If you've ever struggled to walk across the deck of a boat as it rolls in a choppy sea, or tried to stand up against breaking waves at the beach, you'll have felt the might of the ocean.

It feels like there's a lot of power there too, so getting energy from the waves of the sea sounds as if it's got real potential. For World Service listener Michael McFarlane, it's a question that's been on his mind for years.
"I live in Jamaica and we are never very far from the sea… Electricity generation [here] is mainly based on fossil fuels," he says.
So why isn't the ocean powering Michael's home yet?
In order to tackle this question for the World Service programme Crowdscience, first, there was a language problem to unpick.
Deborah Greaves, Professor in Ocean Engineering and Director of the COAST Laboratory at the UK's Plymouth University explains: "We've tended to use "marine renewable energy" to describe wave and tidal energy…[it's] energy which can be extracted from the movement of the oceans in the marine environment."
Large tidal power generators already exist in selected locations around the world - the La Rance River estuary plant in Brittany, France, opened in 1966, and the world's current largest tidal power station is at Sihwa Lake in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, costing 313.5 billion South Korean won (£212 million GBP or $263 million USD).
Expense is one factor that currently limits the worldwide number of tidal power plants. Environmental concerns are another, as some places with particularly strong tides are also sensitive ecosystems, such as estuaries.
And there's one more detail that's particularly relevant for listener Michael: As anyone who's been lucky enough to spend time on a beach in Jamaica knows, the tides there don't go in and out that much. It can be by as little as centimetres, compared with metres at a time in other locations around the world.
For our programme, this means we turn to wave power, which, as Prof Greaves tells us, is still in the early stages of development. "Wave energy on the other hand involves extracting the wave energy motion in a device, and there are a huge number of different approaches to how you can do this."
Out at sea, water doesn't always move as predictably as in a tide. Ocean waves are whipped up by winds, and can be all over the place, interacting from all directions. It's this irregularity and difference which means that energy can be harvested in many ways, and there are thousands of patents registered for a whole variety of different approaches.
You can get some idea from the devices' myriad of names, which include: The Limpet, the Frog, Mighty Whale, Wave Roller, Wave Dragon, the Oyster, and the Penguin. The latter bobs up and down in the sea like a real penguin does - although it looks a bit like a cartoon block of cheese - some names aren't totally representative.
But, variety and excellent names aside, what has the most potential to generate our electricity - wave or tidal? "There's more potential for wave energy in terms of the resource because the tidal resource tends to be located in specific positions round the coastline.
"So there's actually a greater potential for wave energy, but at the moment it's further off being commercially developed," says Deborah Greaves.
At the Coastal Ocean and Sediment Transport laboratory at Plymouth University in the UK, Professor Greaves oversees new wave power devices being tested in their giant Ocean Wave Basin. Over 100 cars could be parked inside the 35m long, 15m wide and up to 3m deep tank - if it weren't full of water.
And at one end, there are 24 paddles that can be individually controlled to generate waves approaching 1m in height. This means that a variety of waves can be created - from the sort of waves that you might see at the beach, to a much more mixed-up surface with different sized and timed waves from many directions, which the COAST team call a sea state.
As big as this sounds, this is only laboratory scale - it's not a patch on the open ocean, but it's where wave energy devices start out. Deborah explains: "We can only go up to a certain scale here...and so in order to really understand how your device is going to perform in the sea, and some of the additional challenges in installing it and getting it to survive in a marine environment.
"All of those things we can't test but they can be tested at larger scale at a nursery site in the sea."
FaB Test in Falmouth Bay is one such place. Heading out about a mile into the sea on a research vessel illustrated how this stage helps wave energy device developers move their models forward.
"It enables us to make sure that we have access to the devices... At the same time, this area here is providing us with very rough and extreme conditions. We have seen waves close to 10m," said Prof Lars Johanning of Exeter University, casually leaning on one leg and maintaining impressive stability whilst the CrowdScience team clung on to the boat rails and their microphones.
"In the real world as you've just experienced here... you've got waves from different directions, you've got a current, you've got wind, you've got salt water - so you've got corrosion," Prof Johanning explains.
"It's a small thing that goes wrong quite often unfortunately but it stops you from going further. Or of course then, you address it."
Prof Johanning tells us that the real challenge for wave energy devices is surviving extreme conditions. "You would like to have very nice looking waves from one direction if possible... very smooth and regular. That is not the real sea. The real sea is a bit different unfortunately so you have to overcome this. We can design for these conditions but we also have to make sure that it is cost effective."
Once safely off the boat and back in the car, we set off from the nursery site towards what we were affectionately terming as 'big school' for wave energy devices (much to our contributors' amusement). Here, standing on a glorious and very windy beach, we met Stuart Herbert, Commercial Director of Wave Hub Ltd.
"Wave Hub you can think of as a large electrical extension lead. So we have a cable which is 25km long - very thick cable - and it goes underneath the sand we're standing on and heads out to the sea and ends up about 10 miles off [the town of] St Ives," said Stuart.
Given the wind and wintry conditions, this was the closest we could get today - thankfully. Mr Herbert tells us: "[The conditions have been] as high as 15 metres in the last couple of years.
"Bigger is better to a certain extent but these devices have to survive out there… This site has an excellent wave resource and a good place where we can connect to the National Grid… There's other places like Australia, Western Ireland, Portugal, France, Spain also have very good wave resource."
So what does he think about listener Michael McFarlane's question: Could the energy of the sea provide us with all our electricity?
"What a fantastic question! And Jamaica has a good wave resource." A promising start. But what's the timeline, and could it happen?
"It has been estimated that there's more than twice as much wave energy out there than is required to power the whole world. However, capturing that wave energy, capturing this wild and unpredictable resource, is quite a challenge. It's going to take some time for these devices to get to a commercial stage where we can deploy them in multiple numbers all over the world.
"Would we ever get to a stage where we can power the whole world from wave energy? I have to be absolutely honest with you and say that's really not going to happen. There have been some estimates made that it could be 15-20% in the UK."
So, not all of our electricity then. But island communities could still make use of some wave power in the future, especially because, as Mr Herbert says, "A lot of island communities at the moment either have no power or get their power from expensive sources like diesel generators."
Michael was far from wrong in thinking that the sea appears to offer this vast resource of free power. But the challenge is making devices that can harvest the most energy from those unpredictable waves, in a cost effective manner, and survive the relentless bruising and battering of the environment.
As Stuart Herbert concludes: "Wind turbines have been around for at least 20 years... Wave energy is at least 10 years behind that. So 10 years from now I would imagine that we'll start seeing commercial arrays of wave energy devices producing really useful amounts of power."
BBC CrowdScience, Wave Power first airs on the World Service at 1132 GMT on Saturday 24th December. Listen online and download the podcast.


Port Vale chairman Norman Smurthwaite is anticipating "interest" in young defender Nathan Smith following his outstanding start to the season.

After an impressive year on loan at Torquay in the National League last season, the 20-year-old has now quickly established himself in the Vale first team under new boss Bruno Ribeiro.
"He's being scouted by Championship clubs," Smurthwaite told BBC Stoke.
"You could see he's come back a man from being at Torquay for a year."
Smurthwaite says that Vale youth product Smith will be offered a new deal by the League One club in the next few weeks, in preparation for what he expects to be firmed-up interest when the transfer window reopens on 1 January.
"I anticipate there'll be some interest in the window, not just at the end of the season," added Smurthwaite. "But it's a long time between now and January.
"There will be a new contract offered to him, as he's on a boy's wage compared to the rest of the squad.
"He's obviously making himself known. And we've been having dialogue with his agent ever since he came in and played his first game in the first team."
Vale stand ninth in League One, on the back of their run of three clean sheets with which they started the new campaign.
Smith has also weighed in with three goals - two in the league and the other in the 1-0 EFL Trophy win over Derby County Under-23s.


Police have arrested two men after drugs with a street value of £235,000 were recovered in East Renfrewshire and East Ayrshire.

Officers stopped two vehicles in the Uplawmoor and Stewarton areas as part of an intelligence-led operation on Friday, 29 July.
They seized cocaine and cannabis worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Two men aged 35 and 40 were arrested in connection with the raid and have been detained in police custody.


A guard has been "critically injured" by a prisoner she was escorting between a courthouse and prison van in central London.

The Serco security guard, thought to be in her 50s, was attacked at about 13:35 BST at Blackfriars Crown Court.
The Metropolitan Police said she was escorting a prisoner between the court and a van parked nearby at the time.
A man, 22, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in police custody.
London's Air Ambulance attended the victim and treated her at the scene before she was taken to hospital.


Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has been suspended from all football-related activity for four months for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.

