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nmbluk.bsky.social
MBA Library
@nmbluk.bsky.social
600 followers 270 following 220 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
nmbluk.bsky.social
It's #DarwinDay #OTD in 1809 Charles Darwin was born. We have a number of books in our collection by or about Charles Darwin, but this early edition copy of 'On the Origin of Species' - which was gifted to an unknown recpient by Darwin - is a particulary special addition to our collection.
📖 BS.15/D
A colour photography of the title page of an early edition of 'On the Origin of Species'. The top right of the page is torn out and, underneath this, there is a handwritten note that says 'from the author 1860'
February 12, 2026 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
thembauk.bsky.social
@aliceahorton.bsky.social on the women who inspired her

Discover more about the Women in Science at the MBA - www.mba.ac.uk/celebrating-...

#WomenInScience #WomenInConservation #InternationalDayOfWomenAndGirlsInScience
February 11, 2026 at 12:51 PM
nmbluk.bsky.social
#February11 is International Day of Women and Girls in Science 🔬 We are privileged to have a wide variety of books in our collection by, or about, women in science and marine biology. So to celebrate we've set up a display of a small selection of them in our Reading Room @thembauk.bsky.social
A colour photograph of a display of fourteen books written by, or about, women i science. These are displayed alongside information sheets on former MBA researchers Molly Spooner, Marie Lebour and Mary Parke as well as Miriam Rothschild, who was briefly spent time at the MBA
February 11, 2026 at 9:28 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
#OTD in 1896 Sir Alister Hardy was born. Zoologist on the 1925-1927 RRS Discovery voyage to the Antarctic, Hardy designed the Continous Plankton Recorder (CPR), which is now the longest running marine ecological survey in the world buff.ly/72d4Lzt
📸 UM.74
A black and white photograph of Sir Alister Hardy at sea. He has a pipe in his mouth, while he appears to be holding some unidentified survey equipment
February 10, 2026 at 9:28 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
#OTD in 1868 Walter Garstang was born. During his time @thembauk.bsky.social Garstang focused on investigating North Sea fisheries. He was involved with the establishment of a fisheries laboratory at Lowestoft, which has since become @cefasgovuk.bsky.social
📸 MBA Archive ref PGA1.2
A colour photograph of an invitation card to the celebration dinner for the opening of the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth. The invitation is addressed to W. Garstang
February 9, 2026 at 9:28 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
What do you do when you have an unused solid wood desk in the library? Turn it into display space of course! You can get an up close look at items from our object collection, read about news stories from the archive and catch up on the latest issue of The Marine Biologist from here
#reuse #repurpose
A colour photograph of a large, light wood desk with seven drawers. On the desk are three microscopes, some printed news articles and a selection of magazines. On the wall behind the desk is a quilted mural of the laboratory and Plymouth area
February 5, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
linneansociety.bsky.social
Rearranging the Universe | The Enduring Spell of Curiosity Cabinets is now on our YouTube channel. Join @giovannialoi.bsky.social as he explores how the desire to categorize, possess, and marvel continues to shape art practices today.
Rearranging the Universe | The Enduring Spell of Curiosity Cabinets
Giovanni Aloi explores how the desire to categorize, possess, and marvel continues to shape art practices today. This talk traces the enduring fascination with Cabinets of Curiosities: early modern…
buff.ly
February 3, 2026 at 4:02 PM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Unusual sighting of a Mediterranean sea hare species, found on a recent @therockpoolproject.bsky.social BioBlitz Battle

www.mba.ac.uk/young-rock-p...
Young rock poolers discover rare Mediterranean sea hare species on Plymouth shore  | Marine Biological Association
A very unusual marine discovery has been made at Plymouth’s Mount Batten Beach during The Rock Pool Project’s monthly BioBlitz Battle. Two keen young rock poolers taking part in the citizen science ev...
www.mba.ac.uk
February 3, 2026 at 10:43 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Words Alive in Libraries is underway in the south west 📖

If events and author talks around the themes of nature, life writing and wellbeing are of interest to you, head to literatureworks.org.uk/projects/wor... to find out more and to book
literatureworks.bsky.social Literature Works @literatureworks.bsky.social · Jan 14
We’re pleased to announce a major new project for 2026, Words Alive in Libraries, a fourth partnership with the wonderful @swrls.bsky.social (the South Western Regional Library Service), building on the success of our previous writer tours of libraries around the south west.
February 2, 2026 at 3:18 PM
nmbluk.bsky.social
It's #NationalHedgehogDay so, naturally, we've put our spin on it and are celebrating all the sea hedgehogs (aka sea urchins).

