Angling for Answers16 Oct 2009
National Museums Liverpool is on Ray WatchThis autumn, National Museums Liverpool is asking people to get involved in RayWatch, a conservation project helping us track Thornback Rays in the Mersey and Liverpool Bay. NML are working with the Shark Trust and local anglers to tag the rays and monitor the species’ progress in the wild. To fund the project, NML are hoping people will adopt a ray. Adopting a ray is easy - go to liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/raywatch or call 0151 478 4918. For a £10 donation you can adopt a ray, name it and also get updates on your ray throughout the year. Tracking your ray’s growth and location will help us understand the breeding and migratory patterns of these endangered rays. For a £25 donation you can become a Ray Champion. By donating £25 not only do you get to name a ray and keep track of its whereabouts you also receive a family ticket for a behind the scenes tour of the aquarium at World Museum and a cuddly ray toy. At World Museum’s aquarium, the most popular animals on display are the rays. Few people realise they are local, living in the Mersey River. Aquarium curator Rachel Ball, her team and volunteer anglers will be going out in the Mersey to tag Thornback Rays individually. When anglers or commercial fishermen catch the rays, they will get a reward for calling the aquarium to confirm the ray’s location and size. The team will update the website with the ray’s location and email through the details to the adoptive family. This study is the first of its kind in Merseyside and is vital for the Thornback Ray, a species which is now of significant conservation concern. Since the 1980’s, the number of Thornback Rays have declined by 80% in the North Sea alone due to over fishing. The results of this joint project will provide a significant insight into their migration patterns and recommend ways to protect them. Got to www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/raywatch for more information.
Notes for editorsThe World Museum aquarium combines fish from Australia to Anglesey with rarely-seen exhibits from the museum collections that immerse visitors in a watery world of wonder. Expert staff are on hand to answer questions and run demonstrations in which visitors can observe and learn more about live marine creature. Video cameras and microscopes bring you face to face with unfamiliar tiny organisms. Displays and activities in the Living Laboratory emphasise links between the live specimens and the museum's historic collections of spirit-preserved fish and invertebrates. The Thornback ray (Raja clavata) known as ‘Roker’ is found in coastal waters of Europe and the Atlantic coast of Africa, possibly as far south as Namibia and even South Africa. Like all rays it has a flattened body with broad, wing-like pectoral fins. The body is kite-shaped with a long, thorny tail. The back is covered in numerous thorny spines, as is the underside in older females. Adult fish can grow to 1 m (3.3 ft) in length although most are less than 85 cm (33.67 in). This ray can weigh from 4.5 to 8.75 lb (2 to 3.98 kg) People can support the RayWatch appeal by adopting a ray, or making a donation to National Museums Liverpool. To keep administration costs low, we encourage people to donate online at www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/raywatch
Please contact: Alison Cornmell in the press office for more information on this release. Find out moreNational Museums Liverpool is not responsible for the content of external websites. Tags |