climber

An ibex scales a stratified cliff-face
in Haute-Savoie to join a cluster
of females with kids above her; in
summer, ibex form same-sex groups
comprising several dozen individuals.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Emile Séchaud is an
award-winning French
nature photographer.
You can find more
of his work at
emilesechaud.com.

50 BBC WILDLIFE July 2022