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In addition, the Liverpool player, 27, has been banned for nine international matches, ruling him out of the rest of the 2014 Fifa World Cup.
He will also miss the first nine games of the Premier League season.
Liverpool will wait until we have seen the Fifa report before making any further comment
Uruguay say they will appeal, calling it an "excessive decision" for which "there was not enough evidence".
Uruguay Football Association president Wilmar Valdez added: "I have seen more aggressive incidents recently.
"It is a severe punishment. I don't know exactly which arguments they used but it is a tough punishment for Suarez."
The player has also been fined 100,000 Swiss francs (£65,680) for the incident, which occurred on Tuesday as Uruguay beat Italy 1-0 to finish second in group D and qualify for the last 16 in Brazil.
The ban is the biggest in World Cup history, beating the eight games given to Italy's Mauro Tassotti for elbowing Spain's Luis Enrique in 1994.
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"Such behaviour cannot be tolerated on any football pitch and, in particular, not at a Fifa World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field," Claudio Sulser, chairman of the Fifa disciplinary committee, said in a statement.
Suarez has now been found guilty of biting three opponents in his career, and former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson felt the suspension should have been longer.
"Say my boy was about 11 or 12, how do you explain to your lad who's a football fan exactly what Luis Suarez keeps doing?" he told BBC Sport.
"He is now a persistent offender and I thought actually the ban would have been much harsher."
"The World Cup will miss Suarez's talent, but Brazil will not miss his inability to control urges that have proved to be a blight on the game for clubs and country."
Read more from Phil
Suarez was banned for 10 games for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic during a Premier League match in 2013 and was also suspended for seven games for biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax in 2010.
Mexican referee Marco Rodriquez did not see Suarez bite Chiellini on the left shoulder, but Fifa ordered an inquiry after the match following protests by the Italian.
Suarez tried to dismiss the incident, telling Uruguayan television: "These are just things that happen out on the pitch. It was just the two of us inside the area and he bumped into me with his shoulder."
Suarez's first match back for Liverpool could be in round four of the Capital One Cup, should the Reds win their first game after entering the tournament in the third round, with matches due to take place in the week commencing 27 October.
Reds chief executive Ian Ayre said: "Liverpool Football Club will wait until we have seen and had time to review the Fifa disciplinary committee report before making any further comment."
Under the terms of the ban, Suarez cannot train with Liverpool and is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium during his suspension.
But Liverpool would not be prevented from selling him this summer should they decide to.
He has already been linked with moves to Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Sponsor Adidas said it "fully supports Fifa's decision" and will not use Suarez for any more marketing purposes during the World Cup.
"We will again be reminding him of the high standards we expect from our players," added the company. "We will discuss all aspects of our future partnership directly with Suarez and his team."
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The United Nations has warned that large numbers of children are still risking their lives to make the dangerous journey from Libya to Italy.

Unicef says almost 26,000 children - most of them unaccompanied - crossed the Mediterranean last year.
In its new report, Unicef says many children suffer from violence and sexual abuse at the hands of smugglers and traffickers.
But they rarely report their abuse, for fear of arrest and deportation.
The agency also says there is a lack of food, water and medical care in Libya's detention centres.
The plight of children, many of them unaccompanied by parents, has become a tragically familiar part of the wider story of mass migration over the past two years.
But while much has been said about the extreme dangers faced at sea, the privations experienced on land, especially in Libya, are less familiar.
Unicef's latest report, A Deadly Journey for Children, documents - in sometimes horrific detail - stories of slavery, violence and sexual abuse experienced by huge numbers of vulnerable children making their perilous way to Italy.
"What really shocked Unicef staff and me... is what happens to them [children] on this route," says Justin Forsyth, the organisation's deputy executive director. "Many of these children have been brutalised, raped, killed on this route."
Girls such as nine-year-old Kamis, who set off with her mother from their home in Nigeria. After a desert crossing in which a man died, followed by a dramatic rescue at sea, they found themselves held at a detention centre in the Libyan town of Sabratha.
"They used to beat us every day," Kamis told the researchers. "There was no water there either. That place was very sad. There's nothing there."
Much of the violence is gratuitous, and much of it is sexual.
"Nearly half the women and children interviewed had experienced sexual abuse during migration," the report says. "Often multiple times and in multiple locations."
Borders, it seems, are particularly dangerous.
"Sexual violence was widespread and systemic at crossings and checkpoints," says the report.
Many of the assailants are in uniform. This is said to be just one reason why those who suffer abuse are reluctant to report their experiences.
And Libya, as the funnel through which so many journeys pass, has earned itself a shocking reputation as the epicentre of abuse.
"Approximately one third [of those interviewed] indicated they had been abused in Libya," the report says. "A large majority of these children did not answer when asked who had abused them."
So commonplace are stories of rape and sexual enslavement that some women embarking on the journey take precautions, such as getting contraceptive injections and carrying emergency protection with them.
The report maps 34 known detention centres in Libya, three of them deep in the country's desert interior.
Most are run by the government's Department for Combating Illegal Migration. But Unicef says that armed groups also hold migrants in an unknown number of unofficial camps.
"The detention centres run by militias, we're much more worried about," says Mr Forsyth. "That's where a lot of abuse is happening and we have very, very limited access."
In 2016, more than 180,000 migrants crossed from Libya to Italy. According to the UN, almost 26,000 of these were children, most of them unaccompanied. The number of unaccompanied children appears to be soaring.
"It's a combination of factors," says Mr Forsyth. "The situation in places like Eritrea and northern Nigeria is very bad. Also in the Gambia recently."
Politics aside, poverty and the promise of a better life remain key drivers.
"I wanted to cross the sea," 14-year-old Issaa told researchers. "Look for work, work hard to earn a bit of money to help my five brothers at home."
But two and a half years after leaving home in Niger, Issaa was found living alone in a Libyan detention centre.
"My father collected money for my journey, he wished me luck and then let me go."
The migrants are, of course, heavily dependent on smugglers to get them through the desert and across the sea.
A recent case when dozens bodies were found washed up on the shore near the western city Zawiya shows that this remains extremely hazardous.
But smuggling is all-too often associated with human trafficking. Victims accept migration packages from criminal gangs, only to find themselves forced into prostitution to repay their debts.
"Libya is a major transit hub for women being trafficked to Europe for sex," the report says.
Libya's continuing political turmoil makes it extraordinarily difficult to tackle a phenomenon, which the report says has spiralled out of control.
But Unicef is urging Libya, its neighbours and regional organisations to do more to protect children.
A regional initiative, it says, would include improved birth registration, the prevention of trafficking, safe and legal pathways for children fleeing armed conflict and, where appropriate, family reunification.
"Whether they're migrants or refugees, let's treat them like children," says Mr Forsyth. "It's a reflection of our humanity, our values, how we respond to this crisis."


British world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has denied doping, after the Sunday Mirror said he was being investigated by UK Anti-Doping.

The newspaper says traces of a banned anabolic steroid were allegedly found in a sample given by Fury last year.
The boxer's promoter, Hennessy Sports, says it is "baffled" by the story.
Undefeated Fury, 27, this week postponed his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko after injuring an ankle during training.
Hennessy's statement said that fight, originally scheduled for 9 July, will now take place in October.
Fury beat Ukrainian Klitschko, 40, in November to win the WBA and WBO heavyweight titles.
The Sunday Mirror reports "unacceptable levels of nandrolone" were found in a sample taken from Fury in the lead-up to that fight.
Nandrolone, which is produced naturally in the body in small amounts, can increase muscle growth and reduce tiredness.
Ukad says it refuses to discuss cases "until due legal process has been completed".
The British Boxing Board of Control is aware of the investigation, according to the Sun.


If Hillary Clinton wins the American presidential election in November, there will be women in charge of five of the leading countries and organisations in the world -  the US, the UK, Germany, the IMF and the US Federal Reserve.

That's three of the world's biggest economies and two of the most important financial institutions. There's also the reasonable possibility of a woman becoming the new UN Secretary General.
Obviously we don't yet know about either the US or the UN, but let's have a bit of fun and imagine for a moment a world run by women. Or at least a significant chunk of the world, including the other 22 women who run countries - in which we include monarchs, presidents and prime ministers.
What does it actually mean? What actually changes if women are in those top jobs?
On one level it is huge. It's certainly unprecedented and a big crack in the glass ceiling. Half-a-century ago it would have been unimaginable to see so many women running the show.
If you believe, as I firmly do, that we are all better off with more women in top positions in every area of life, then this is something to celebrate.
A wealth of global studies now show us that organisations perform better when there is a mix of men and women in charge.
Something about the combined different experiences and styles seems to make for better decisions, it means too that half the talent in the world isn't excluded from the selection process.
Having women prime ministers, presidents, secretaries general, chancellors, chairwomen and managing directors also sends a visible message to younger women that they too can fill those slots.
They can then see themselves in 10 Downing Street or the Bundestag - and not just in isolated cases but across the board.
But part of me wonders whether even this is enough to change leadership styles that are still heavily masculine.
The people who study global business now seem to think that what we need in business - and I would add politics, media, the military, medicine etc - is not just a few more women in the top slots, but a more radical shift in management style to something that is actually more female.
Part of the reason organisations do better with more women is that women manage differently. This has been somewhat controversial, but women bring to the table certain qualities that men possess less often.
We tend to be good at reading rooms, we have high emotional intelligence, we listen well, we tend to prefer consensus building over conflict and we are good mentors. These are slight generalisations but they aren't far off the mark.
It is hard for one woman in one top job to bring about single handed that much needed change in tone.
So this is a very welcome start but it doesn't alter everything.
What these outlier senior women now need is an army of women to join the army of men under them.
It's then that our world will really change.


A man who drove at speeds of more than 105mph while being followed by police has been fined £2,500 and banned from driving for five years.

John Shearer, 29, from Fauldhouse, West Lothian, admitted at Inverness Sheriff Court to driving dangerously on the A96 Inverness to Nairn road at Gollanfield.
The offence happened at about midnight on 7 December last year.
Defending Robert Sheridan admitted that his client had an appalling record for road traffic offences.
On this occasion, Mr Sheridan said Shearer had been concerned about his recently born child.
The solicitor told Sheriff David Sutherland: "He was working in Inverness at the time and returning to his digs in Nairn.
"He had two missed calls from his partner and mother of their two children, one of which was recently born.
"He tried to phone her and she said something about the youngest child before the battery on his phone went dead.
"He was worried and speeded up to get to his accommodation as soon as possible to get his phone charged up again to be able to contact his fiancée and find out what was going on."
Sheriff Sutherland told Shearer: "Your record is frankly appalling and with some hesitation I will not send you to jail today.
"The court is aware of the dangers that exist on this road and the fine will reflect the seriousness of the offence.
"But if you fail to pay one instalment, the alternative of prison will apply."


