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nmbluk.bsky.social
MBA Library
@nmbluk.bsky.social
700 followers 310 following 320 posts
National Marine Biological Library, based @thembauk.bsky.social. A place to access our electronic and printed collections, to ask for help, or just to work in peace

https://www.mba.ac.uk/our-facilities/library/
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nmbluk.bsky.social
MBA Library @nmbluk.bsky.social · Dec 4
Hello Everyone! We're super excited to be here. @thembauk.bsky.social was established 140 years ago, and there has been a library on site at the Citadel Hill laboratory ever since it opened in 1888! We're looking forward to sharing our stories with you #library #books
Black and white photograph of the original library at the Marine Biological Association, taken in 1897. Books line shelves from floor to ceiling around the room, with study desks in the centre of the room The Southward Reading Room of the National Marine Biological Library at the Marine Biological Association (MBA). Comfortable chairs sit in front of shelves of books and below a gallery filled with book shelves
Reposted by MBA Library
thembauk.bsky.social
Artist David Cotterrell talks about intertidal, a new public artwork that has transformed four ageing Ford Fiestas into tidal instruments.

🐟👔 Fishy Business Ep. 8!

#FishyBusiness
September 15, 2026 at 7:45 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
If you're in #Plymouth this weekend and interested in rare books, make sure to visit @theppl.bsky.social
September 14, 2026 at 11:11 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Some #MondayMotivation
We'd love to hear about yours 😊
A picture with two pie charts. the top has a list of things nobody will remember, which are: your salaray, how 'busy' you were, how may hours you worked and how many Gucci bags you owned. The bottom list says people will remember: how much you love books, the number of books in your collection, if you had any cool book facts and how you also have a really cool archive
September 14, 2026 at 9:37 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
stromnessmuseum.bsky.social
Here are pressed seaweed specimens (collected 1839-1962) of seaweed found on/near #shooglyholm Stromness mooring this year, artist Jenny Pope's project in oisf.org.

They inc. Mermaid's Tresses🧜‍♀️and Sea Lettuce 🥬

📷 via our Natural History Digitisation Project. Read about this at: shorturl.at/CCP7o
Specimen, seaweed - Chorda filum 'Mermaids Tresses' Other name(s): Chorda filum (Linnaeus) Stackhouse Specimen, seaweed - Plocamium coccineum Other name(s): Plocamium cartilagineum (Linnaeus) P.S.Dixon Specimen, seaweed - Ceramium Specimen, seaweed - Ulva lactuca 'Sea Lettuce' Other name(s): Ulva lactuca Linnaeus
September 9, 2026 at 11:35 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
👏 the fabulous MarLIN team. Working from the equally fabulous Library @thembauk.bsky.social 😉
thembauk.bsky.social The Marine Biological Association @thembauk.bsky.social · 10d
🐟👔 Ep. 7! Owen Harris talks us through MarLIN - The Maine Life Information Network.

#FishyBusiness
September 9, 2026 at 11:31 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
We're a day late having just discovered it was #IguanaDay yesterday.

Thanks to @exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social for keeping us informed and for sharing this lovely woodcut illustration 😊
exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social University of Exeter Special Collections @exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social · 11d
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the iguanas, for today is their special day!

This woodcut of an iguana was printed in 1635 in 'Historia Naturae, Maxime Peregrinae' by Juan Eusebio Nieremberg.

📷 Baring-Gould Library 0689 Folio

#NationalIguanaAwarenessDay #IguanaDay #RareBooks
Cropped image of a page from a book, featuring a woodcut illustration of an iguana in side profile as seen from above. There is text in latin above and below the illustration.
September 9, 2026 at 8:50 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
We've just found out about #SciArtSeptember and today's prompt is: Fawn

We've taken the literal route and found this lovely illustration of Roe deer from -

📖Millais, J.G. 1906. The Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 3
A colour illustration of an adult roe deer and two fawns
September 7, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
thembauk.bsky.social
And so, the annual 'you'll grow into it' season begins...
August 31, 2026 at 8:02 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
We have a small sample of maerl in our Herbarium collection @thembauk.bsky.social. Collected in 1955 in Sweden, the specimens have lost some of their vibrancy. A handwritten note on the box says 'first Swedish find of this species'

📷R.60A
Photograph of a closed brown box on the left, with a handwritten label that reads Phymatolithon calcareum date 9. 7. 1955 and location Sweden. The image on the right is the open box with a collecton of pale pink and white coral-like specimens of maerl
August 25, 2026 at 8:48 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Is it too early to say 3?
August 24, 2026 at 8:27 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Imagine our #EYASurprise when planning for what we thought would be Dr Marie Lebour's 150th birthday celebrations this year. Her obituary states she was born 1876, but our archives reveal we've got to wait another year for the big event. Make sure to put a reminder in your calendar
Typed thank you letter, signed my Marie Lebour and dated 21st August 1957. The letter thanks the recipient for the gifts and messages received. Typed letter from F.S. Russell and dated 25th February 1957. The contents of the letter inform the recipient that Dr Marie Lebour will be 80 years of age on 20th August 1957 and is asking for contributions of up to one guinea and a copy of their signature.
August 20, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
thembauk.bsky.social
🌾 Species Spotlight: Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus)

It's no wonder this stunning camouflage expert is tied to the theme of the July issue of The Marine Biologist!

