Get Kraken: Why Scientists Should Study Sea Monsters

From the Loch Ness Monster to the Kraken, sea monsters still capture the imagination centuries after medieval cartographers doodled them in the blank spots of their maps. But to Charles Paxton, a researcher at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, sea monster sightings are more than fish tales.

A collection of the weird and mysterious creatures found on Olaus Magnus's 16th-century "Carta marina," or "map of the sea."

CREDIT: Public domain

Paxton is no wild-eyed cryptozoologist who spends his weekends imagining Bigfoot behind every tree. He's a fisheries ecologist and statistician who believes that, with the right methods, anecdotes about mysterious monsters can become scientific data to tell us about human perception and the odd reports that science can't fully explain.

On July 12, Paxton and other bonafide, peer-reviewed researchers like him will discuss ways to bring cryptozoology into the scientific fold at the Zoological Society of London Communicating Science event "Cryptozoology: Science or Pseudoscience?"


http://www.livescience.com/14928-kraken-study-sea-monsters.html

Go wild in the great outdoors

Mar 5 2009

Visitors to a popular Lichfield beauty spot will flock together for a wild time at a two fun events this month.

Dedicated volunteers from Lichfield Wildlife Group are turning their focus to birds at two events which have been organised by the group this month.

The first is an illustrated talk about the RSPB reserve at Middleton Lakes near Lichfield which will be held at St Mary's Centre in Market Square on Wednesday March 11 from 7.45pm.

The second event is a walk across the reserve on Saturday March 14 to find out exactly what has been going on.

The RSPB acquired the 400 acres of former gravel quarry at Middleton two years ago and since then, a staggering 10,000 square metres of invasive scrub has been cleared, 50 hawthorns and 12,000 reeds planted and seven otter holts have been created.

The result of all this work is the creation of a beautiful bird reserve where already 60 different species of bird are breeding, including blackcaps, bullfinches and lesser -spotted woodpeckers.

For further information contact Ray Allen from Lichfield Wildlife Group on 01543 251654.