The governor of a prison in Devon has been moved, the Prison Service says.

It confirmed Channings Wood governor Gavin O'Malley had been moved to another role at a different jail.
Officials said the move was not connected to a vote of no confidence passed against the governor and his deputy by the Prison Officers' Association (POA).
The POA said it had concerns about staffing levels and assaults at the jail.
The category C prison, near Newton Abbot, holds about 730 inmates.
John Hancock, from the POA, said members were "totally burnt out".
He said: "It's not just [prisoner] protests, violence and assaults against staff have hugely increased and there are assaults on other inmates as well.
"It's becoming so dangerous that staff have concerns about how prisons and Channings Wood are being run."
The Ministry of Justice said: "Channings Wood continues to be a safe and decent prison.
"In its most recent inspection it was described as safe and calm with low levels of violence."


Sinn Fein's Stormont leader has defended her decision to attend a commemoration for eight IRA men shot dead by the SAS in Loughgall in 1987.

Michelle O'Neill spoke on Sunday evening at a memorial event marking 30 years since the ambush, in which an innocent civilian was also killed.
Earlier, unionists and victims had reacted angrily to the move.
However, Ms O'Neill said everyone had a legitimate right to remember their dead.
She told people gathered for the commemoration at Cappagh, County Tyrone, that victims and survivors of the Troubles in Northern Ireland who sought justice and truth, must be given the strongest possible support and assistance.
"While much of our history has been marked by sadness and tragedy, we now have a unique opportunity to be the authors of a new, peaceful, and democratic future," she said.
"This does not mean we forget our past. Everyone has a legitimate right to remember their dead, tell their side of the story and share their experiences, and hurt, of that time, without being demonised.
"I challenge our opponents to stop fighting a war which is now over. There is an onus on all of us to move forward to create a free, just and equal society - together."
Ms O'Neill said she had been criticised by unionists and the media for commemorating IRA volunteers, but she was an Irish republican.
"I see no contradiction whatsoever in commemorating our republican dead while reaching out to our unionist neighbours to build the future - Orange and Green together on the basis of full equality and mutual respect," she said.
Undercover soldiers killed eight members of the Provisional IRA's East Tyrone unit at Loughgall in May 1987.
It happened as they approached Loughgall RUC station in County Armagh with a bomb in a hijacked digger.
The IRA men shot were: Jim Lynagh, Padraig McKearney, Gerard O'Callaghan, Tony Gormley, Eugene Kelly, Patrick Kelly, Seamus Donnelly and Declan Arthurs.
The SAS also shot Anthony Hughes and his brother was badly wounded.
In 2014, Mr Hughes' family received a fully government apology confirming he was entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.
In 2001, the European Court of Human Rights found the rights of those killed at Loughgall had been violated.
Earlier this week, during a visit to a Catholic grammar school to meet Irish language students, DUP leader Arlene Foster criticised Ms O'Neill's decision to attend the commemoration.
"It is disappointing that when I am trying to make this a shared place for everybody in Northern Ireland that other leaders are doing things that frankly are wrong and backward looking," Mrs Foster said.
"I am thinking of what is happening in Loughgall on Sunday and I think that is something that Sinn Féin needs to reflect on.
"We have heard a lot during the election about respect and they need to understand what that means in terms of the past and in terms of the future, as people look to the future here in Northern Ireland."


A decorative gold item believed to be about 1,200 years old has been found at a Northumberland archaeological dig.

It was found at Bamburgh Castle and project director, Graeme Young, said it could date back to around 800AD.
The 1.4cm (0.5 inch) piece of gold has yet to be properly identified or valued, but will go on show at the castle later this year.
Chris Calvert, director at Bamburgh Castle, said: "It's the largest piece of gold we've found so far."
A group of 20 French and British students have been excavating Bamburgh Castle's west ward as part of a project that has been going on for about 10 years.
French student Constance Durgeat found the piece while sifting through oyster and mussel shell mixed with silt.
The unidentified piece has tiny beads of gold and spiral patterns.
Mr Young said: "In its day, it was probably worth the income of two or three peasants for a year, quite easily.
"It's way beyond the pocket of your average citizen in the kind of period.
"It's the biggest and one of the best decorated pieces we've found at Bamburgh.
"I think everyone was absolutely over the moon, the students were all very excited.
"You're looking at something that is very high status. The workmanship alone is just astonishing and you need a microscope to see the full benefit."
The last piece of gold found at Bamburgh was a small plaque in 2008.


As each successive 'sighting' of a big cat in the British countryside disappears into a media-stoked mirage, it is time to ask whether we should release real 10-30 kg cats onto our land once more.

The Lynx UK Trust wants to do just this.
It has launched a questionnaire to find out what people think, before it then asks the Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage for permission to go ahead with trial releases.
Polarised views are likely to be expressed. Some would love to see cute tufty-eared and spotty cats wandering our woods and hills and controlling plagues of deer that are destroying our woodlands.
Others fear that these 'fierce' carnivores would eat our sheep, threaten the livelihoods of farmers and gamekeepers, endanger native British species, and leave pet owners and even parents in fear.
But it is not clear what information is being provided to help people make a dispassionate judgement.
What are the possible advantages and disadvantages?
Medium-sized cat found in western Europe, Russia and central Asia. The last British lynx, closely related to the north European lynx, disappeared around 700 AD.
It hunts deer and smaller species such as rabbit and hare and is highly elusive.
Other European countries which have successfully reintroduced lynx have developed wildlife tourism alongside them.
The animals are solitary apart from during the breeding season.
Adults vary in size from 80-130cm in length and up to 70cm at the shoulder. They can weigh from 10-40kg.
Source: Lynx UK Trust
The Eurasian lynx was the largest wild species of cat in Britain throughout the last 10,000 plus years, only dying out in the first millennium AD, almost certainly as a consequence of human persecution.
It 'belongs' in our countryside. Indeed, we are obliged under the European Habitats Directive to "study the desirability of reintroducing [threatened] species" that have become extinct from our region.
The suggested benefits of reintroducing lynx are to make British ecosystems more natural, attract ecotourism, control deer populations and hence reduce economic damage to forestry, and thus allow forests to regenerate naturally.
This would reduce the need for costly deer fences, increase the amount of undergrowth in woodlands (benefitting some woodland birds), and reduce the numbers of deer spilling out of the woods and eating farmers' crops.
The lynx are also likely to eat 'invasive' muntjac deer and rabbits, neither of which are native to Britain, and they will sometimes kill foxes.
There is a negligible direct risk to humans.
Seems sensible.
Not all benefits will necessarily be realised, and there are some genuine risks.
The numbers of deer killed by lynx in European studies seem insufficient to reduce deer populations to the point that they would allow tree generation.
Benefits in Scotland may be minimal because the main culprit preventing regeneration is red deer, whereas the lynx usually catch the smaller roe deer.
Most European studies find low predation rates on domestic livestock (a farmer compensation system will be needed) in areas where sheep are rare, but a recent study in Norway reported lynx to be killing twice as many domestic sheep as roe deer in summer.
We need to take care in the sheep-strewn British countryside.
They also sometimes eat grouse and presumably pheasants, which will bring them into conflict with landowners even if the actual losses are fairly small.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds will also be unhappy if lynx eat the last 1,300 surviving capercaillies, the largest species of grouse in Scotland.
Then there is the cost.
The Eurasian lynx is one of the least threatened species of cat in the world and it is already increasing in continental Europe.
Why spend hundreds of thousands if not millions of pounds on a species that is not endangered when we could introduce the much smaller Iberian lynx, which is the most threatened species of cat on Earth?
The Iberian species is now restricted to Spain and Portugal, but its ancestors lived throughout Europe before they were displaced by the incoming Eurasian species, which arrived from the east some 130,000 years ago.
The Iberian lynx appears to be the closest surviving relative of the original British lynx - why not introduce this truly-endangered rabbit-eating cat instead?


Two men have been arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire broke out at a busy nightclub in Hull in the early hours of the morning.

Four fire engines were sent to Valbon, on George Street, at 02:30 GMT. About 350 people were evacuated.
The venue, formerly Pozition, was recently re-launched after a major refurbishment. It is not thought anyone was injured in the blaze.
Humberside Police said the men were in custody for questioning.
The club said it would be shut until further notice for repairs to be carried out.


Being overweight may not be as unhealthy as it was 40 years ago, Danish research suggests.

The study found the "moderately" overweight now had lower rates of early death than those who were normal weight, underweight or obese.
The work, published in JAMA, looked at many thousands of people's height, weight and death rates at three different time periods since the 1970s.
A UK doctor said it did not mean being overweight was healthy or desirable.
And advice about preventing obesity should remain.
A person's body mass index (BMI) is calculated by dividing their weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters.
In the mid-1970s, those with the lowest death rates were a normal weight and the obese faced a 30% higher risk of early death, the doctors, from Copenhagen University, found.
But now the threat to people's survival from being obese was now almost negligible
The authors say the most likely explanation is that health systems are now much better at treating obesity-linked conditions, such as high cholesterol and blood pressure.
Lead investigator Prof Borge Nordestgaard said: "Our results should not be interpreted as suggesting that now people can eat as much as they like, or that so-called normal-weight individuals should eat more to become overweight.
"That said, maybe overweight people need not be quite as worried about their weight as before."
The Danish researchers say their work shows a need to update the global categories that define excess weight, which are now two decades old.
But that idea was rejected by a British expert in metabolic medicine.
Prof Naveed Sattar, from the University of Glasgow, said: "These data are of interest, but they do not change advice we have been giving on obesity and its treatment and prevention.
"The current findings do not mean that being overweight is protecting you from death, far from it.
"Obesity and overweight categories also signal risks for many diseases - such as type-2 diabetes, liver disease, cancers, sleeping problems, multiple pregnancy complications, to name but a few.
"Although we can manage many of those much better these days, such complications also impair quality of life and self-esteem, as well as increase health costs for societies."


