News
Conservationists and primary school students clean up Kilninian beach
Two leading conservation charities have visited the Isle of Mull as part of a scientific voyage around the Scottish coastline looking at the impact of plastic pollution.
On Monday 22nd May, Beluga II moored off the Isle of Mull and Greenpeace staff met with a Marine Conservation Society (MCS) team to carry out a clean-up and survey the litter on Kilninian beach, together with three primary schools – Ulva, Lochdonhead and Dervaig and a representative from the group City to Sea.
Catherine Gemmell, MCS Scotland Conservation Officer, said “We found over 30kg of rubbish, made up of a mixture of rope, bottles, caps and other plastic items. Today was a fantastic celebration of working together. It was great to see members of staff from Greenpeace and City to Sea being trained up by some true local Beachwatch experts – the pupils from three schools!”
The Greenpeace and MCS teams met with 25 pupils from the Isles Lochdon, Ulva and Dervaig primary schools followed by a presentation at Ulva school by Greenpeace, inviting questions from the pupils about their voyage.
Catherine continues: “Back at Ulva Primary School we discovered how long these items take to disappear in the sea, and how plastic never truly disappears at all! The pupils came up with their own ideas on how to #EndOceanPlastics. Everything from writing to their local MSP to creating their own video was discussed.”
Catherine Gemmell continues: “It was a wonderful team effort, but I’d like to give special mention to an amazingly dedicated Sea Champion volunteer Janie Steele from Oban, who has been busy promoting the Beachwatch project in the area and thanks to her there are now 12 extra beaches now adopted and sending in that all important data to MCS.”
Frank Heweston, Greenpeace Campaigner said “It was fabulous to work with the primary schools during the beach clean today. Greenpeace looks to encourage and support environmental awareness at as young an age as possible. If Ulva, Lochdonhead and Dervaig Primary are anything to go by, there is so much to be hopeful and positive about”.
Mairi Nicolson, Principal Teacher, Ulva Primary said: “The children of Ulva Primary School have a great interest and concern for their local environment and beyond. Living on an island they are seeing the evidence of the plastic problem washing up on their shores. We were delighted to have the pleasure and the privilege of working with members from both Greenpeace and the Marine Conservation Society today, who came to join us on one of our beach cleans. The school was left feeling motivated to continue with our beach cleans and the children were able to think about more things they could be doing at home as individuals to help stop plastic waste reaching the oceans in the first place.”
The Marine Conservation Society runs beach clean and surveys throughout the year, and everyone is welcome to join in. The next Great British Beach Clean will be held over the 15th-18th September, see www.mcsuk.org for details.
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
-
News3 months agoHone your underwater photography skills with Alphamarine Photography at Red Sea Diving Safari in March
-
News2 months agoCapturing Critters in Lembeh Underwater Photography Workshop 2024: Event Roundup
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs2 months agoCreature Feature: Swell Sharks
-
Blogs1 month agoMurex Resorts: Passport to Paradise!
-
Gear News3 months agoBare X-Mission Drysuit: Ideal for Both Technical and Recreational Divers
-
Blogs2 months agoDiver Discovering Whale Skeletons Beneath Ice Judged World’s Best Underwater Photograph
-
Gear Reviews2 months agoGear Review: Oceanic+ Dive Housing for iPhone
-
Blogs3 months agoThe Thrilling Encounter with Tiger Sharks at Beqa Lagoon’s ‘The Colosseum’ with Coral Coast Divers