Marine Life & Conservation
Look, don’t touch! Staycation tips to safeguard the UK’s amazing marine life
The Marine Conservation Society provides some guidance on how to travel the UK responsibly this summer
As lockdown restrictions begin to ease further and more people are looking to the UK’s coastline for a staycation this summer, it’s important to be a responsible holidaymaker, even when staying close to home. The Marine Conservation Society is urging staycationers to be respectful and responsible when enjoying the UK’s beautiful beaches.
With reports of increasing volumes of litter across the country’s outdoor spaces and wildlife encounters gone wrong, the charity’s experts offer some top tips on how to ensure that a visit to the seaside this summer is good for visitors, animals and the environment alike.
Rather than piling up rubbish next to bins which may be blown onto the beach, with plastic polluting the ocean and endangering wildlife, the Marine Conservation Society is calling on beachgoers to #KeepItClean and take their litter home. But it’s not just litter of concern to the charity, an increase in visitors not knowing how best to interact with wildlife is disturbing marine animals.
Emily Cunningham, Marine Biologist and Trustee of the Marine Conservation Society said: “Seeing marine wildlife is an amazing experience, but it’s up to us to make sure our enjoyment doesn’t cause the animals harm or stress.”
“This is especially important at this time of year, when many of our British marine creatures are pregnant, rearing chicks or nursing their babies. As restrictions lift and many of us head to the coast, please make sure to give our wildlife the extra space they need to raise their young.”
Top tips to be a responsible beachgoer:
- Do Not Disturb: If you’re snorkelling or diving and come across animals like seahorses, watch from a distance and swim calmly away. Male seahorses are pregnant at this time of year so it’s extra important not to disturb them
- Keep dogs on leads: Beach nesting birds lay their eggs directly onto sand or shingle. These are very well camouflaged and at risk of disturbance from beach visitors and dogs. Be sure not to touch or move the eggs and keep a safe distance
- Keep your distance: Whales, dolphins and porpoise are large, unpredictable animals; getting too close is not only distressing for them, but could easily cause harm. It is illegal to touch, feed or swim with whales, dolphins or porpoise
- Look, don’t touch: Grey and common seals are found around the UK. They give birth in the summer and mothers will be suckling their pups on land – it is important to give them extra space, whether on foot or at sea. All year round, seals haul out onto shore to rest or digest their food and should be left alone. Never chase a seal back into the sea
- Keep quiet and carry on: While at sea stay at least 100m away from any animals, avoiding groups or mothers and young completely. Engines should be switched to neutral if animals are close. Stay alert, boat skippers have been prosecuted in England for reckless disturbance of dolphins
Throughout July the Marine Conservation Society, sponsored by new plastic-free toilet paper Oceans, is also asking people to set their own Plastic Challenge in a bid to reduce our consumption of disposable plastic items. For holidaymakers, this could be as simple as making one small switch to your daily beach visit and taking a reusable water bottle with you, or packing a picnic in reusable containers. Taking reusable containers to the beach will make a huge impact on reducing the increasing volumes of litter seen on the UK’s beautiful beaches in the form of plastic cups, takeaway boxes and more.
For more information on how to be a responsible beachgoer, please visit the Marine Conservation Society’s website. If you spot a jellyfish, basking shark or even a turtle off the UK’s shores, be sure to share it via the sightings page on the website.
Marine Life & Conservation
Double Bubble for Basking Sharks
The Shark Trust is excited to announce that, for two more days only, all donations, large or small, will be doubled in the Big Give Green Match Fund!
Donate to Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants
The Shark Trust is hoping to raise £10k which will be doubled to £20k. This will go towards Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants. And they need YOUR help to reach they’re goal.
The Shark Trust’s citizen science project is to monitor and assess basking sharks through sightings; encouraging data collection, community engagement, and promoting nature accessibility. This initiative aims to enhance health and wellbeing by fostering a deeper connection with British Sharks.
Campaign Aims
- Increase citizen science reporting of Basking Sharks and other shark sightings to help inform shark and ray conservation.
- Provide educational talks about the diverse range of sharks and rays in British waters and accessible identification guides!
- Create engaging and fun information panels on how to ID the amazing sharks and rays we have on our doorstep! These can be used on coastal paths around the Southwest. With activities and information on how you can make a difference for sharks and rays!
- Promote mental wellbeing through increasing time in nature and discovering the wonders beneath the waves!
Donate, and double your impact. Click Here
Marine Life & Conservation
Leading UK-based shark conservation charity, the Shark Trust, is delighted to announce tour operator Diverse Travel as a Corporate Patron
Corporate Patrons provide a valuable boost to the work of The Shark Trust. The Trust team works globally to safeguard the future of sharks, and their close cousins, the skates and rays, engaging with a global network of scientists, policymakers, conservation professionals, businesses and supporters to further shark conservation.
Specialist tour operator Diverse Travel has operated since 2014 and is committed to offering its guests high quality, sustainable scuba diving holidays worldwide. Working together with the Shark Trust will enable both organisations to widen engagement and encourage divers and snorkellers to actively get involved in shark conservation.
“Sharks are truly at the heart of every diver and at Diverse Travel, we absolutely share that passion. There is nothing like seeing a shark in the wild – it’s a moment that stays with you forever!” says Holly Bredin, Sales & Marketing Manager, Diverse Travel.
“We’re delighted to celebrate our 10th year of business by becoming a Corporate Patron of the Shark Trust. This is an exciting partnership for Diverse and our guests. We will be donating on behalf of every person who books a holiday with us to contribute towards their vital shark conservation initiatives around the world. We will also be working together with the Trust to inspire divers, snorkellers and other travellers to take an active role – at home and abroad – in citizen science projects and other activities.”
Paul Cox, CEO of The Shark Trust, said:
“It’s an exciting partnership and we’re thrilled to be working with Diverse Travel to enable more divers and travellers to get involved with sharks and shark conservation. Sharks face considerable conservation challenges but, through collaboration and collective action, we can secure a brighter future for sharks and their ocean home. This new partnership takes us one more valuable step towards that goal.”
For more information about the Shark Trust visit their website here.
For more about Diverse Travel click here.
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