Cinema-goers were carried to safety by firefighters after they became stranded when a water main burst in London.

Victoria Street in Victoria flooded at about 18:00 BST on Saturday and the water gushed into several businesses including the Curzon Cinema, which had to be evacuated.
Fire crews then helped some people in the venue cross the flooded pavement.
Thames Water said a large pipe burst damaging the road but no customers were without water on Sunday.
A spokesman for the company said: "Our team is on site arranging emergency repairs.
"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and we will fix the pipe as soon as possible."
The road remained closed between Palace Street and Buckingham Gate on Sunday morning and several buses in the busy area were on diversion.
On its website Curzon Cinemas Victoria said: "Due to a burst water main, Curzon Victoria has had to close tonight (Saturday 6th June).
"We apologise for any inconvenience caused."


Cambridge United boss Shaun Derry says his team are finding defensive cohesion ahead of their League Two fixture against Newport County on Saturday.

The U's have only managed one win in their last six games, but have kept clean sheets in two of their last four.
"We're trying not to make as many changes in the back four," Derry told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
"But now it looks as though we've got a settled back four with competition behind them."
Cambridge failed to earn a clean sheet during Derry's first seven games with the club, but the ex-Queens Park Rangers midfielder believes his side are seeing the benefits of their hard work.
"It takes time to forge these relationships," he continued. "I don't just want to speak about two players for two positions, I think the squad's got so much more depth than that."
Cambridge travel to Newport to face a side who have lost their last four games and scored only once in their last five.
"We've still got so much to play for over the remaining games," said Derry, whose team are five points off the play-off places. "I'm not saying we need to win this weekend. I'm saying over the course of the next two games three points are absolutely vital."


A fourth person has been arrested after a car crashed into a garden wall, killing two men.

The vehicle burst into flames in the crash on Poppyfields Way, Branton, Doncaster, on Tuesday.
An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
A 21-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy have also been arrested on the same charge. A woman, 21, was held on suspicion of assisting an offender.
The three people arrested earlier have now been bailed as police enquiries continue.
All four are from the Doncaster area, South Yorkshire Police said.
The dead men, who were in the car, have not been formally identified. A third male remains in a critical condition following the crash.
South Yorkshire Police is trying to trace the occupants of an estate car which was towing a caravan close to the scene.


One of the constituencies in Northern Ireland where a close result is expected is South Antrim.

The DUP and the Ulster Unionists are in a tight race for the seat that Willie McCrea held in the last parliament.
Mr McCrea  and DUP canvassers take to the relatively quiet streets of Ballyclare, which along with Antrim town, Randalstown and Crumlin is a major population centre in the South Antrim constituency.
Unfortunately, there aren't too many voters around.
He jokingly blames the curse of the BBC cameras frightening people away, but others in his entourage say: "No, it's because everyone is now working."
Mr McCrea, standing on his record of constituency work,  has a majority of 1,000 and, although quietly confident, says every vote counts.
"We're coming out of recession," he says.
"We've done a lot but there's a lot more to be done.  We need a good knowledgeable representative, not a novice.  And I believe I'm that experienced representative."
The Ulster Unionist candidate, Danny Kinahan, is Willie McCrea's main rival and is standing for Westminster for the first time.
Describing himself as an on-the-ground politician who is proud to be progressive and a moderniser on social issues, he was the only Ulster Unionist MLA to vote this week for same sex marriage.
A former army officer, he says it is something in which he believes in very strongly.
"I don't think we need to challenge the churches.  I believe in protecting the churches and peoples' religious beliefs but we do need to find that middle ground that everyone can live with.
"But I don't want anyone to feel they're being discriminated against whether it has to do with sex, religion or anything else."
Until this week the issues in South Antrim were jobs, traffic congestion, housing, education and health.
The candidates have different views about whether there'll be any fall-out from Jim Wells' resignation as health minister and the gay rights controversy.
The  Alliance party got about 8% of the vote in 2010 and its candidate, Neil Kelly, doesn't want any of his more liberal supporters to vote tactically against the DUP, saying the two unionist parties have a pact in nearby North Belfast.
"Danny may as well rip up his manifesto at this point," he says, "Because they've sided with the DUP.  There's a lot of controversy and they're trying to back-pedal a bit.
"But, at the end of the day, in my opinion there's no difference between them."
Declan Kearney, Sinn FÃ©in national chairperson, is the party's candidate.
Canvassing in Crumlin, where he's hoping to improve on 2010's 14 % he says it all comes down to social and economic issues in South Antrim as elsewhere.
"It's about austerity or equality," he adds.
"It's an election about quality of life issues, the run-down in public services, cutbacks that people are having to contend with and the prospect of future welfare cuts."
In 2010, the SDLP got about 9% of the vote.
Its candidate, Roisin Lynch, says people are responding well to her because she is a new  face with fresh ideas.
She says she hopes voters will opt for her because she "wants to work for prosperity and a prosperity process.  Jobs and creating a good stable economy in Northern Ireland is what the future holds."
Richard Cairns of the TUV will be hoping to improve on the  5% vote for the party in 2010 while Alan Dunlop is standing for the Conservatives.
Traditionally, there aren't too many floating voters in South Antrim.
But the question this time around is with a close result expected will there be tactical voting?
We'll know the answer to that soon.


Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has paid this tribute to batsman Phillip Hughes, who has died, two days after being hit on the head by a ball:

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"The word tragedy gets used too often in sport, but this freak accident is now real life tragedy.
"Just shy of his 26th birthday, Phillip has been taken away from us too soon. It is an understatement to say that we are completely devastated.
"Our grief runs deep and the impact of Phillip's loss is enormous, but nothing compares to the loss of those close to him. Phillip was a cherished son, brother, friend and team-mate.
"In these darkest hours cricket puts its collective arms around the Hughes family. To his parents Virginia and Greg and his siblings Megan and Jason, we offer our love and endless support.
"He was a member of the Australia, South Australia and Adelaide Striker squads. He also played county cricket in England and in the IPL in India.
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"Without doubt, he was a rising star whose best cricket was still ahead of him.
"Hughesy was much loved, you only have to sift through the thousands of wishes of support from cricketers and supporters all over the world to understand the affection felt towards him.
"He will be remembered as one of the elite few to win a baggy green cap, cap number 408 to be precise.
"He was a hero to kids around the nation, particularly to those in his hometown of Macksville in New South Wales.
"He did them proud in his 26 Test matches, a tally that looked certain to grow, but now sadly never will. The national selectors had identified him as having a long-term future in the game.
"It was only a few days ago when selecting the Test team for the forthcoming series with India, our chief selector Rod Marsh said: 'He's a hell of a good batsman, he's a very good young player who has got 26 first-class 100s'.
"We all vividly remember his explosive entrance to Test cricket. In 2009, in only his second test, aged 20, Phillip blasted back-to-back centuries against South Africa.
"Only last year, he showed his class again when he became the first Australian batsman in the history of one-day cricket to score a century on his debut. [112 v Sri Lanka January 2013]
"But it is Phillip as a person who we will miss most.
"He was a classic example of his country upbringing - humble, understated and hard working.
"When the chips were down or he had a setback, he simply got on with the job and worked harder. He set a wonderful example to any young person seeking to make their way in life.
"I'd like to send our deepest sympathies to Phillip's team-mates at national, state and grade level as well as the wider New South Wales and South Australia cricket communities.
"I'd like to pay tribute to Phillip's team-mates and opponents and the Cricket Australia medical staff for the care they have shown him.
"Our hearts go out to the Hughes family right now.
"Phillip Joel Hughes played 26 Test matches for his country.
"He'll be sadly missed and forever remembered."
James Sutherland: Cricket Australia CEO


Family members of an 82-year-old man left in a life-threatening condition after a he was hit by a car are being sought by police.

The accident happened at 15:45 BST on Friday outside Monkey World on Tout Hill in Dorset.
Alan Gerald Thomas, from Edgware, north London, was walking when he was hit by a blue Toyota Rav 4, driven by a 65-year-old man from the Wareham area.
Mr Thomas is in Southampton Hospital in a life-threatening condition.
Police Sergeant Fern Graham said: "We have made a number of enquiries to find Mr Thomas's next of kin but have so far been unsuccessful.
"We believe he has a sister but he has not been in contact with her for some time and we don't know where she lives.
"I am hoping that by releasing Alan's photo that someone may be able to give us some information about his next of kin."
The road was closed for a number of hours to allow investigators to examine the scene.


Johanna Konta, Heather Watson and Kyle Edmund all won to make it five British players in the Australian Open second round for the first time since 1987.