📷ref: BE.30/W - The Sea-Shore Shown to the Children, 1907

P.S - We fully support all terrestrial hedgehogs too 🦔
A photograph of colour illustrations of a sea urchin. The top illustration shows the urchin without spines, and the bottom illustration is of an urchin with spines, and some of the tube feet are extended
February 2, 2026 at 11:05 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
We love this vibrantly coloured mollusc. To keep with today's posts - we have found an illustration of Patella pellucida by our anonymous conchological author
📖BL.48/A - Conchology, by Anonymous, c.1816
a photograph of a page of hand drawn illustrations of 14 species of limpets from the genus Patella. A closeup image of a hand drawn illustration of the blue-rayed limpet. The main body of the shell is a mid brown, with blue dots on the lower half to show the rays of the limpet
January 29, 2026 at 2:00 PM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Because @exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social asked so nicely - here are a few of the illustrations of seashells from the eight volume conchology series by the unknown author with the lovely handwriting 🐚
📖ref BL.48A: Conchology, by Anonymous c.1816
A photograph of a book, open to a page of colour illlustrations of seashells from the genus Murex A photograph of a book, open to a page of colour illustrations of marine gastropods A photograph of nine colour illustrations of cowrie shells A photograph of an introductory page of a book on seashells. The text reads - this work consists of coloured and plain drawings and outlines made from shells, and from engravings contained in the works of Martini and Chemnitz, Gualtierus, Donovan, Mus: Bonan, Kercher, Knorr, Rumphius, Encyclopaedia Methodica, Pennant, Turton, Lister, Montagu, Born. Systematically arranged
January 29, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
Library Shelfie Day is always a great excuse to show off the variety of ages, colours, shapes and sizes on the shelves of our rare book collections!

📷 Syon Abbey Library, Chris Brooks Collection, Hypatia Collection and Dodderidge Parish Library

#LibraryShelfieDay #ShelfieDay #RareBooks
Shelf of small books in the Syon Abbey Library. Most have parchment bindings and hand-made modern orange labels created by the community of Syon Abbey. Shelves of books in the Chris Brooks Collection. The books in this photograph were written for children and young adults in the 19th and early 20th century, and many of them have colourful and illustrated bindings. Shelves of books in the Hypatia Collection of books and journals by and about women. Many of the books in this photo have colourful or illustrated spines. Several shelves of old and very large leather-bound books in the Dodderidge (Barnstaple) Parish Library. The books have raised bands or ridges along the spines, which were created during the binding process and show the structure of the cord-bound books.
January 28, 2026 at 10:41 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
It's #LibraryShelfieDay! So please enjoy this (slightly wonky) tour of some of the shelves in our Rare Books room 📖
January 28, 2026 at 9:29 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Read the full report and the non-technical summary report here: www.mba.ac.uk/fisheries-an...
thembauk.bsky.social The Marine Biological Association @thembauk.bsky.social · 18d
@bd-stew.bsky.social Explains the Scale, Causes and Consequences of the 2025 Octopus Bloom

A new report led by the MBA in collaboration with @pml.ac.uk and @plymuni.bsky.social has revealed that a dramatic population bloom of the common octopus off the southwest coast.

youtu.be/h4cf_tgW4QQ?...
The 2025 Octopus Bloom | Dr Bryce Stewart Explains the Scale, Causes and Consequences
YouTube video by The Marine Biological Association
youtu.be
January 27, 2026 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
This strip map by John Ogilby shows 'The Road From Exeter to Barnstable & Thence to Ilfracomb', and dates back to c 1675.

