Today, I discovered that the trinket Nifty Stopwatch (140% speed for 10 seconds) is now usable in shifted forms. Plus, it doesn't just automatically shift you out of form to use it (like potions now do), you can actually use it *in form*.
Yes, bear form now has a (trinket enabled)'dash' button.
Considering how often I've had to chose between speed and armour while running away from a huge pile of mobs, this is a serious breakthrough. Plus, this trinket used to be worse than useless. Now I'm glad I kept it.
I have not tried it in sea form yet but...