Kit up all you Laaaandaaaners

[Chrisch]

Vis might be a bit shit though.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-41936634/seahorses-found-living-in-river-thames-in-london

[smileydiver]

Ooooohhhh, that's exciting news!

[Divemouse]

It's not that they're on the increase though, just that people are looking more.

[drysuitdiver]

viz is atrociuos in the Thames.

Diving is also prohibited by the PLA from teddington to the estuary unless you hold alll sort of licences . that are a PITA to get .

[Tunicates]

About 7 years ago there were a confirmed sightings at Tilbury, since then they seem to be further and further up the Thames - though as DAwn says, possibly just cos people are looking more. God knows how you'd find them in the murk though. Are they setting traps?

[Divemouse]

Are they setting traps?

Yes. And they get caught in water filters for things like power stations.

[Tunicates]

Hilarious. Protected species, you cant dive looking for them, but setting traps for them is fine.

[Divemouse]

setting traps for them is fine

It's not what you know...

[Tunicates]

....it's who you can persuade to sign off on 'research', yeah, I get it.

[Tunicates]

I made a seahorse hoover once - a baby airlift suitable for demonstration in the pool and sucking up plasters (and seahorses) etc.
But I would love to see what kind of trap they're using. What do they bait them with? Chocolate copepods?

[Energy58]

It's not that they're on the increase though, just that people are looking more.

Indeed - nearly 20 years ago seahorses could be found at Barking: there is shedloads of life in the Thames which is quite a healthy river these days its just there is usually shedloads x 1000 of silt hiding it. Never managed to see a dolphin or a seal there, although they do get seen reasonably often as far upstream as Putney - just not by me!

I have a theory that great crested newts are really common as every big development project I have been involved in in the UK found them on site once they paid ecologists to do a survey...

[Tunicates]

Indeed - nearly 20 years ago seahorses could be found at Barking: there is shedloads of life in the Thames which is quite a healthy river these days its just there is usually shedloads x 1000 of silt hiding it. Never managed to see a dolphin or a seal there, although they do get seen reasonably often as far upstream as Putney - just not by me!

I have a theory that great crested newts are really common as every big development project I have been involved in in the UK found them on site once they paid ecologists to do a survey...

My partner who is a landscape architect would say that this is true, certainly on the Thames Gateway projects she's been involved in.

[Jay_Benson]

I have a theory that great crested newts are really common as every big development project I have been involved in in the UK found them on site once they paid ecologists to do a survey...

My partner who is a landscape architect would say that this is true, certainly on the Thames Gateway projects she's been involved in.

The newts are quite easy to find once you have cleared all the bloody bee orchids.