Fiona Beckman

After the stress & fear of trying to leave a potential war zone (“combat operation” my ass) will UK people reflect in time on the horrors which make people flee towards asylum?

😒

Good morning Glasgow!! So pleased the sun decided to drop by for the final day of #OSM26 so we could see the Clyde looking so pretty and reflective 🥰🌊

Yeah - but we can probably address that risk with a couple of supplements, so smugness not particularly diminished 😉

Great OBON oral session this morning at #OSM26 - thanks to everyone who joined us!

Find out about even more #eDNA observing projects at the Poster session this afternoon: OT44F

Date: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Time: 16:00 – 18:00
Location: Hall 4 (Poster Hall) (Scottish Event Campus)

Are you at #OSM26 in Glasgow this week?

OBON will be hosting two sessions on THURSDAY 26th:
- oral session 08:30 - 10:00 (Carron, SEC)
- poster session 16:00 - 18:00 (main poster hall - boards 1208-1236)

Drop by to find out more about this UN Ocean Decade programme and our associated activities!

Hope to see lots of colleagues and friends at #OSM26 in Glasgow next week! Drop by the @obon-ocean.bsky.social oral & poster sessions on Thurs 26th to catch the OBON and POGO folks 🌊⤵️

Cover image for OBON (Ocean Biomolecular Observing Network) newsletter Issue 12 (Feb 2026), including logo, multiple small images from the issue, and bit.ly link: https://bit.ly/OBON_NL12

OBON's February newsletter has just gone live - with lots of updates on programme and project activities - including our sessions at #OSM26 in Glasgow next week

Read at: bit.ly/OBON_NL12 (link in bio).

#eDNA #biomolecular #oceanobservations

‘It makes no sense’: the battle over plans for a windfarm by the Yorkshire Dales The fight for Hope Moor is set to be repeated across the UK as the government aims to hit its renewable energy targets

It makes no sense to build windfarm on wild and windy moor, area electricity users confirm.

Frogspawn visible in watery ditch

Frogspawn sitting on wet grass - not in the water!

Frogspawn spotted on #Dartmoor yesterday. Feels early to me, but I looked up spawning dates, and apparently mid-Feb is pretty normal in the Southwest. My Isle of Man childhood memories are probably influencing my expectations :)
#spawnwatch
#what3words funds.pigtails.slips

📢Our #EMBracingtheOcean #artistinresidence programme call closes on Monday! We are seeking #artists to co-create work with Ocean scientists to embrace connection to the Ocean, inspire behaviour towards sustainability & contribute new insights to science. Apply here: tinyurl.com/f7jc8b53

Yes. It is all too much. I hate seeing elderly family and friends struggle with technology that is really hard to opt out of 😢

😬

Bored now :(.
And feeling very fortunate on the location of my house - the water runs like a river down the road, but we don’t flood 🤞

😱

Spring IS coming!!!!!

Popped to @theboxplymouth.bsky.social to take a look at the new #BerylCook exhibit ‘Pride & Joy’ - an excellent way to spend a wet afternoon off work :). Never been a big fan of her work (sorry!), but it was beautifully curated, & I really enjoyed learning about her art/inspiration. Worth a visit 🥰

Yes - thanks for asking ☺️. On the mend now 💪

Pretty wild in #Plymouth again today
#stormchandra

Ooh! I like those!

Can’t believe it’s open again already! I was expecting weeks of disrupted journeys.

I might even start watching it again.
(Went properly downhill after moving to C4 😞)

View of sun low on horizon, taken through dirty bus window. Fields, hedges and sunrise-coloured clouds.

View towards the Tower Of Refuge in Douglas bay (Isle of Man). Foreground has an empty bi-valve shell on wall pillar.

View towards Peel Castle (Isle of Man), taken across the bay from mid-promenade.

Sunset on Douglas beach, with rocks, rippled sand, and wet sections reflecting the sky

Currently house bound with a chest infection of some description, so cheering myself up by posting pics from last week’s #isleofman visit 🥰

Just one of the popular instruction books being used by certain politicians. See also Handmaid’s Tale…

The call for the 2026 – 2027 #EMBracingtheOcean #artistinresidence programme is open! We are looking for #artists to co-create work with Ocean scientists to embrace connection to the Ocean, inspire behaviour towards sustainability & contribute new insights to science. More: tinyurl.com/f7jc8b53

Image of POGO Shipboard trainee, accompanied by the following text: Prince Federe successfully applied to the 2025 NF-POGO Open Call for Shipboard Training Fellowships and was selected to participate in the POETS-WCB cruise under the supervision of Dr Sophie Fielding (BAS, UK). The training will be conducted aboard the RSS Sir David Attenborough (SDA), with the expedition departing from and returning to the Falkland Islands between 4 March and 22 April 2026. Congratulations, Prince! "I have many expectations for the POETS Cruise. I expect the journey to be cold, but the excitement alone feels like enough warmth to keep me operational aboard the SDA. I do hope my tropical body gets me through the expedition in one piece. Beyond that, I am excited to learn about the engineering of the ship and how it enables oceanographic polar sampling. On that note, I look forward to sampling Antarctic krill for an AI model. Most of all, I am eager to meet the scientists working in Antarctica and to learn from their stories of navigating the Southern Ocean and the science it demands. This experience is bound to amplify my growth as an ecologist and oceanographer, one that I hope to share with my peers in the Philippines." Prince Federe, MSc student, University of the Philippines

Meet @prejie.bsky.social, an MSc student at Univ Philippines, selected through the 2025 NF-POGO Open Call for Shipboard Training Fellowships.

Supervised by Dr Sophie Fielding from @bas.ac.uk, he will participate in the #POETS-WCB cruise aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough in the Southern Ocean.

Seriously people! Use headphones in public places. I have no interest in your random videos blaring out on buses, trains, or airport waiting rooms 🤬

View of beach, looking towards the sunset, with wet patches reflecting the warm orange glow

Sunset as I walked along Douglas beach this afternoon 🥰
#isleofman

Opportunities 'endless' for Plymouth City of Culture bid Plymouth City Council confirmed its intention to bid for the title of UK City of Culture 2029.

Very excited to see how Plymouth’s City of Culture bid plays out over the next couple of years. I rate it as the best place I’ve ever lived (sorry IOM, York, Walthamstow 😬) - 21 years now - for its unique combination of city-by-the-sea arts and activities.
Go Plymouth!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Yeah. They are happy to use any colour but blue on their materials. Wouldn’t want to be associated with their own party policies…

Hmm. I am somewhat suspicious of that white chocolate topping.
But maybe je tente le coup next time I’m in France 😉