After Andy Murray and Dan Evans won on Monday, British women's number one Konta beat Kirsten Flipkens 7-5 6-2.
Edmund played superbly to see off Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-2 7-5 6-3 and Watson overcame Australia's 18th seed Sam Stosur 6-3 3-6 6-0.
But compatriot Naomi Broady lost to Australian Daria Gavrilova 3-6 6-4 7-5.
It is the second time in five months that five British players have reached the second round of a Grand Slam, after last year's US Open.
Konta last year became the first British woman to reach an Australian Open semi-final since Sue Barker in 1977, and the first to reach the last four at any Grand Slam since Jo Durie at the 1983 US Open.
Konta, who won the Sydney warm-up tournament last week, will next face Naomi Osaka after the 19-year-old Japanese beat Luksika Kumkhum.
It was incredibly tricky. She has the kind of game that can trouble any player
Flipkens, ranked 70 in the world, began well but Konta, considered a serious contender to win her first Grand Slam title, soon improved.
The 25-year-old was serving for the opening set at 5-4 but Flipkens broke back after a 10-minute game which saw both players miss several good chances.
Konta, named the WTA's most improved player of 2016, responded by breaking Flipkens again and then held her serve to love to take the opening set after 51 minutes.
The Briton dominated the second set, securing two breaks of serve, to wrap up victory.
"It was incredibly tricky. She has the kind of game that can trouble any player," said Konta.
"I tried to play myself into the match and I'm happy to be through. A lot has happened in the last year and I'm just enjoying playing and trying to get better every day."
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
If Naomi Broady had edged a tight match with Daria Gavrilova, there would have been six British players in the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time since Wimbledon 2006.
Johanna Konta's rapid elevation into the top 10 means Britain has a plausible shot at both the men's and women's singles titles, and others are now better equipped to keep her and Andy Murray company for longer.
Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans proved that last year, and Heather Watson's win over Sam Stosur showed what she is capable of. Watson craves consistency, and this first round win was at least a positive start.
Edmund was hampered by cramp in his first-round defeat by Damir Dzumhur in Melbourne last year, but has worked hard on his fitness.
Despite the temperature reaching 35C, the 22-year-old world number 46 looked assured throughout his contest with the 91st-ranked Giraldo.
He will meet Pablo Carreno Busta, the Spanish 30th seed who went through after Canadian Peter Polansky retired in the fifth set.
"Last year was a very different scenario, so it was nice to concentrate on my tennis and let my body take care of me," said Edmund.
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
British number two Watson, who had lost in the first round in her past three appearances at the Australian Open, was broken early by home favourite Stosur.
However, former US Open champion Stosur could not keep any consistency and Watson eventually secured a place in the second round after two hours and 15 minutes.
"There were some very long games and I had a slow start in both of the first two sets - in the third I wanted to make her work," said Watson, 24.
"Sam's a great player - she's beaten me both times before. I felt I prepared really well and felt fit in that third set."
Watson, ranked 81, will face Jennifer Brady in her next match, after the American beat Belgium's Maryna Zanevska 6-3 6-2.
Gavrilova, who is ranked 26th in the world and 71 places above Broady, was taken the distance by the British number three.
Stockport's Broady, 26, was making her debut in the Australian Open main draw and was looking for only her third victory in a Grand Slam match.
And she started well inside the Margaret Court Arena, overpowering 22-year-old Gavrilova in the first set.
Gavrilova, who switched her nationality from Russian to Australian in 2015, had her best Grand Slam run by reaching the fourth round in Melbourne last year.
And, despite a total of 19 aces from Broady, she was able to complete a comeback victory with the only break of the third and final set.


Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey is an injury doubt for October's World Cup qualifiers against Austria and Georgia.

Ramsey, 25, has not played since injuring his hamstring in Arsenal's loss to Liverpool on the opening day of the season.
Wales play Austria away in Vienna on Thursday, 6 October before hosting Georgia in Cardiff three days later.
"There is concern because he has been out for so long," Wales assistant boss Osian Roberts told BBC Wales Sport.
"It's extremely disappointing after the magnificent tournament Aaron had at the Euros that he picked up an injury in the opening game of the season.
"It's a huge disappointment for him and for all of us. But let's just hope the situation improves for him over the next week or so."
Ramsey missed Wales' 4-0 win over Moldova in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier in September.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the former Cardiff City midfielder would be "back after the [September] international break" but it now appears he could miss the second and third fixtures of Wales' current campaign.
Ramsey was regarded as the outstanding performer in Chris Coleman's squad during Wales' unprecedented success at Euro 2016.
He was named in Uefa's official team of the tournament after helping Wales reach their first semi-final.
But Ramsey missed the 2-0 semi-final loss to Portugal after picking up two yellow cards during the opening five games.


US fast food workers have joined counterparts in countries including Indonesia, France, and Brazil to stage a global walk-out in protest about wages and working conditions.

Organisers said they had planned 230 protests in 33 countries.
Fast food workers and labour organisers have been protesting at what they call "abusive employment practices" since late 2012.
They are demanding a "liveable" wage of $15 per hour in the US.
In a statement, the National Restaurant Association, which represents fast food business such as McDonalds and Burger King, said: "A dramatic increase to labor costs like the one proposed... is not the comprehensive solution to income inequality - it will only hurt business owners' ability to create entry level jobs."
Currently, the federally-mandated minimum wage in the US is $7.25 per hour, although 38 states have set higher floors.
US President Obama has pushed for a raise of the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, but that move has been blocked by Congressional Republicans.
Meanwhile, in places like Seattle and Washington, labour organisers have tried to a different tactic, putting "liveable wage" legislation to a vote.
Two states- Hawaii and Minnesota - have also raised their minimum wage.
However, opponents of a minimum wage rise often cite a study by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimating the law would result in the loss of about 500,000 jobs.
But the same study also anticipated that as many as 16 million poor workers would see a substantial pay rise.
'It's disgusting'
Outside a Domino's pizza chain in the middle of Manhattan, around 150 protests were gathered at midday.
Chanting "it makes no sense", they said they were there to protest about not just their low wages, but rising income inequality.
Shantel Walker has been working as a manager at a Papa John's pizza chain since 1999, and she currently makes $8.50 per hour.
She says that is not significantly more than the $7.25 she was getting just a few years earlier - and she insists it is certainly not enough to live on in Brooklyn, New York, where her monthly rent is $500.
"It's disgusting - sometimes I don't even bring home $10,000 a year and [some people] make $10,000 an hour," she told the BBC.
Omar Freckleton, a McDonald's employee, said he currently makes $8 per hour - not enough, he said, to support his daughter. However, when he asked for more work, his hours were instead cut.
"Sometimes you feel like you want to quit but you can't quit because you've got bills to pay," he said.
In a statement, McDonald's said: "McDonald's respects our employees' right to voice their opinions and to protest lawfully and peacefully."


The last of the "Pitman painters", known for his pictures of everyday life, has died at the age of 94.

Norman Cornish, of Spennymoor, County Durham, was the last surviving artist of the Pitman's Academy at The Spennymoor Settlement.
The settlement was set up in 1930, giving mining families access to the arts and Mr Cornish was one of its most famous students.
His son-in-law Mike Thornton said he died on Friday.
The settlement became known as the Pitman's Academy because its clubs nurtured the talents of people such as writer Sid Chaplin and artist Tom McGuinness.
Cornish spent 33 years working in mines before forging a career as an artist at 47.
In an interview with the BBC in 2011, he said painting was like an "itch that you have to scratch" and that he still painted every day.
His work included vivid nostalgic pictures of ordinary life including women in headscarves, men in flat caps, fish and chip vans and horse-drawn carts.
Other scenes included men playing dominoes in the pub and children skipping in the street. Each painting sold for thousands.
A statement on his website said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of celebrated artist Norman Cornish who passed away peacefully on the evening of the 1st of August, aged 94.
"A book of condolence will be available at Northumbria University Gallery from 5 August."
The eldest of nine children, whose father was out of work, Cornish said he had no option but to start working in a mine at the age of 14.
He soon joined the Spennymoor Settlement, a cultural venture that ran art classes and had a library where he could learn about Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec and Renoir.
The story of North East miners-turned-artists was turned into a play The Pitmen Painters, by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall.
The play focuses on a group of miners in Ashington, Northumberland, who became respected painters after seeking art tuition in the 1930s.
After opening in Newcastle in 2007, The Pitmen Painters has had successful runs at the National Theatre in London and on Broadway.
Ray Spencer, chief executive of the Customs House Trust in South Shields, paid tribute on Twitter and said the world Cornish painted "no longer existed."


St David's Cathedral could become the first Church in Wales site to elect a woman bishop as voting for a new incumbent begins.

An electoral college of 47 people from across Wales will spend up to three days locked in the cathedral from Tuesday while they make their decision.
The decision follows the retirement of Wyn Evans.
The new bishop will be the 129th Bishop of St Davids. There has been a church on the site since the 6th Century.
St Davids diocese includes the west Wales counties of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.
The decision to allow women bishops was made following a landmark vote in September 2013.


Professor Sid Watkins, who has been at the forefront of safety in Formula 1 for more than 30 years, has ended his full-time involvement in motorsport.

The neurosurgeon has stepped down as president of the FIA Institute, but will continue in an honorary role.
The 83-year-old, who was a close friend of the late Ayrton Senna, served as F1 medical delegate from 1978 until 2004.
He played a major role in saving the lives of many F1 drivers after heavy crashes.
Among them were Ferrari's Didier Pironi at the 1982 German Grand Prix, Jordan's Rubens Barrichello at Imola in 1994, and McLaren's Mika Hakkinen at Adelaide in 1995.
Watkins worked on improving safety in F1 alongside his full-time job at Whitechapel Hospital.
He was appointed chairman of the FIA Expert Advisory Safety Committee, which was set up in 1994 following the deaths of Austrian Roland Ratzenberger and Senna on successive days after Barrichello's crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
Watkins recounted in his autobiography that he had tried to persuade Senna to retire in a conversation at the scene of Ratzenberger's accident, 24 hours before the Brazilian himself would crash to his death.
Senna broke down at the crash scene and cried on Watkins' shoulder.
Watkins wrote that he said to Senna: "What else do you need to do? You have been world champion three times, you are obviously the quickest driver. Give it up and let's go fishing."
Senna replied: "Sid, there are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit. I have to go on."
Working closely with then-FIA president Max Mosley and race director Charlie Whiting, Watkins was instrumental in transforming safety in F1 - there have been no driver deaths in the sport since Senna's on 1 May 1994.
He became the first president of the FIA Foundation for Automobile in Society in 2004.
Watkins will be replaced by Professor Gerard Saillant, himself famous for ground-breaking surgery that saved the legs of several badly injured F1 drivers, including Pironi, who died in a powerboat accident in 1987.


