As the first sightings of basking sharks returning to UK waters are being reported, The Wildlife Trusts are launching a national campaign to highlight the massive loss of marine megafauna from our seas.

From the blue whale to the angel shark, our seas were once home to an abundance of large marine life that is scarcely believable today.

As recently as the 1940’s, huge bluefin tuna were landed at North Sea ports like Scarborough. It is estimated that numbers of dolphins and porpoises in UK waters have declined by up to 95% since exploitation of our seas for fish began.

Common skate (measuring up to 3 metres/9ft across), now widely acknowledged to be extinct in the North and Irish Seas, were once as widespread as their name suggests. Historic records suggest that numbers of basking sharks, which were seen in their hundreds off Lands End last summer, may have declined by as much as 95% , as hunting, fishing and other activities have taken their toll.

Plenty more fish in the sea?

The Wildlife Trusts’ campaign aims to show how vital it is that the Marine Bill (published in draft on 3 April) provides robust new laws for marine conservation – including the creation of highly protected marine reserves – if our seas are ever again to be a stronghold for the giants of the seas.

The new campaign document, Seas of Plenty sets out to show just how much our marine environment has changed – for the worse - in a short period of time.

Professor of marine conservation at York University, Callum Roberts, has studied the historical and recent effects of fishing on marine ecosystems, as well documenting the recovery of life in marine reserves.

In Seas of Plenty he describes the wildlife riches that our seas used to support and suggests that they could again – but only with sufficient legislation in place. Professor Roberts’ recent research into England’s historic marine environment was funded by Natural England.

Remarkable marine megafauna

“Today, we tend not to think of the UK as a place that could ever boast a profusion of giant fish and marine mammals, but even as little as a century ago it was a very different place. The seas around our islands were home to remarkable marine megafauna. Their extinction is happening in front of our eyes and only today’s generations can prevent it", warns Professor Callum Roberts.

The Wildlife Trusts are encouraging people to write to their MP asking him/her to keep up the pressure for an effective Marine Bill. The Wildlife Trusts will also be meeting key politicians and asking them to champion the Marine Bill and help ensure it delivers robust nature conservation measures.

The Wildlife Trusts – which have led the campaign for the introduction of a Marine Bill to protect the UK’s seas – are also calling for divers and sailors to look back through old logbooks, share stories of wildlife loved and lost, and report how things have changed over the years.

Strong new laws needed

Lisa Chilton, The Wildlife Trusts’ marine development manager, says: “Last year, our Marine Bill Campaign gathered more than 170,000 signatures of support for the Marine Bill. Now that Government has published the Bill in draft, we need to make sure that MPs understand and support the urgent need for strong new laws to protect marine wildlife.”

Professor Roberts adds “The UK lies moored amid one of the largest continental shelves in the world. Such shallow seas, stirred by tidal currents and winter storms, are rich in the nutrients essential for plankton growth.

"Through protection, future generations may again see porpoises pursuing fish up rivers, whales chasing herring and basking sharks enjoying plankton. But if protection is not forthcoming, many of these great animals will disappear forever.”

Find out more about The Wildlife Trusts’ Marine Bill Campaign