Marine Life & Conservation
Sea watchers celebrate at Cornwall College Newquay
On Saturday 16th November, over 50 Cornwall Wildlife Trust marine volunteers met at Cornwall College, Newquay for an inspirational day of talks to celebrate the marine conservation work happening around the county at its annual Seaquest Southwest Conference.
From basking sharks to underwater corals, Cornwall is home to a huge variety of marine life, all of which is monitored via the Trust’s LivingSeas projects. One such LivingSeas project is the Seaquest Southwest, which has been running for over 10 years in the county and aims to record public sightings of marine life in Cornwall and use that information to better conserve the animals that live there. In addition to that, Seaquest Southwest also supports hundreds of keen volunteers who go out and do marine surveys of our sea life around our coastline looking for animals such as porpoise, whales and our rare, residential bottlenose dolphins.
Abby Crosby, Marine Conservation Officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust and organiser of the conference says,
‘The Seaquest Southwest conference is an annual event and a chance to pull together these fantastic volunteers and talk about all the brilliant marine recording going on around the county thanks to their hard work’.
Volunteers listened to talks about the dive surveys and rocky shore recording, plus saw the results of their 2013 marine survey sightings which showed 2013 to be a busy year at sea with hundreds of common dolphins spotted offshore in large pods and a record breaking numbers of sunfish visiting in the summer months.
‘Cornwall Wildlife Trust was able to organise the conference thanks to the support from Cornwall College Newquay, who provided a perfect venue for the event and even bought us biscuits for the break times! Thanks to them, our volunteers enjoyed an interesting and inspirational day.’
Rebecca Allen, programme manager for the Marine Conservation course at Cornwall College, Newquay says,
‘It’s a great pleasure for the college to support the wildlife trust by hosting an event like this and it also creates a wonderful opportunity for our students to get more involved in their work’.
Anybody and everybody are welcome to get involved in Seaquest Southwest. For more information please email Seaquest@cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk or check out the Trust’s Living Seas work on the website www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/livingseas .
6 years ago, The Ocean Cleanup set sail for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with one goal: to develop the technology to be able to relegate the patch to the history books. On 6 September 2024, The Ocean Cleanup fleet returns to San Francisco bringing with it System 03 to announce the next phase of the cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and to offer you a chance to view our cleanup system up-close and personal.
We look forward to seeing you there.
To confirm your presence, please RSVP to press@theoceancleanup.com
PROGRAM
Join The Ocean Cleanup as our two iconic ships and the extraction System 03 return to San Francisco, 6 years and over 100 extractions after we set sail, to create and validate the technology needed to rid the oceans of plastic.
Our founder and CEO, Boyan Slat, will announce the next steps for the cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Giving you a chance to view our cleanup system and the plastic extracted.
Hear important news on what’s next in the mission of The Ocean Cleanup as it seeks to make its mission of ridding the world’s oceans of plastic an achievable and realistic goal.
Interviews and vessel tours are available on request.
PRACTICALITIES
Date: September 6, 2024
Press conference: 12 pm (noon)
Location: The Exploratorium (Google Maps)
Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green Street), San Francisco, CA
Parking: Visit The Exploratorium’s website for details.
RSVP: press@theoceancleanup.com
Video & photo material from several viewing spots around the bay
We look forward to seeing you there!
ABOUT THE OCEAN CLEANUP
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: intercepting in rivers to stop the flow and cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops and deploys large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ Solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. As of June 2024, the non-profit has collected over 12 million kilograms (26.4 million pounds) of plastic from aquatic ecosystems around the world. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and opened its first regional office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2023.
Find out more about The Ocean Cleanup at www.theoceancleanup.com.
A shark has been spotted approaching Royal William Yard in Plymouth, much to the surprise of swimmers, paddleboarders and onlookers.
With its distinctive dorsal fin cutting through the water, the sizeable shark swam along the coastline, before turning to head inland towards Firestone Arch at Royal William Yard. The appearance drew a crowd, who were captivated for more than an hour by the unusual sight – and it was all caught on video.
The shark is one of many expected sightings at Royal William Yard over the coming weeks… because today marks the start of Shark Month!
In reality, the ‘shark’ spotted along the Plymouth shoreline was actually a custom-made model, created by the team at Royal William Yard and sailed underwater by Caroline Robertson‑Brown from the Shark Trust, who donned scuba diving gear for the occasion.
The stunt took place to launch Shark Month in style and draw attention to the work of the leading international conservation charity, which is based in Britain’s Ocean City. Spectators were reassured that the water was safe and many entered into the spirit of the performance, swimming or sailing alongside the shark.
Shark Month will take place across Royal William Yard throughout July and will feature an extravaganza of art, entertainment and advocacy for everyone to enjoy. The packed programme of events starts with an art exhibition and ends with a trip on paddleboards with shark experts – with everything from a shark quiz to a Jaws screening in between.
Paul Cox, CEO of the Shark Trust, said: “There are often assumptions and misconceptions when it comes to sharks. This was certainly the case with the shark spotted at Royal William Yard! While the British coastline is home to many species of shark, this was not one of them. However, we’re thrilled it caught people’s attention, because seeing a shark is a special and memorable moment. That is precisely why we want to celebrate these incredible creatures, highlight the need for conservation, and ask for help to safeguard their future.”
For more information about Shark Month at Royal William Yard, visit the Shark Trust Website.
Images and video: Jay Stone
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