Chinese stocks were mostly lower on the last day of 2015 in thin trading with some of Asia's biggest markets closed ahead of the new year.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed up 0.2% at 21,914.40, while the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.4% at 3,539.18.
The index was 9.4% higher for the year, making it one of the best performing markets globally.
Investors were also holding off ahead of manufacturing data due out on Friday.
The data should shed light on the extent of the slowdown in the world's second largest economy.
Economists expect the manufacturing surveys to show factory activity shrinking again in December.
Several markets closed early on New Year's Eve such as Hong Kong and Australia, while Japan and South Korea were closed for public holidays.
In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 0.5% to 5,295.9, but lost more than 2% for the year.
That marked the index's first annual fall since 2011 as slumping iron ore and metal prices hit blue chip mining stocks, while new rules hurt the banking sector.
Sliding oil prices hovering around 11-year lows capped gains in energy-related stocks in Australia and across the region.
"The correlation between moves in the oil price and equity markets are becoming increasingly concerning and do not bode well for today's Asia session," said market strategist Angus Nicholson at trading firm IG in a note.
Crude oil prices held losses after falling 3% overnight.


The University of Glasgow has welcomed a decision by councillors to back a key part of its plans for a £1bn expansion.

Its proposal involves creating a "learning hub" on the 14-acre site of the former Western Infirmary.
The development was backed at a pre-determination hearing of the Glasgow City Council planning committee.
The university's masterplan, which includes a research and innovation hub, will now go to a full council meeting on 16 February.
The site is also to be used for new social sciences, health and engineering buildings.
An estimated 2,500 jobs will be created during the construction period.
An initial £450m is expected to be spent over five years at the hospital site, as part of a £1bn investment in facilities by the university.
The extension to the university's Gilmorehill campus will see a central square linking to Byres Road, and commercial opportunities in the form of restaurants, bars and a hotel.
A spokeswoman for the university said: "We are delighted to have received support for our plans at today's meeting. This is an interim but important stage of the planning process.
"The campus masterplan is due to go before a full council meeting... which we hope will give planning approval for this exciting and ambitious development which will transform the University's teaching and research provision as well as enhancing the amenities of the city's West End."


A search is under way for a fisherman who was seen falling into the River Tawe in Swansea.

The incident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday at Tawe lock gates at the city's marina.
A rescue team from Mumbles coastguard and a helicopter from RAF St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, were dispatched but the search was suspended until 08:00 GMT.
Coastguard Pete Summers said the weather had been "challenging".
"We are very concerned for the safety of this man," he said.
"The weather last night was challenging with a moderate to rough sea, rain and winds gusting up to gale force.
"The coastguard rescue teams' search this morning will be land-based, whilst the lifeboat will be searching the Swansea Bay area."
South Wales Police said officers are assisting the search of the marina


Ian Poulter would "love" to be Ryder Cup captain "one day" but hopes it will be a while before that happens.

The 38-year-old Englishman is famed for his exploits in the bi-annual contest between Europe and the United States, inspiring his team to victory at Medinah in 2012.
"If I was ever asked to be captain, then, yes, I'd love to be a captain of a Ryder Cup team," he told BBC Sport.
"Hopefully, I've got another 10 years in me before I ever get asked."
Poulter was part of the European team that retained the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in September.
Paul McGinley was skipper then, but Darren Clarke is a strong favourite to take over for 2016.
"There are lots of people that could potentially be captain," said Poulter, who talks about his life and career in his new autobiography No Limits.
"When you look at the next one in Hazeltine in America, it's very much looking like Darren Clarke will be running as a strong favourite.
"He has got a great relationship with the players and he would be a very worthy captain."
Poulter has endured a difficult season, suffering from a number of injuries, but said he was "very excited for what's coming in 2015".
"Battling with three injuries was difficult to take as I have never had that many," said the world number 26..
"To get those in succession, spread out over the season, hindered my performance, but at The Open I managed to start the rehab process properly and the last month has been quite exciting."
Poulter has yet to win a major but finished second at the 2008 Open.
"When you look at Tom Watson nearly winning the Open championship at the age of 60 a few years back, then I've got plenty of years left in me yet to try and achieve that great goal," he said.
He is also targeting an Olympic medal, with golf back on the Games schedule for Rio 2016, having been absent since 1904.
"If I play well in this next two-year period, then certainly I can go on and make the Olympics to try to compete for gold," he said.
There have been reports Poulter does not get on with 14-time major winner Tiger Woods, but the Englishman played down any conflict.
"There is no fractious relationship," he said. "There were a couple of comments which potentially got taken out of context, but there is no personal problem between me and Tiger Woods.
"I get on with him fine. I don't socialise with him, but I don't think many other players do either. He is his own guy, he's very quiet, keeps himself to himself, but we don't have any issues."
Former world number one Woods has not played since August because of injury and has not won a major since the 2008 US Open.
"I'm not sure he will get back to his best, but his best is not required to win golf tournaments," Poulter added.
"He just needs that little sparkle in his eye and he's a tough guy to beat."


The Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) in Belfast has called in extra staff to deal with an unusually high volume of patients.

The hospital said additional beds had been opened to relieve the pressure on the A&E department.
A spokesperson for Belfast Trust said the situation was brought under control just before midnight on Wednesday.
The RVH said anyone attending A&E could still expect to wait longer than normal.
Earlier on Wednesday evening, ambulances were diverted to the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald for several hours, but they are now returning to the RVH.
The hospital said some patients may still be transferred to other sites.
A spokesperson for the Belfast Trust said "everything that could be done, had being done".
She described it as a "very unusual situation".


Less than a week ago he was the victor in a campaign he didn't expect to win, a campaign that led the country to make its biggest political decision for decades.

This morning, after what one of his allies described to me as "one of the biggest acts of treachery I have ever seen", Boris Johnson has decided he is out.
The decision of Michael Gove, the secretary of state for justice, to run against his political ally changed everything.
Boris Johnson was stunned and furious, with Michael Gove only phoning him to tell him, I'm told, five minutes before he made the announcement.
One of his cabinet colleagues says: "He loves to be loved - he really feels everything."
Another said: "He is a very human politician. This was clearly going to hurt".
On hearing of the news, a source close to Mr Johnson told me: "We might not get the numbers now."
And that was written on his face this morning as he took his place at the podium to the cheers of his supporters. But as he gave an unusually low-key speech,  it became clear that something was amiss. But there were tears and disbelief in the room as the news sank in.
Political rules have been totally thrown up into the air in the last seven days, but one of the oldest has stayed true - the front-runner doesn't win.
Through the day we'll hopefully be able to piece together more clearly exactly what happened.
There are suspicions across Westminster that George Osborne and David Cameron's ambitions to stop Boris Johnson are behind this.
It won't be clear for some time, if ever, if that is really the case. But two things are clear already - the chaos of this morning is a bonus for Home Secretary Theresa May's (so far) calm campaign, and the aftermath of the referendum has poisoned new seeds of bitterness inside the Conservatives.


A kitten who wedged herself halfway up a chimney for four days was rescued in a four-hour operation by the RSPCA and fire crews.

Lola's worried owner contacted the RSPCA after hearing the kitten making noises inside the chimney at home in Liverpool on Friday.
RSPCA inspector Matt Brown said rescuing her was worth getting a uniform covered in soot.
A spokeswoman for the charity said Lola was recovering and "doing well".
The cat had received a check-up at the RSPCA Greater Manchester Animal Hospital.
"She had somehow managed to climb inside the chimney - about 8ft (2.4m) up it," said Mr Brown.
The rescuers climbed up on the roof of the house in Fairfield Drive and poked rods down to see if it would help her get down.
When that failed they removed the fireplace and freed her using long poles.
"By the time we got her out, we were completely covered in soot and she came out looking bedraggled and dazed," said Mr Brown.


A primary school in Bradford is considering changing to a four-and-a-half day week in a bid to save money.

Cottingley Village Primary said in a letter to parents budget pressures left it needing to look at cost cutting without reducing staff.
Parent Anne Villien said the move would cause childcare problems for many.
The three main political parties have pledged more money for schools as head teachers around the country deal with rising costs pressures.
The letter, sent out by head teacher Nichola Geale, urges parents to have their say on the proposals.
It states: "We believe that changing the school day would both save the school a lot of money and also allow us to improve teaching and learning."
It said the change could involve school starting earlier, from 08:30 or 08:40, instead of the existing time of 08:55 and finish "Friday at lunchtime for all pupils".
The letter goes on to say staff would remain in school on Friday afternoon for preparation, planning and assessment time.
It adds: "At the moment, this is done during the week which interrupts learning and also costs the school as we have to pay for other teachers to be in classes".
The school has proposed to bring in the change from September.
Ms Villien, whose daughter attends Cottingley, said: "It is a such a fantastic school and it's disgusting that financial pressures are meaning it has to consider something like this.
"It means a lot of parents are going to have to look for childcare, which is not easy to find for the odd few hours. It's scary to think that this is the way many schools could be forced to deal with budget constraints."
Neither the school or Bradford City Council would comment on the proposals.


A children's book prize inspired by Matilda author Roald Dahl has been put on hold for two years.

