The Seasearch
project in the Eastern region
(Written for the Evening Star - September 2007)
Sometimes when there’s an environmental item on the news it
seems like ‘the environment’ was invented sometime in the last 6 months.
Sharper minds will realise that the situation has been developing for a long
while and it is the fine details that are still emerging. Each ‘crisis’ is a
reminder that we have a responsibility to the environment but is only a
snapshot update of the situation. Without historical data we are missing the
big picture that tells us how far and fast things are changing. Luckily there
have always been groups concerned with our surroundings and their collected
records now allow us to get a perspective on some of the emerging stories. It’s
this kind of evidence which can be used to support such initiatives as the
campaign for a Marine Bill to protect the seas.
One such archive has been built up by the Marine
Conservation Society’s Seasearch project. Seasearch has been running since the
mid 1980s when it was devised to harness the enthusiasm of amateur divers to complete
the picture of the UK’s
Marine wildlife. Early on, the project was pioneered in a few areas but in 1999
a steering committee was formed to develop the project on a national basis.
Since then most of the country has gained local chapters of Seasearch… The
diver’s favourites; the South coast, Scotland and Wales are well covered
but there is still plenty of coast without resident surveyors. The East Anglian
Coast is the one with the
most gaps between surveys and so earlier this year it got its own area
coordinator to help foster the project in our home region. The coordinator is
really two people, Dawn Watson and
Rob Spray. Rob and Dawn have been diving for more than 9 years now and although
they have dived worldwide they love exploring their own home region.
Unfortunately there’s no quick fix to complete a snapshot our
marine life as in the North Sea we have one of
the hardest of British seas to explore. Not because of its savage weather, but
because of its justifiably murky reputation. There are some fantastic sites off
shore, many within the reach of freshly qualified divers, but it is simply
impossible to guarantee a dive on them. Thus
most divers in the region will do all of their diving on other coasts or
abroad, which is a shame for them and us. Around Felixstowe, for example, there
is an eagerly awaited but unpredictable 4 week period where the visibility is
good enough for an enjoyable dive. This lifts the veil on the stunning wrecks
of the North Sea. Often the narcotic quality
of breathing air at depth adds to the sense of magic, but overcome the awe and
you soon notice that whilst we may be almost bereft of rocky reefs and clear
water, there is no shortage of wildlife. As you go slightly further North,
diving from Southwold and Lowestoft for
example, the season is longer. There are wrecks aplenty, often deeper and
darker than further South, but as you continue up into Norfolk there are shallower options. Norfolk is the region’s
hottest dive destination with options from 3 to 30m+ accessible from the shore
and boats. The water is often relatively clear and it is again rich in
wildlife. Down South, divers in Essex have an even harder time than those in Suffolk; browsing the websites of dive clubs in Essex suggests there is little to tempt anyone into the
sea – which means few opportunities to gather information on wildlife. However
a Seasearch course has just run in Essex at the Orca Dive Academy supported by the Essex
Biodiversity Partnership. We wish them all the best in pioneering surveys of
their secret coast.
This year we have spent a lot of time underwater on the very
special inshore wrecks of North Norfolk. These
offer fabulous wildlife within easy (if strenuous) reach of the beach car
parks. These are great place to see the range of flora and fauna and practice
observation. They are a unique training resource and invaluable for building
experience as well as a pleasure to dive in themselves. With the shortage of
local opportunities we have also taken part in the national program of
Seasearch dives – run by the more established regions – which are open to
visiting Seasearchers and are a great opportunity to add to the survey. We hope
the Eastern region will be able to show similar hospitality in the coming
seasons.
So what can you do? Seasearch is a divers’ project so you do
need to dive to take part – the perfect excuse to start? Once qualified the
next step is the Seasearch Observer course which will top up your marine identification
skills and show how easy it is to start collecting data. No one expects you to
be Jacques Cousteau from the start, but your information will start
contributing to the picture of Britain’s
marine landscape straight away. For a lot of divers this course really opens
their eyes to the diversity of life every dive offers. We’ve had loads of
positive feedback after the courses and even more after the first few dives
where divers start to relish how much there is to spot. Several of the Ipswich dive clubs have attended recent events and the
next is set for October 6/7th. The Argonauts and O2Dive can both run their own
surveying trips now and we hope more will soon follow their example. Club activities
cover the major British amateur diving bodies but there are of course a growing
number of professional centres who are equally important to the project. Learn
Scuba in Lowestoft have already run a course
and their Observers are starting to return surveys.
There has been some pioneering work by North Norfolk Divers
club who formed Norfolk Seasearch in 2004 but they can cover only part of their
region and many more clubs are needed to take part. There are 10s of clubs in
Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk so there are plenty more potential
Seasearchers, to say nothing of the region’s inshore counties. I fervently hope
there are many divers out there already proving me wrong – are you diving in East Anglia and
enjoying the wildlife? We’d love to hear from you. At present East Anglia is the least surveyed region and Suffolk and Essex are trailing way behind Norfolk - we’re hoping that will prompt a
little competitive interest!
If you are interested in Seasearch, marine conservation or
getting started in diving there are local and national bodies ready to help. If
your ambitions don’t go beneath the surface there are still plenty of things to
do. The Shorething beach survey weekend is coming up in September and the MCS
are looking for information on pipefish and jellyfish spottings. The Wildlife
Trusts have rock pooling sessions where possible.
Adding extra relevance to the collection of information is
the growing campaign amongst wildlife and diving organisations to press for the
creation of a Marine Bill, legislation which would formally protect the marine
environment. The Bill had been promised for this session of parliament but has
slipped from the program. This omission has not been missed and there is a
concerted campaign to have it reinstated as soon as possible. The Wildlife
Trusts and Marine Conservation Society are leading this activity and the
Seasearch program is an important source of the information to support the need
for protection of marine environment and the establishment of reserves in
particularly important areas.
Remember - Any dive can be a Seasearch dive!
Resources:
Seasearch is a nationwide project run by The Marine Conservation Society
Our Local Seasearch page has more information on what we are doing
The Shore Thing is an initiative of MarLIN, the Marine Life Information
Network - Shorething
If you fancy a dive our guide to North Norfolk shore diveable shipwrecks is here.
Feel free to email us at: hello (at)
1townhouses (dot) co (dot) uk
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