MCS Lancashire Local Group runs a marine ID day

The Lancashire Local Group members

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has long understood the value of people coming together in their community to discuss shared interests and work together for a common cause. In fact, that’s a huge part of the reason why the Sea Champions programme came about. However, long before the Sea Champions programme MCS had established Local Groups and we’re delighted to say that three of these are still going strong today in Lancashire, South East England and Pembrokeshire.

Back in the summer, the Lancashire Local Group ran a marine ID day which they opened up to the local community. Kathy from the group has shared a little more about the day:

The event was hosted by RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, Silverdale, which has featured on the BBC's "Springwatch" series. We had a great mix of people come along including RSPB Leighton Moss volunteers, local divers, students undertaking environmental studies and others interested in wildlife and conservation.

A varied and interesting programme was put together which included topics such as Plants of the Foreshore and Algae/Seaweeds/Phytoplankton.

A few interesting questions were raised, someone asked if jellyfish sting each other and someone else was surprised that dead men's fingers are cnidaria and not sponges. The highlight of the day was a quiz of marine life photos which an RSPB member had kindly brought along to share with us.

We had some really positive feedback from the people who came along. The Local Group felt that this was a successful day, providing the opportunity to promote local and national marine conservation, enthusing those who attended with the richness and diversity of the marine life of Morecambe Bay and promoting the work of MCS and the Lancashire Local Group. We’re hoping to run more ID days in the future.

If you live in the Lancashire area and would like to get involved with the Local Group then be sure to have a look at their website for details or what's coming up and how to join. 

Manning the stand at the Plymouth Seafood Festival

For the fourth year running the Marine Conservation Society was invited to attend the Plymouth Seafood Festival. We love this event and it's such a brilliant opportunity to talk to the public about our work. Sea Champion Bethan was kind enough to lend us a hand on the stall and shares how she got on. 

Earlier in September this year, I was able to take part in the Plymouth Seafood Festival down on the Barbican on behalf of the Marine Conservation Society. I have been volunteering for MCS since the beginning of my Second Year (October 2013) providing an extra pair of hands and a voice to speak to the general public at large scale events as well as speaking at local schools about the importance of marine conservation.

The Seafood festival has become an annual event for the city as part of the wider Ocean City Festival running throughout September, showcasing the best Plymouth and the surrounding area has to offer for seafood, local produce and fantastic local brews! On the main stage, it offers cooking demonstrations for people to watch, as well as a variety of food stands to keep you going throughout the day. Set on the historic Barbican area of Plymouth, as you wander through the stands, you also get glimpses of the marina and the local fishing boats coming into harbour.

It was a fantastic day, speaking to members of the public about how important it is to keep our beaches clean, how to eat fish from well managed sustainable sources, as well as keeping the children entertained with Litter Pick Panic! It is always great to see and hear from the general public at these events, and it is incredible the amount of people we spoke to who really care about the marine environment and want to do more to protect one of our most beautiful habitats!

My first beach clean!

Phew! It’s been a busy few days for the Sea Champions team getting involved with the Great British Beach Clean all over the UK. We’re going to be sharing all about how we got on over on the Marine Conservation Society facebook page but while we unpack the litter pickers and tally up the survey sheets we thought you might enjoy this story from Sea Champion Kieran who tells us what it was like to run his first beach clean.

"This weekend was the Great British Beach Clean and all across the country, beach cleans have been taking place to raise awareness, collect data and do something about the huge problem that is marine litter. As part of this nationwide effort I was organising a beach clean at Bovisand in southern Devon. In the build up to the event I was a bit nervous. I had only recently became a Sea Champion, this was my first time organising a beach clean and I was a bit worried that something might go wrong, or that people wouldn't turn up!

Luckily on the Saturday the weather was incredible with clear skies and hot sun. Jules (the Sea Champions Volunteer Coordinator for the South West), my friend Paul, a member of the public and I got cracking with setting everything up: lugging all of the equipment down the hill and putting up tables and banners.