The annual Roald Dahl Funny Prize is to be relaunched in 2016 as part of the author's centenary celebrations.
Set up by former children's laureate Michael Rosen in 2008, the prize is intended to reward authors and artists of humorous children's books.
A spokesman for the Dahl Literary Estate said they looked forward to making the prize "even more impactful".
The prize was created as a joint enterprise between book charity Booktrust, the Roald Dahl literary estate and Rosen.
'Robust future'
"We are delighted with the success that the Roald Dahl Funny Prize has achieved in a fairly short amount of time," said Luke Kelly of Dahl & Dahl.
"The Prize has paid tribute to many fantastically talented, inventive and mischievous storytellers."
Booktrust boss Viv Bird said the prize had been a "phenomenal triumph" but she wanted to ensure "a robust future for this unique celebration of funny books".
Last year's winners, Simon Rickerty (Monkey Nut) and Jim Smith (I Am Not A Loser), received Â£2,500 each.


The claims about how much of UK law comes from the European Union vary so massively, it's really difficult to get a definitive answer.

Business for Britain, which wants the UK to leave the EU, says more than 60% of UK law is influenced by EU law.
Robert Oxley from Vote Leave says, "If you stacked the entire EU rule book it would be higher than Nelson's column. That's an incredible amount of paperwork which British businesses, British employers, all the people who have to comply with this legislation have to deal with.  It is cost and time added on to their businesses."
But some put the figure far lower, at around 13%. So who is right?
In a nutshell it's somewhere in-between the two - let's look at why.
To try to work out the proportion of UK law derived from EU law, you need to define what you mean by UK law and EU law, understand how they relate to one another, and only then "do the math".
So, what is meant by UK law? That's tricky because the devolved legislatures in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all pass laws that apply only in their nations, and not all laws passed at Westminster apply to the entire UK.
Essentially, there are two main kinds of UK law. Acts of Parliament, also known as statutes, and statutory instruments, which flesh out how a statute will work.
There are also two main types of EU law. There are EU regulations, most of which apply automatically in all 28 EU member states - so most EU regulations are part of UK law.
Then there are EU directives, which set out an aim for member states to achieve. They don't specify how to achieve it, but directives have to be implemented by a national law. The UK normally does this through a statutory instrument.
Okay, got the terms straight?  Let's start the number crunching.
According to the House of Commons Library, which itself concedes that there is no completely accurate way to make the calculation, between 1993 and 2014 Parliament passed 945 Acts of which 231 implemented EU obligations of some sort.
It also passed 33,160 Statutory Instruments, 4,283 of which implemented EU obligations. Add both of these together and divide by the total number of laws passed, and you get the 13% figure.
But that's not really an accurate figure because most EU regulations don't require new UK laws. They can be implemented in the UK without new legislation, for example by simply changing administrative rules.  So, the 13% figure doesn't take into account EU regulations that don't need additional UK legislation to be brought into force.
If you count all EU regulations, EU-related Acts of Parliament, and EU-related Statutory Instruments, about 62% of laws introduced between 1993 and 2014 that apply in the UK implemented EU obligations.
So, does that mean that the Brexiteers are right?
Not according to many expert lawyers and academics.  There are a number of reasons for this.  Firstly, some EU regulations, like those governing tobacco and olive oil production, are agreed by all member states but don't actually affect us at all because we don't have those industries here.
We also adopt some EU regulations that simply codify existing UK law at a European level.  In other words, we would have that law anyway. But perhaps the biggest way in which it is said the 62% is inflated is because it includes within it what are known as non-legislative EU regulations, which concern matters so small or routine that many people wouldn't really recognise them as law.
Research by Michael Dougan, professor of EU law at Liverpool University looked at all of the EU regulations published in the Official Journal for October 2015. He counted 119 EU regulations, but only eight of them were legislative in character, of which two were measures relating to the EU's own budget and another two were amending measures.
The remaining 111 regulations (over 93%) were non-legislative acts, made up of detailed technical administrative decisions, such as updating the scientific registers of chemicals and food additives, and extending the protection period for measures to combat diarrhoea in pigs. Other months yielded similar results.
It is claimed that this kind of analysis demonstrates how misleading the 62% figure is. "It is only possible to reach a figure anywhere approaching 60% by entirely ignoring the fundamental distinction between EU legislation and EU administration, thereby massively exaggerating the statistics for the amount of EU law, by including vast numbers of detailed, technical measures that would never be counted as law if they were adopted within the UK legal system," Professor Dougan says.
So what is the true figure? More than 13% but less than 62% - it depends what you count in and what you leave out. It is safe to say that EU law does have a very significant presence and effect in UK law.
But is there any point in counting the number of laws?
Not according to Sir Paul Jenkins, a former Treasury solicitor who headed up the Government Legal Department. He thinks the whole debate is a red herring.
"This is one of many areas in the EU debate where both sides describe meaningless nonsense as facts," he says.
"The impact of EU law varies from sector to sector. In many areas - public order, crime, defence, health - EU laws have minimal impact.  But in others - workers' rights, trade - the impact is much greater because the single market and the free movement of workers are at the heart of what the EU is about. The way we organise our NHS is not."
Read more: The facts behind claims in the EU debate


A teenage boy has appeared in court charged with murdering 16-year-old Bailey Gwynne, who was stabbed at his Aberdeen school.

Bailey died in hospital after the incident at Cults Academy at about 13:30 on Wednesday.
The 16-year-old accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
The boy was also charged with having a blade or point on school premises. He made no plea and was remanded.
He is expected to appear again on 6 November.
Relatives of Bailey said in a statement on Thursday: "There are no words. Bailey is our beloved boy and our heart. Our hearts have gone with him."
It added: "A special son, brother, grandson and friend - he never failed to make us smile (most of the time). He will always be our boy.
"We don't know what we will do without our junior 'man about the house'.
"We need time now to look after each other and send our love to all those who care for Bailey."
Cults Academy is a secondary school with 1,050 pupils from age 11 to 18.
The school was closed on Thursday and Friday but will re-open on Monday, with special assemblies being held.
The nearby Cults Parish Church was packed for a vigil on Thursday evening.
Many people wrote messages of condolence and support for Bailey's family.
Church of Scotland minister, the Reverend Ewen Gilchrist, said: "Bailey Gwynne's family will hear about this and the number of people here and hopefully it will give them a bit of light in the darkness.


Coldplay are "looking at options" to save the Treehouse, a facility run by the defunct Kids Company charity.

The venue in north London provided education and therapeutic help for vulnerable children.
The band, led by singer Chris Martin, have previously donated an estimated Â£10m to the charity, which closed down last week amid claims of financial mismanagement and sexual abuse.
Coldplay's manager Phil Harvey said: "It's very early stages."
He added: "We're incredibly proud of Treehouse's work with children in great need over the past six years. We're not going to give up on the centre without looking at all options for the future."
The Treehouse opened in 2009. Its website describes its services as "providing practical and emotional support for exceptionally vulnerable children, their families and young people."
The Kids Company charity closed its doors on Wednesday last week.
It has been beset by problems, including allegations of financial mismanagement and accusations by former staff that the charity failed to deal with allegations of serious incidents.
Kids Company is also being investigated by the Met Police's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.
However, the charity - founded by Camilla Batmanghelidjh - said it would have told police of any allegation it knew about.
It has relied on individual donations and government grants but said last week it closed due to a lack of funding.
Ms Batmanghelidjh has said there was a "malicious discrediting campaign" against the charity,


Watch the moment two giant panda twins meet each other for the very first time.

8 November 2016 Last updated at 12:00 GMT
The boy and girl cubs were born in Shanghai Wildlife Park in China last month but have been kept apart until now.
When they were born, the boy was left with his mother, while the girl was taken away to be fed by humans, to give both cubs the best chance of surviving.
Watch the moment zookeepers introduce them to each other.


A care provider that supplies services across the South West and the Midlands has gone into liquidation.

Cleeve Link Homecare helps elderly people in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, North Somerset, Oxfordshire, South Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.
Gloucestershire County Council said the Care Quality Commission (CQC) told it on Thursday the firm had been put into liquidation by its holding company.
A council spokesman said everybody would continue to receive their care.
Councillor Dorcas Binns, cabinet member for older people at Gloucestershire County Council, said: "We're one of a few councils, including neighbouring Worcestershire and Oxfordshire, affected by this decision and we have worked quickly with our partners to keep services available.
"Our priority is the health and wellbeing of the people that depend on the service and no-one will go without care they need during this time."
Donna Miles, from the county council, said the 487 people who received services from Cheltenham-based Cleeve Link in Gloucestershire would "continue to receive their care".
She added the council was working to continue to support people "into the weekend" and to "secure the staff in the care sector and guarantee them work going forward".
Deborah Ivanova, CQC's deputy chief inspector of adult social care for London and the South, said: "CQC is aware of the financial situation of Cleeve Link Healthcare and we are currently in close liaison with the provider, clinical commissioning groups and the local authority commissioners.
"Our priority at this time is to work with stakeholders and commissioners to ensure that people using services remain safe and continue to receive a service that meets their needs."


Rory Lawson believes the risk of Gregor Townsend leaving Scotland may have influenced the decision to name him as Vern Cotter's successor.