Can you spot Exeter on the map? 🔍

📷 Townsend Maps T4; digitised by @dhlabexeter.bsky.social

#MapMonday #MondayMaps #Maps #MappingOurExeter #Exeter #Devon
A map showing the route from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe in six vertical strips. Decorated in red, blue, green and yellow inks.
January 26, 2026 at 10:02 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Our posts provide a glimpse into the historic collections @thembauk.bsky.social but if you're curious to find out more, you can head to buff.ly/kCLnkTY to take a deeper dive
National Marine Biological Library | Marine Biological Association
The National Marine Biological Library, based at the MBA in Plymouth UK, is one of the largest marine reference libraries in the world. Find out more!
www.mba.ac.uk
January 26, 2026 at 9:56 AM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Today is also #HandwritingDay! Our Library Assistant is particularly fond of the handwritten (and drawn) eight volume set on seashells from our rare books collection. We don't know who the author is, but we do know they had beautiful penmanship ✍️
📖ref BL.48A: Conchology, by Anonymous c.1816
A photograph of an introductory page of a book on seashells. The text reads - this work consists of coloured and plain drawings and outlines made from shells, and from engravings contained in the works of Martini and Chemnitz, Gualtierus, Donovan, Mus: Bonan, Kercher, Knorr, Rumphius, Encyclopaedia Methodica, Pennant, Turton, Lister, Montagu, Born. Systematically arranged
January 23, 2026 at 12:15 PM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Today is #OceanExplorationDay! #otd in 1960 Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh reached the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. You can read all about it in 'Seven Miles Down. The Story of the Bathyscaph Trieste' by Jacques Piccard and Robert S.Dietz (local 📖 ref: BE.35/P)
A photograph of the title page of a book. It reads Seven Miles Down. The story of the bathyscaph Trieste by Jacques Piccard and Robert S. Dietz A page of a book showing a black and white photograph of the bathyscaph Trieste being lowered into the sea. The bathyscaph looks like a small, striped submarine
January 23, 2026 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
dassh-at-the-mba.bsky.social
🪸Tricky Taxon Thursday: Hydractinia echinata 🪸

Hermit crab fur is a colonial hydroid, a spiky mat on hermit crabs shells. It sprouts 3 polyp types: Tentacled feeding polyps, Gonozoids for larva production, Stinging defensive polyps. Larvae can sense and crawl to active shells.

See all records 👇
DASSH - DASSH Mapper : Retrieve Data : Data : Home
Use the map tools to create a bounding box to query with...
www.dassh.ac.uk
January 22, 2026 at 1:03 PM
nmbluk.bsky.social
Well we thought there would be no such thing as 'sea squirrel' but it turns out every day is a school day because there is a deep sea holothurian known as the 'gummy squirrel'.

📖The Royal Natural History, volume VI. R. Lydekker

gummy #SquirrelAppreciationDay
A black and white illustration of the ventral side of a species of sea cucumber from the genus Psychropotes
January 21, 2026 at 2:08 PM
nmbluk.bsky.social
We also wanted to show appreciation for the squirrel with a very fetching illustration of the red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris.

📷 The Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland, volume II by J.G. Millais. 📖 ref BL.95/M

#SquirrelAppreciationDay
A colour illustration of two red squirrels in a tree - the one in the foreground is sitting on its haunches eating an acorn
January 21, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by MBA Library
exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the squirrels, for today is their special day!

This illustration of a red squirrel comes from 'Animated Nature Vol. 1' (1828) by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.

📷 Reserve 590 BUF

#SquirrelAppreciationDay #SquirrelDay #RareBooks
Colour illustration of a red squirrel in side profile, appearing to be cautiously scaling a branch. With an alert look, it looks directly at you. It has long pointy ears and a bushy tail.
January 21, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by MBA Library
swrls.bsky.social
Tickets are now available for our first public event for the Words Alive in Libraries author tour, with Fiona Williams, author of The House of Broken Bricks, on Thursday 29th January, at Arts University Plymouth. www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/ply...
January 20, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by MBA Library
exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the penguins, for today is their special day!

This engraving of a 'Patagonian Penguin' can be found in 'Animated Nature Vol. 2' (1821) by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.

📷 Reserve 590 BUF

#PenguinAwarenessDay #PenguinDay #RareBooks
Engraving of a 'Patagonian Penguin', standing in side profile on the edge of a cliff by water. Next to the penguin is an engraving of a gannet.
January 20, 2026 at 10:08 AM