Before long a small crowd gathered and Jules began with the initial talk, telling people what the purpose of the clean was- that it was part of a nationwide and global effort to clean up beaches and to collect really useful data that can be used to inform policy on marine litter. Information on how to use the recording form was also covered, before I added some information on safety (helped by a man from the council who happened to be passing at that exact moment).

After gearing everyone up and signing the appropriate forms, we got to work. The beach at Bovisand is cleaned relatively regularly, but even so there was quite a lot of litter, this seemed to be in the form of lots of little pieces rather than huge bulky bits. Gradually we worked our way across the beach in small groups; scouring the sand and seaweed for litter. We could have been there all day picking bits up!

Jules and I chatted to the volunteers and helped them identify bits of litter. It is often difficult to identify bits of rubbish and to understand the journey that it has taken to end up on the beach before you pick it up. The group who turned up to the clean were a great mix of people of different ages and backgrounds. This really helped when identifying different pieces of litter as people had different areas of expertise and together collectively we could identify more. One of the volunteers was a keen angler and from speaking to him I learned a lot about angling and how to differentiate between different types of line.

The beach clean seemed to go really quickly and everyone I spoke to seemed to be having a good time. People were surprised by the amount of plastic we kept finding and also seemed shocked when they found out that something they had never thought of as being plastic actually was, this was the case with polyester.

Interesting finds included; coconuts (we joked that they had come all the way from a tropical island somewhere), small toys, Lego and balloons; along with the usual’s such as packaging, bottle tops, fishing line and rope. The most shocking thing we found were two hypodermic needles- which could have been really dangerous, if someone stepped on them so we disposed of these safely.

At the end we gathered everyone together, weighed the rubbish and took some photos next to our filled bags – there were lots of smiles.

Seeing the reactions from the people who took part and the litter that we removed from the beach, was the ultimate feedback. It was nice to do our bit to combat marine litter. It was definitely worth the effort and planning I put in. 

I would definitely organise a beach clean again!"

Thanks Kieran, splendid effort! 

The Great British Beach Clean may be over for this year but there are always cleans going on so be sure to have a look at our Beachwatch pages to find one near you, or why not organise your own?

There's always a way to get involved with MCS!

We are lucky to have three fab Volunteer Coordinators who look after Sea Champions in Scotland, the South West and the South & South of England and they do a splendid job. But sometimes we get approached by people outside of those areas who want to help or by younger people (our current programme is for over 16s). What happens then?

Phoebe Harris (aged 13) was one of those people. She got in touch with us in May wanting to join the Sea Champions programme but unfortunately as she is under 16 we weren’t able to take her on. That didn’t deter Phoebe one bit. We shared some other things that she could do and she jumped right in. Find out what she got up to below.

"As I looked into the Marine Conservation Society I really liked what they do and although I was a bit gutted not to become a Sea Champion I thought it would be good to raise money for them so I could be a part of their great work. When I found out about what a Big Blue Day was I knew that it would a great experience and something to put on my CV.

Once my school told me I could do it I decided that I was going to do a cake sale. I printed off posters and stuck them around the school to let people know it was happening. Then the night before the cake sale I baked a range of different cakes and biscuits, all with something blue to represent Big Blue Day. I did get a few people to help me out but I did most of the preparation myself. 

On the day of my cake sale I brought all my cakes in and set up the tables where it was going to take place and waited for people to arrive. I felt the cake sale went very well and I'm very happy with the £59.60 that I raised. I hope to do more fundraising in the future for the Marine Conservation Society."

A huge thanks Phoebe, we’re looking forward to welcoming you to Sea Champions in the future! 

If you’re interested in getting involved with MCS but aren't able to become a Sea Champion for whatever reason then have a look at our Get Involved page and be sure to check out the Quick Actions.

Capturing the Sounds of our Shores with the National Trust

Our friends at the National Trust have launched a fantastic new initiative this summer asking the public to record "the sounds of our shores". Whilst out and about at our coast in a couple of weekends time for the Great British Beach Clean, Sea Champions are hoping to capture some of their favourite seashore sounds to contribute to the project. Here Mike Collins from the National Trust shares a little about the project and how to get involved.