The Glasgow Warriors coach will replace Cotter as Scotland coach next summer.
"I would have thought he would already have been looking to go elsewhere," former Scotland scrum-half Lawson said.
"The risk of potentially losing Gregor before Vern Cotter had done his bit - had he taken them through to the next World Cup - is now nullified."
Townsend served as Scotland's backs and attack coach for three years, and his Glasgow players have provided a large percentage of the squad under Cotter.
"In many ways he's perfectly positioned to step into that role," Lawson told BBC Scotland.
"He's obviously been in and around the Scotland coaching environment before and naturally the two professional clubs work very closely with the national team as it is.
"He's gone in at Glasgow, taken a year or so to build the squad he wants, the culture he wants and the playing style he wants.
"And by the time he steps in, he'll have had four to five years as head coach of Glasgow and that will stand him in incredibly good stead."
Cotter's future beyond the summer of 2017 remains unclear, though Lawson thinks approaches from elsewhere may have convinced him to move on after his contract expires next year.
"Obviously somebody has offered him the chance to go elsewhere," added Lawson, who won 31 caps between 2006 and 2012. "Whether that's back to New Zealand or elsewhere we'll see.
"As much as we're shocked and disappointed [at losing Cotter], we're incredibly fortunate that we have one of the best and most sought-after coaches in the northern hemisphere, in the shape of Gregor Townsend, to come in and pick up as head coach."


Twenty-five police have been given long sentences for their part in the 1992 massacre in Sao Paulo's Carandiru jail that left 111 prisoners dead.

Each officer received 624 years for the death of 52 inmates, but in Brazil no-one serves more than 30 years in jail.
The verdicts come in the second of four stages of the trial involving different floors of the prison. Twenty-three officers were convicted in April.
The police are expected to stay free pending an appeal.
The defence can only challenge the verdicts after the end of the whole trial, expected in January 2014.
Under Brazilian law there are no life sentences, and no convicted person can serve longer than 30 years in jail.
The officers, nine of whom are still on active duty, will also lose their jobs, O Globo newspaper reported.
The riot began on 2 October 1992 after an argument between two inmates quickly spread, with rival gangs facing off in what was at the time one of South America's largest prisons, housing 10,000 inmates.
Inmates said riot police brutally repressed the riot.
The officers' lawyer, Ieda Ribeiro de Souza, argued they were only doing their duty and acted in self-defence, as many of the inmates were armed.
While prison riots are not uncommon in Brazil, the number of those killed at Carandiru and the slow pace of the Brazilian justice system in bringing the accused to trial shocked the public.
Carandiru was closed in 2002, shortly after inmates co-ordinated simultaneous uprisings in 27 jails across Sao Paulo state during which thousands of visitors were held hostage.
In 2001, Col Ubiratan Guimaraes, who led the police operation to regain control in Carandiru, was convicted of using excessive force. But he was acquitted on appeal in 2006.


Creel fishermen are calling for a massive change in the way west coast of Scotland fisheries are managed.

Their industry body has put a case to the Scottish government for trawlers to be banned from inshore waters.
They have also asked that the trawlers' allocation of prawns be transferred to their fleet.
Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing said the creel fishermen's report made a number of assumptions which would need "further investigation".
The Scottish Creel Fishermen's Federation (SCFF) said the move would create hundreds of new jobs in rural communities.
But the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), which represents the trawling sector, said the proposals would kill its fleet.
Creel fishing involves laying dozens of pots on the seabed and collecting the catch later.
The prawns are landed alive and are classified as a premium product.
A 34-page document produced by the SCFF argues for the "three mile limit" to be reintroduced which prevents trawling in inshore waters.
The restriction existed for about a century and was only lifted to allow inshore trawling - now, mainly for prawns - in 1984.
The SCFF's research concludes that its reinstatement would lead to 450 additional creel boats and more than 700 new jobs.
Chief executive Alistair Sinclair told BBC Scotland: "We are currently only afforded 15% of what's available out there.
"If we had the ability to fish more we could create so many jobs, it would be an unbelievable turnaround for the inshore fleet."
Tensions have long existed between trawlermen and creel fishermen who use entirely different techniques to fish for the same species in the same grounds.
Many skippers in the creel sector will claim that their gear has been lost or destroyed when trawlers have dragged their nets through them.
The Scottish government has announced that it will pilot ways of keeping the two fishermen apart by designating areas for their sole use.
Ali Macleod owns one of just three creel boats in Applecross.
He said: "I would actually say it's impossible to share [fishing grounds]. It's either trawler ground or creel ground.
"Sharing means if a trawler comes through on creel ground our gear's gone."
Although the creel fleet on the west coast is bigger than the inshore trawling fleet, the trawlers catch much more by volume.
But their haul can be worth significantly less per tonne, with much of it being used for scampi.
Donald Matheson is skipper of the trawler Eilidh, based at Kyleakin on Skye.
He said: "It would be disastrous. We are fortunate our boat is one of the bigger boats in the inshore trawling fleet.
"The rest of the boats would definitely be out of business and probably we wouldn't be far behind."
The SCFF report argues that nearly Â£45m of additional revenue could be created by reintroducing the three-mile limit and that trawlermen could switch to creel boats.
But Bertie Armstrong from the SFF, which represents trawlermen, said: "First of all, this is an entirely sustainable industry that's doing no damage.
"They would find it terminal. With the sort of boats that are used for inshore trawling there is very little else you can do with them. You'd have to completely get rid of those boats, which now have no value, and reinvest.
"It makes no sense whatsoever, economically."
Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing said: "I will give this report from the SCFF full and proper consideration.
"The SCFF report makes a number of assumptions that will clearly require further investigation. That is why my recent announcement of inshore pilot schemes is timely and needed.
"These pilots will look at innovative approaches to fisheries management and test whether a more local approach to fisheries management and separating different methods of fishing, such as creeling and trawling, can yield greater benefits for coastal communities."


A 34-year-old woman has been killed in a crash in the Borders in which three young boys and a man were also injured.

Police were called to the two-vehicle accident on the A698 near Denholm at about 16:15 on Thursday.
The female driver of a Vauxhall Zafira died at the scene. Three boys aged 12, nine and 18 months, who were in the car with her, were taken to hospital.
Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. The driver of a Peugeot 207 was also taken to hospital.
Police said the 26-year-old man's injuries were also not life-threatening.
Anyone who witnessed the accident has been asked to contact police.


Jorge Lorenzo completed his nine-year stay at Yamaha with victory at MotoGP's season-ending Valencia Grand Prix.

The Spaniard, who will join Ducati in 2017, produced a good start from pole position and led throughout.
Three-time champion Lorenzo, 29, ended the 30-lap race 1.19 seconds ahead of Honda's Marc Marquez and 6.60secs in front of Andrea Iannone of Ducati.
Marquez, 23, had already sealed his third world championship title with three races of the season to spare.
He paid the price for a slow start at Circuito Ricardo Tormo, and while he battled to finish second, Lorenzo made the most of the open track to move into a five-second lead.
As Lorenzo's front tyre showed wear late on, Marquez ate into the advantage but could not overhaul the 2015 champion.
In a farewell letter to Yamaha issued earlier this week, Lorenzo said his nine years with the team were "unrepeatable" and "unforgettable".
The result means he ends the 18-round season third in the championship table, behind Marquez and Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, who finished fourth on the day.
Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa crashed out on his return, just four weeks after he fractured his collarbone, leg and foot in a crash in Japan.
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha  45 minutes 54.228 seconds
2. Marc Marquez (Spa) Honda  45:55.413
3. Andrea Iannone (Ita) Ducati  46:00.831
4. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha  46:01.896
5. Maverick Vinales (Spa) Suzuki  46:04.838
1. Marc Marquez (Spa) Honda  298
2. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha  249
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha  233
4. Maverick Vinales (Spa) Suzuki  202
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati  171


Tuesday's inflation report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will not be the same as previous ones.

The ONS is changing its headline rate of inflation for the first time since it moved from RPI to CPI in 2003.
The new headline rate is CPIH, a measure of how much prices are rising that, unlike CPI, takes into account owner-occupiers' housing costs and council tax.
The switch from CPI to CPIH is a result of a review of inflation measures by Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He says that including such costs gives a better answer to what is going on with inflation.
Jonathan Athow, who is in charge of economic statistics at the ONS says that CPIH "is the most comprehensive measure of consumer inflation".
The ONS uses the amount that you would have to pay to rent a property as a proxy for owner-occupier housing costs.
The argument is that if mortgage costs go up or house insurance goes up, rent will also go up.
While the cost of renting is not the same as the cost of owning, you can see why you might argue that the changes would be the same (leaving out costs borne by people owning second homes for rental as opposed to first homes).
CPIH also includes council tax, which CPI does not.
Last month, CPIH was slightly higher than CPI (2.0% vs 1.8%) but on average over the last decade CPIH has actually been slightly below CPI.
It is not obvious so far that one will consistently be higher that the other in the long term.
But there is a problem.
The ONS gets a National Statistic kitemark from its regulator, the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) for indicators that meet its code of practice.
CPIH doesn't have a kitemark. It lost the designation in August 2014, just over a year after it started publishing the measure, as a result of concerns about the way it was calculating owner-occupiers' housing costs.
The ONS announced in November that CPIH would be its headline inflation figure starting with the bulletin to be published in March.
At the time it hoped that CPIH would have been redesignated as a National Statistic in time for the change.
But the UKSA announced earlier this month that it still wasn't happy with CPIH and will not consider redesignating it again until 25 April.
So we are left in the strange situation that for at least two inflation reports, the ONS will be headlining one of its highest-profile releases with a statistic that its regulator says is not good enough.
And it's not just the UKSA that is currently refusing to sign up for CPIH. The Treasury is one of the most important users of the CPI figures, using them to adjust some benefits, inflation-linked bonds, and crucially using it as the basis for the inflation targeting carried out by the Bank of England's interest rate-setters.
The Treasury says it is not adopting CPIH as its preferred measure and that it will not do so until it has regained its designation and then bedded in for a while as a National Statistic.
CPI
CPIH
RPI