Orkney Skate Trust

The Orkney Skate Trust was formed by local marine biologist, and commercial diver Dan Wise after years of personal research into the Orkney population of critically endangered Flapper Skate (Dipturus intermedia).

From their home page ::

When diving for Scallops we would often see Flapper Skate (then named Common Skate) at various locations throughout Orkney.  These skate varied in size from juvenile fish to large adults in excess of 2 meters wingspan.  The older divers would say that they have been seeing the fish and their egg cases in Orkney for many years.

This was interesting owing to the fact that the species was so rare elsewhere in its geographical distribution area and considered locally extinct from other areas such as the Irish Sea.  The fact that Orkney waters were playing host to such an important but increasingly rare marine shark species, and that the population might be stable was very important conservationally.

Egg cases often wash up along the west and north coastlines of Orkney.  This information can tell us that there is likely to be other egg case deposition sites out with the protection the inner coastal areas of Scapa Flow and the Northern Isles.  However, due to tidal currents it is very hard to pin-point with any certainty where these egg depostion sites may be located.

The Trust plan to phase up the level of research into the Orkney Dipturus intermedia (formally Dipturus batis) population through a range of research projects which will range from proven methods of elasmobranch research such as tag and release angling to innovative research methods in the form of sub-surface remote video and diving techniques.

Category: Other Organisations