The discovery of a shallow water (<2 m) foraging site off the Greek Island of Kefalonia, where diving and foraging behaviour of male loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) could be observed simultaneously, was of great interest. The preferred food sources were shown to be the bivalve mollusc Mytilus galloprovincialis, the sea grass Posidonia oceanica, and the entrails of fish discarded by local fishermen. Whilst foraging, the turtles generally rested on the seabed and employed their forelimbs to clear away detritus from their selected prey. Foraging dives were of short duration (mean ±SE = 2.3 ±0.43 min, N=96) compared to deeper dives reported in the literature presumably, because of the small lung volumes required to attain neutral buoyancy at such shallow depths.

The natural abundance of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for Nereis diversicolor (Annelida: Polychaeta) from 16 sites around the UK are analysed. Differences in the isotopic compositions reflect variations either in the dietary origin or in the estuary characteristics. In contrast to Stiffkey Nereis, the ones from the other estuaries are characterized by broad δ13C (−13.9 to −22.6‰) and δ15N (+11.3 to +17.9‰) ranges. An hypothesis based on sediment denitrification is discussed to explain the anomalously heavy δ15N compositions of Nereis from the Humber Estuary (+16.9 to +18.1‰) and Breydon Water (+17.7±0.5‰).