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Note from the Principal Investigator

20 December 2018
Dr Peter Miller, from Plymouth Marine Laboratory and ShellEye's Principal Investigator, summarises the progress made during the final year of funding from Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
What an eventful year for the ShellEye project! Our team carried out two trials of the water quality bulletin service for our four pilot areas: weekly during March-April, then again during July after receiving feedback from our stakeholder survey, and streamlining the process to allow us to support more areas in future. We also linked up the satellite ocean colour data with official monitoring data in the Water Quality Event Map, to allow users to delve further into the spatial and temporal patterns of developing harmful algal bloom (HAB) issues around the UK coast. Progress on time-series analysis has enabled the development of the first satellite-based risk map of the occurrence of dense HABs.

A stakeholder webinar and second survey provided encouragement as to the benefits to shellfish farmers and other stakeholders of receiving the satellite-based information about certain HAB species, biotoxins and E coli. Following this feedback the ShellEye team is keen to continue the service and therefore the service will be moving forward on a subscription basis.

To continue providing shellfish farmers with state-of-the-art satellite information about local waters the ShellEye service is being offered as an introductory rate of £100 per month. Through this subscription offer you will:
  • Receive at least 1 bulletin a week throughout the monitoring season of March to October.
  • Additional bulletins to be provided on a best endeavours basis during times of heightened HAB activity.
  • Have full access to the ShellEye Water Quality Event Map to better visualise the latest and previous phytoplankton and biotoxin results from the official sampling programme across the UK.
  • Receive access to the ShellEye Help Desk during office working hours.
By subscribing you will benefit from:
  • The latest satellite technology and some of the most up-to-date information on HAB occurrence to augment your own water quality monitoring activities.
  • Information that can assist a more rapid reopening strategy following a closure.
  • Improved early warning capability for certain HABs to support decisions about your own water sampling strategy.
  • Useful insights on the changing risk of some frequent harmful bloom species.
If you have an interest in water quality issues in one of the ShellEye pilot sites (St Austell Bay, Menai Straits, Morecombe Bay and Loch Ryan), or would like to discuss other potential site monitoring, then please contact us at shelleye@pml.ac.uk.