Press Release

Press Release Archive: Monday 09 August 2010

Discover what's living in Lincolnshire's Living Seas No. 3

When you look out across the expanse of sea from the Lincolnshire coast, you’d be forgiven for not realising that in those waters is an animal that could have swum straight out of a science fiction film. It has three hearts, blue blood and camouflage that is so stunningly good that it has no use for an invisibility cloak.

Cuttlefish are extraordinary animals and, despite their name, are not fish but molluscs; related to octopuses and squid, and more distantly to snails. Sometimes called the chameleons of the sea, cuttlefish are masters of camouflage. The skin of cuttlefish possesses up to 200 pigment cells per square millimetre, allowing them to change colour and pattern almost instantly. Cuttlefish can also use muscles in their skin to change its texture. In this way they can blend in perfectly with their surroundings mimicking a sandy seabed, rocks or even floating vegetation. What makes cuttlefish even more remarkable is that they also appear to wear their emotions on their skin. Waves of colour and changing patterns flicker across their skin and they use these mesmerizing colour changes to communicate with one another. Scientists studying common cuttlefish have named at least thirteen distinct body patterns including ‘flamboyant’ and 'passing cloud'. When displaying for a mate, male cuttlefish will warn other males to stay away by emblazoning their skin with ‘intense zebra’. Cuttlefish have three separate hearts, two pump blood to their gills and one pumps the oxygenated blood around the rest of the body. The blood itself is blue-green in colour because it uses a protein called haemocyanin, which contains copper, to carry the oxygen. Mammals’ red blood uses haemoglobin, which contains iron, to do the same thing. The common cuttlefish, found off the Lincolnshire coast, is just one of over 40,000 species of animals and plants living in the UK’s seas. The Wildlife Trusts have a vision of Living Seas, in which wildlife thrives from the depths of the ocean to the coastal shallows. To find out more, visit our Living Seas webpages. Things to do:  Make your own cuttlefish puppets Download the instructions to make your own cuttlefish. Make_a_cuttlefish.pdf   This Sunday, Discover the Wonders of the Wash – free activities throughout the day at the Visitor Centre and on the beach at Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve, Skegness. From 11am - 5pm. You can enjoy marine arts and crafts and make your own marine animals to take home; create a sand sculpture; take part in scavenger hunts, go sea dipping and see real marine animals up close, and much more.

Notes to Editors

1. The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and wild places throughout the historic county of Lincolnshire – from the Humber to the Wash. The Trust is Lincolnshire’s leading nature conservation charity with over 25,000 members and around 100 nature reserves. The Trust is a member of a nationwide network of 47 local trusts which work to protect wildlife - The Wildlife Trusts. www.lincstrust.org.uk
   
   
2. The Wildlife Trusts. There are 47 Wildlife Trusts across the whole of the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney. We are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone.  With nearly 800,000 members, we are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK’s habitats and species, whether they be in the countryside, in cities or at sea. 135,000 of our members belong to our junior branch, Wildlife Watch.  We manage 2,256 nature reserves covering more than 90,000 hectares; we stand up for wildlife; we inspire people about the natural world and we foster sustainable living. Visit www.wildlifetrusts.org

For further information please contact

Rachel Shaw, Public Relations Officer
Tel: 01507 526667   (ansaphone out of office hours)
Fax: 01507 525732
Email: Rachel Shaw

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
Banovallum House
Manor House Street
Horncastle
Lincolnshire LN9 5HF

Website: www.lincstrust.org.uk