Walking along Studland beach in Dorset recently I recorded my own mini seaside soundscape. The waves of the English Channel gently lapped this low-lying beach and I picked up the background chatter of families – building sandcastles and jumping about in the sea. And on a visit to the wonderful Exe estuary in Devon I caught the sounds of waders on the mud flats, a flag flapping gently in the breeze and the reeds blowing in the wind. 

Recording sounds at these familiar places made me see them in a new light. I would stop and just listen, trying to pick out sounds.  There is a danger of taking sound for granted and many of the sounds from the working coastline are slowly disappearing.

There is something very powerful about the sounds of our shores. We have a deeply sensory connection with the stunning UK coastline and it’s something that is embedded in our DNA.  The seas around the 10,800 miles of coast and more than a thousand islands are rich in natural sounds and the sound of people at work and at play.

Thinking back to my trips to places such as the Farne Islands in Northumberland or Formby in Lancashire the sounds add a real richness and tone to the experience. Yes I can visualise the seabirds on the Farne Islands or the amazing sand dunes at Formby but the sound takes the memories to another level.

Sounds of our Shores is a community-led, interactive soundmap which asks members of the public to upload their favourite seaside sounds and help build a permanent digital resource of UK coastal recordings This summer the National Trust, British Library and National Trust for Scotland want people to capture the sounds of the coastline. It could be the intensity of a seabird colony, the power of waves on a stormy day or the crunch of people walking along a pebbly beach.

Sounds can be recorded on smartphones and tablet computers and then uploaded on to a sound map. The first of its kind, of all of the sounds of our shores from this digital sonic postcard will be added to the British Library Sound Archive; allowing future generations to tune into the sounds of summer 2015.

So this summer if you’re heading for a walk along the coast or a day at the seaside spend a little bit of time recording some sounds and help to make sonic history by contributing to the first ever coastal sound map.

Mike Collins works for the National Trust. More information about how to get involved can be found at www.bl.uk/sounds-of-our-shores and you can share sounds of our shores via #shoresounds.

Sea Champion John takes "Aliens of the Deep" into the classroom

John has found a great way to combine his Sea Championing with his other voluntary work to help educate the marine biologists of the future. From the rockpools to the classroom - "Rockschool" anyone?

As both a Wembury Marine Centre volunteer and a Marine Conservation Society (MCS) Sea Champion I’ve been keen to find ways the two organisations could work together. I’ve been helping with rockpool rambles and organising events at Wembury Marine Centre for 12 years and recently, as an MCS Sea Champion, I’ve done the training to deliver the Cool Seas workshops to schools.  With the agreement of the Marine Centre team I came up with the idea of promoting the MCS Cools Sea workshops to the schools I helped guide on rockpool rambles.

Donna Briggs a teacher from Ernesettle Community School, brought her class of Year Twos down to Wembury on a June Friday and got in touch soon after to ask for information about the Cool Seas workshops which resulted in me delivering “Aliens of the Deep” to two groups of 30 children two weeks later!

This was a bit unnerving.  I’d only recently done the training and rather assumed I’d help with one being delivered by someone else before going solo, but that wasn’t the way it was going to be.  Happily Jules Agate, the SW Sea Champions Coordinator, my muse and mentor (she doesn’t like being described as my “handler” – I guess I’m flattered that she regards me as not quite wild) was there to help.  She brought all the bits and pieces I needed – like the cuddly squid, octopus and turtle, and copies of the Cool Seas Explorers’ “Wild guide to our seas” and we were ready to go.

Donna had done a fantastic job in arranging things at the school.  The reception staff expected Jules and me, welcomed us into the school and knew where we were going to perform.  The technology worked just as you’d want, so we were completely ready when Donna’s class turned up spot on time. “Aliens of the Deep” covers a very different part of the ocean to the rockpools at the Wembury Marine Centre.  

The workshop looks at the challenges creatures face in the deep sea and the adaptations they have made.  As part of the workshop we asked the class to design their own “alien” and show how it might be suited to life in the deep sea.  In designing his “alien”, one student came up with a fish with a magnetic sensor enabling it to detect and eat the scaly-foot snail.  A very original adaptation – and who’s to say he’s wrong!

