BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

12 BBC Wildlife May 2020

DuetoCOVID-19,thisis thefirst

yearsince 2012 thatvolunteers

won’tgatheronclifftopsinCaithness,

OrkneyandShetland.Usuallyin

Maytheyscantheseaforcetaceans

• especiallyorcas,smallnumbersof
  whichvisitthesewatersfromIceland
  andNorwayduringthesummer
  months.Thehugepredatorscome
  tohuntgreyandharbourseals(the
  latterhavepupsinmidsummer,
  soareparticularlyvulnerable)and
  sometimesventureamazinglyclose
  toshore.Eachindividualorcacan
  berecognisedbythepalepatch,or
  ‘saddle’,behinditsdorsalfin,which
  mayitselfbeartelltalenicks or scars.

FINDOUTMORE Cetaceansaround

Britain:seawatchfoundation.org.uk

3 |ORCA

Seal hunters

Bee: Laurie Campbell; orca: Genevieve Leaper; holly blue: Colin Varndell

Twohundredyearsagothismonth,

HMSBeaglewaslaunched.Later,the

shipwouldfamouslytakeCharles

Darwintoseeexoticfloraand

faunainSouthAmerica,thoughit’s

oftenforgottenhespentfarlonger

watchingeverydaywildlifecloser

tohome.InKent,thenaturalist

observed“humblebees”inforensic

detail, becoming one of the first

tonoticethattheypatrolthesame

linearforagingroutesoverand

over.Probablyourmostdistinctive

widespreadspeciesis thered-tailed,

whichlovesclover,dandelion, daisy

andthistleflowers.

GETINVOLVED

Howtowatchandhelpbumblebees:

bumblebeeconservation.org

2 |RED-TAILEDBUMBLEBEE

Humble bees

PEOPLEIN

SCIENCE

DavidAttenboroughtalks

about Darwin and bees.

ONLINE