The Long Wiggle: A Sea Champion's journey around the British coast

Six weeks ago Sea Champion Ben set off from Glasgow, taking his first steps in a 7000 mile journey to explore the British coastline on foot.

Raising money for the Marine Conservation Society and the John Muir Trust as he goes, Ben has set out to give back  by undertaking citizen science and voluntary work on his "long wiggle" round. 

By the time I reach Fort William I will have covered more than six hundred miles (about 1000km) on foot and by kayak.

The ratio of the two seems to be about 3:1 so far. For every mile I have paddled, I have walked about three.

Over the course of six weeks I feel I've been doing fairly well overall.

What with averaging about a hundred miles each week, and around fifteen miles each day, carrying this rucksack that doesn't seem to get any lighter, whilst picking up litter and carrying it about until I come across a bin that's usually already full, or in some cases, just dragging it way above the high tide line into a wind-proof pile; it has all left me wanting some proper rest.

Luckily, however, Oban seems to be overflowing with lovely people who were willing to look after me, put up with me, spend time with me, and feed me well, despite my ramblings and serious lack of hygiene.

Unluckily, however, I simultaneously had caught a cold of some sort from somewhere.

So I've spent most of the last few days in and around Oban in a state of weary bleary confusion.

Sometimes I wake up and wonder where on earth I am. Thankfully though, I'm usually inside the tent, and it doesn't take me long to figure it out.

The kayak, for which I have no name for yet, it is simply, the kayak, has been the star of the journey so far.

It has enabled me to learn so much more about the coast then I would have done through walking.

I've also learned more about the interplay between wind and water, as well as wind, water and rock.

The differences in wave types, directions, velocities, frequencies, depths, pitches, angles, colours and overall levels of scariness, are beyond calculation.

There was a day about a week ago where I was paddling from the bottom of the Ardfern peninsula towards Loch Melfort, along the Sound of Jura.

The tide was incoming, the wind was a westerly (so mainly on my left) and the waves had many miles of gathering space to develop into undulations of several feet or so between crest and trough. But the wind wasn't too strong so as to create white caps and sharp edges that could break over me or topple me underwards.

They tended to roll excitedly, under and around me.

Then they would bounce off the hard steep rocks of the peninsula, and start coming at me from all directions.

The result of paddling in this for about four hours, became apparent when I had packed up and started walking.

I was following the main road at this point, and quickly realised that I was swaying quite uncontrollably, and visibly, whilst trying to walk in a straight line. This led me to having huge fits of laughter, which made me sway a lot more, all while I was attempting to avoid the incoming traffic.

It was the most fun I've had in a while.

Ben's full blog is available on his website where you can also donate to his journey or the charities he has chosen to support.

A mission to protect seagrass beds in southern England

 On World Seagrass Day 2021, our Sea Champion Clare from Plymouth shares what inspires her about seagrass and why she is studying sea beds in southern England to help us understand more about this marvellous marine habitat.

My love affair with seagrass began in 2011 when I was studying a Foundation Degree in Marine Science in Falmouth, a small town in South Cornwall. As a diver since 2004, I am fascinated with understanding what is in our seas.

I started volunteering with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust who helped me get involved with the Seasearch diving project, a partnership between MCS and other organisations. This national volunteer program collects species and habitat information from all around the UK. During these dives, seeing seagrass for the first time, I realised its huge importance to human health and wellbeing.

Seagrasses are marine flowering plants, located in shallow, sheltered coastal areas down to a depth of 10 - 15 metres. Extensive meadows are formed on all continents with the exception of Antarctica, but there has been a global decrease of seagrass due to threats. These include anchoring and mooring of boats, decreasing light and water clarity and water temperature increases due to climate change.

Seagrasses provide significant functions including carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture and storage, stabilising sediment underwater, and they are a spawning habitat and nursery ground for important commercial fish species. Seagrass beds in the UK are a perfect environment for a wide variety of protected species, including the short-snouted seahorse and the spiny/long snouted seahorse.

Inspired by seagrass, in 2012 I took on a project looking at the seagrass found in Fowey Harbour. A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) survey and a Scuba Diving survey discovered that the bed seemed to be thriving, healthy and home to many different marine creatures. My project helped local community members to understand the importance of their seagrass habitats and why we should be looking after them.

To celebrate World Seagrass Day, I am sharing with you my exciting Masters research project at the University of Plymouth. My project will focus on one species of seagrass found in the UK, common eelgrass (Zostera marina). It aims to provide key information about the extent of three seagrass beds (two in Cornwall and one in the Isle of Wight). I’ll examine which species can be found at each location and will also research the laws protecting seagrass.

Coastal seas near to seagrass beds are often heavily used for swimming, kayaking, and boating. The management and restoration of damaged seagrass is essential to lessen the effect of climate change and provide a suitable habitat for marine species. I will be collaborating with the Marine Conservation Society, the Ocean Conservation Trust and Natural England to look at water uses in each of the chosen areas and to see if, together we can find ways to manage these uses so we can enjoy the sea but also allow our seagrass to grow and flourish!

I hope to get out on the water (doing ROV surveys), under the water (scuba diving) and near the water (checking out how people are using coastal seas) during late spring and summer 2021. So, I will be back with an update soon.

 

Led by Natural England in partnership with Marine Conservation Society, Ocean Conservation Trust, Plymouth City Council/Tamar Estuaries Consultative Forum and Royal Yachting Association the LIFE ReMEDIES Project which has been made possible with the contribution of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union

 

 

Reflections on rubbish: cleaning up during coronavirus

In these grim coronavirus dominated days it’s easy to lose hope, bound, not just by four walls, but mentally shut-in too. It can feel a bit rubbish!

Jo Earlam, Marine Conservation Society Outstanding Achievement Award Winner 2020, reflects on the bright spots in a tumultuous year

An increase in rubbish in the countryside has been one of the impacts of lockdown life. More people out walking, eating in the open air instead of in pubs and cafes, leaving behind strewn coffee cups, discarded drinks cans and an array of plastic, crisp packets, sweet wrappers, and bottles, as well as the tell-tale signs of epidemic living, plastic gloves, and disposable face masks.

But disposing of these single use items does not mean throwing in a hedge, hurling from a car window, or casually dropping underneath benches. It means disposing of them in a bin.

Like a lot of people, I’ve become so disturbed by the increasing amount of rubbish that I’ve decided to do something positive to redress it – inspired by the Marine Conservation Society’s Litter Quest, source to sea approach to tackling litter.

This January on six separate litter picking outings, of between 30 minutes to two hours, I’ve picked up more than 10kgs of rubbish, in a radius of two miles around my village. They’re routes I walk regularly with my dog and to enjoy them, even for a short time, without litter blighting my view, I feel better.

Through social media posts of my finds, I discovered others are doing the same, including an intensive care nurse and her emergency department husband, who clear up litter on their days off from frontline NHS work.

Saving lives one day, saving the planet the next.

That’s not rubbish. That’s amazing.

Thanks Lisette and Clinton Johnston for inspiring me.

Really you are the Outstanding Achievers.

You, and the army of community litter pickers out there, who spread hope.

Already we have a local group going, the Eager Beavers, and litter pickers have been supplied by Knights Farm Shop, who’s land borders the River Otter where the beavers live.

We may not be able to change the world, but we can change our world.