We had some very mature reflections from the children when we asked them what they’d learnt.  “Half our oxygen comes from the sea,” and “ROVs are good because they let us see what’s down there without endangering a pilot,” are a couple of the great things they shared.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the session.  Certainly Jules and I did, and Donna said the children were still talking about it the next day.  It was a good example of working together; I hope we can do that more.

A Plastic Challenge with a twist!

Sea Champion Gill took on this year’s Plastic Challenge with a twist, she did it whilst on holiday! Below she shares how she got on and has thrown in some great tips. 

I decided to attempt my plastic challenge whilst on holiday for a week in Cornwall as the shops in Penzance were more suited than those in our home town.  

Veges & Fruit

I found the best places for fruit and vegetables were farm shops, weekly/farmers'/WI markets, and greengrocers.  Supermarkets wrapped too much in plastic, especially organic, which seems bizarre that you can either care about your own health or that of the planet but not both.  Unwrapped lettuce, celery and cucumber were the hardest to source.

Meat

I always thought meat was going to be my biggest challenge as all the meat I buy comes either shrink wrapped, triple bagged or on a tray wrapped in film. So it was with some trepidation that I walked into a butcher's shop and asked for some lamb shoulder to go straight into my plastic box with no wrapping. No plastic - no problem!  I found it just as easy to buy fish and cheese at specialist shops or at the meat, fish or deli counter in supermarkets.  It is however important to be prepared with your own plastic containers, preferably the type with four clips on the lid to hold the lid on firmly and a rubber seal to make sure nothing leaks out.  Take it from me there is nothing worse than finding your fresh fish has leaked out over the rest of your shopping!

Dairy/Baked goods

I think the hardest part of the challenge was finding dairy produce other than solid cheese and butter.  Shop bought milk either comes in plastic bottles or tetra paks, whilst soft cheese, yoghurt and cream invariably comes in plastic pots.  I did manage to find some crème fraiche in a glass jar and used tinned coconut milk as a replacement for fresh milk in soup, which turned out better than the original recipe!  Buying bread, cakes and savoury items such as sausage rolls were easy from a bakers shop using paper bags, but gluten-free produce was impossible and if you fancy some crisps – forget it!

The Staples

The Weigh Inn

A lot of store cupboard ingredients are really easy to buy – flour, sugar, eggs, oats, and ingredients in tins and jars, however when it comes to things like rice, pasta, nuts and dried fruit, it's not so easy.  This is where we found 'The Weigh Inn' in Penzance to be invaluable.  It is full of loose ingredients in tubs that you can scoop out into your own bags, such as cereals, dried beans and pulses, baking ingredients including bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar and baking powder, sweets, herbs and spices. 

What about washing?

For the washing I used Ecover Laundry Liquid, the bottle of which can be refilled at various shops. On the subject of household and personal care items I have managed to find Suma's Ecoleaf toilet rolls which are wrapped in a 100% cornstarch compostable wrap called Bioplast, and Lush Toothy Tabs which are tablets of solid toothpaste packed in a small cardboard box. I like to buy Faith in Nature unwrapped soaps (coconut is lovely) and use coconut oil on my face and body.

A load of rubbish? Not so much!

Gill's rubbish for the week

At the end of our holiday I looked at the rubbish I had accumulated – four glass jars (three to be reused), two egg boxes (also to be reused), a selection of tins, some paper, some small bits of tin foil, a tub full of compost, two plastic lid covering strips and a plastic pouring insert from an olive oil bottle. It will only be the plastic bits that cannot be recycled. Not too bad, I'm quite proud of myself.

A final few thoughts

Planning in advance seems to be the key to this challenge – finding recipes that use as little packaging as possible and writing a lot of lists, as well as the ability to cook meals from scratch.  Ready meals use an awful lot of plastic.

I definitely think it is worthwhile shopping at local markets or using local producers who you can get to know and will support your efforts especially if they know you will come back every week. Most people seem to be interested in the challenge and think it is a shame about all the plastic packaging going out to sea or to landfill. 

Hopefully it might give at least one person food for thought with their own shopping.