#SpeciesSpotlight #MarineLife #WeedySeadragon #TheMarineBiologist
August 19, 2026 at 9:46 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
theppl.bsky.social
The film 'The Odyssey' has received critical acclaim recently, and the PPL currently has a display of related books for members to browse and borrow.
August 18, 2026 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
This colourful map by Rutger Hermannides shows a bird's eye view of Exeter and dates back to 1661.

Can you identify any landmarks that still exist today? 👀

📷 Townsend Maps T14f

#MapMonday #MondayMaps #Maps #MappingOurExeter #Exeter
Colour image of a mid seventeenth century map of Exeter. This bird’s-eye view from the southwest shows Exeter surrounded by a city wall with gates. Exeter is dominated by the cathedral of St Peter. At the top left is Rougemont Castle. Surrounding the city are hills, fields and the river Exe.
August 17, 2026 at 1:04 PM
nmbluk.bsky.social
We've recently added 'Nudibranchs of Britain, Ireland and Northwest Europe' by Bernard Picton and Christine Morrow to the collection. Included is an entry on B. anadoni and its range distribution

📖BL.48/P
Cover of the book Nudibranchs of Britain, Ireland and Northwest Europe. There is a photograph of a seaslug with a white body and light red/brown cerata (finger-like projections) on it's dorsal side.
August 12, 2026 at 10:31 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Today is #WorldElephantDay so, of course, we've found a photograph of the Southern Elephant Seal, Mirounga leonina. This image taken, we believe, by Edward A. Wilson during his time in the Antarctic 

📷U.M.30 linked to the Elsie Sexton archive collection

Shout-out to all the actual 🐘 out there too!
black and white photograph of an elephant seal, emerging from the sea onto a beach, with its mouth wide open
August 12, 2026 at 9:03 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
We've just received a copy of Underwater Lives by Clare Brant and we can't wait to dive in 🌊

If you're interested in reading about human relationships with the marine world you can find this copy on the new arrivals shelf in the Reading Room @thembauk.bsky.social

📖B.65/B
Cover a book titled Underwater Lives. Humans, species, ocean. Author Clare Brant. The cover image is of a scuba diver swimming near a manta ray. underneath the cover there is 'new to the NMBL'
August 12, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
thembauk.bsky.social
The CPR Survey has tracked recurrent Alexandrium blooms in the Bering Sea. Warming Pacific Arctic waters are driving harmful algal blooms, posing a risk of toxin transfer from marine life to humans. 🦀🚨

 https://www.mba.ac.uk/warming-seas-fuel-spread-of-harmful-algal-mega-blooms-in-the-bering-sea/
August 11, 2026 at 8:03 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
It's #BooksLoversDay! We're big fans of books, but it would probably be a bit embarrassing if we weren't. 
We'd love to hear about your favourite book(s) 📚
collage of photographs - a library reading room with book shelves and seating, a display of marine biology books and an open book, with a text banner in front that says we heart symbol books
August 9, 2026 at 8:30 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
It's #InternationalCatDay so of course we've put our spin on it and our fabulous library volunteer Liv has taken a dive into the collection to found some purrrfect books 

📖 BL.65/A: Catfishes, Volume 1, by Arratia, G et al, 2003
📖 BL.65/A: Catfishes, Volume 2, by Arratia, G et al, 2003
Two hardcover books titled 'Catfishes' (Volume 1 and Volume 2) on a shelf. Underneath, the text reads dive into the world of catfish
August 8, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
thembauk.bsky.social
Did someone say it's take an octopus to work day?

AK Wildlife Cruises Falmouth photos show illustrate the extent of the octopus surge is in the southwest - and Risso's dolphins are cashing in.

Report your sightings on iNaturalist - 🌊 https://uk.inaturalist.org/

#SpeciesSpotlight
August 5, 2026 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
thembauk.bsky.social
Marine Protected Areas Day was at the weekend - Professor Callum Roberts is a world authority on marine protected areas (MPAs). In this podcast, we talk about marine protected areas both in national waters and the high seas.

open.spotify.com/episode/2gr2...

#MarineProtectedAreasDay
August 3, 2026 at 11:01 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
It's still #NationalMarineWeek but we're in a new month so we have a new display in the Reading Room @thembauk.bsky.social. These titles are all about UK marine species and habitats 🦀🐚🦭
A photograph of three shelves of books on a white bookshelf. There is a poster in the middle of the display that says the reading room display for August is national marine week 25th July to 9th August , oyster day 5th August
August 3, 2026 at 1:46 PM
nmbluk.bsky.social
😍
dassh-at-the-mba.bsky.social DASSH @dassh-at-the-mba.bsky.social · Jul 31
👀 iNaturalist Observation of the Month 📷
This month's standout sighting comes from iNaturalist user elegaer, who recorded a leopard-spotted goby (Thorogobius ephippiatus) in Corran, Fort William. 🐟
Think you've spotted something exciting? Share it on iNaturalist: https://uk.inaturalist.org/home
July 31, 2026 at 6:12 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
thembauk.bsky.social
Marine scientists warn that continued warming of UK waters is likely to cause major changes to plankton, the tiny drifting plants and animals that form the foundation of marine food webs and feed the fish that end up on our plates.

www.mba.ac.uk/uk-seas-face...

#MarineBiology
UK seas face major food chain disruption as plankton shift, scientists predict | Marine Biological Association
Marine scientists warn that continued warming of UK waters is likely to cause major changes to plankton, the tiny drifting plants and animals that form the foundation of marine food webs and feed the ...
www.mba.ac.uk
July 30, 2026 at 8:55 AM