Welcome! Croeso to my blog! Here I will be sharing some of my experiences as a researcher including fun fish facts and behind the scenes field work snippets! First a little introduction, I grew up in North Wales, Snowdonia, about 8 miles from the sea. Although I spent a lot of time along the estuary and at the beach I rarely saw the underwater world. I was certainly a sufferer of “Sea-blindness”. I had no idea about so many of the amazing creatures that live in our seas. I had seen BBC documentaries of coral reefs in the tropics, and I’d seen the little mermaid (plus the sequels…and the series….yep I know, I was that child) but I had no idea about the rich marine life we have in the UK, until I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work on one of them as a research project. And this has inspired me to share this with you. Can we cure “sea-blindness”? I think we should try! So for my first post, I would like to introduce you to the animal that totally changed my perspective of the sea surrounding the UK. The Pink Sea Fan! The Pink Sea Fan is a coral (if this is the first time you’ve heard corals are animals, I know, it’s surprising – here is a link to some info explaining this!) and they’re found here in the UK. Pink Sea Fans can be found off the South West England coast and our population in Wales, around Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire, are most northerly known population. Pink Sea Fans are currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN red list which means we need to keep an eye on their growth and make sure their population is stable. This is what the NRW team at the Skomer Marine Conservation Zone do once a year by taking pictures of every single Sea Fan and also checking the area for more recruits. Thanks to the NRW team for their hard work and dedication to monitoring this species! I’m looking forward to sharing more info on the Sea Fans and other creatures I’ve got to know during my time as a researcher. . Haia pawb a chroeso i’r blog! Yn y blog yma mi fyddai’n sôn am fy mhrofiad o fod yn ymchwilwraig gan gynnwys cip olwg ar fanylion o weithio fel gwyddonwraig ym myd natur. Tyfais i fyny yng Ngogledd Cymru yn Eryri, tua 8 milltir o’r môr. Er fy mod wedi gwario llwyth o amser ar Morfa Mawddach ac i lawr ar y traeth, roedd y cyfle i weld y creaduriaid oedd yn byw yn y môr yn brin. Mae’r môr, i'r rhan fwyaf ohonom yn le oer a dychrynllyd. Does dim llawer o bobl yn cael y cyfle i weld beth sydd o dan y tonnau. Oherwydd hyn, mae’r rhan fwyaf ohonom yn ddall i fywyd gwyllt y môr. Mi wyliais nifer o raglenni ar y teledu yn dangos riffau cwrel dramor, ac fel merch ifanc roedd ‘little mermaid, Disney’ yn ffefryn! Er hyn, doeddwn i ddim yn dallt bod creaduriaid tebyg yn bodoli yn y môr o gwmpas y wlad tan gefais y cyfle i astudio creadur diddorol sydd yn byw yma yng Nhymru, Gwyntyll Pinc Y Môr. Cwrel efo canghennau ydi hwn, a hwyrach nad ydach yn ymwybodol (doeddwn ni ddim ar y pryd) ond mae cwrel yn anifail! Mae yna boblogaeth ohono o gwmpas Ynys Sgomer yn Sir Benfro. Os mai dyma ydi’r tro cyntaf i chi ddeall bod cwrel yn anifail, dyma fwy o wybodaeth i’r rhai ohonoch sydd eisiau darganfod mwy: Felly i gychwyn y blog yma, dyma Gwyntyll Pinc Y Môr! Mae’r cwrel yma ar y “IUCN red list” (sef rhestr sydd efo gwybodaeth amdan niferoedd a statws ecolegol rhywogaethau’r byd) ac ar hyn o bryd mae’r cwrel yma wedi’i gofrestru fel cyflwr “bregus”. Er mwyn cadw golwg ar y cwrel mae CNC yn tynnu lluniau ac yn astudio’r boblogaeth yn flynyddol o gwmpas ynys Sgomer, diolch i CNC am eu gwaith parhaol a phwysig. Dwi’n edrych ymlaen yn arw i rannu mwy o wybodaeth efo chi am yr anifeiliaid prydferth yma yn ogystal â chreaduriaid eraill rwyf wedi cael yr anrhydedd o weithio efo ac astudio drost y blynyddoedd.
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I will be posting about my work as a marine biologist and the amazing creatures I met along the way!! Stay tuned!
. Mi fyddai yn postio amdan fy ngwaith fel gwyddonydd bioleg môr a'r creaduriaid anhygoel dwi wedi dysgu amdan ar hyd y ffordd! |