Cuttlefish Bone (shell) Hunt

We have been on a hunt for cuttlefish bones on our local beach to help study if climate change is affecting these marvellous animals.

Cuttlefish normally live for 2 years before mating, egg laying and then the adults die. In recent years, because of climate change and ocean warming, it is thought that some cuttlefish are completing their cycle in a year.

By measuring the size of the cuttlefish bones washed up on the beach, scientists can determine if the cuttlefish have spawned after one year or two.

So we have joined many other people measuring cuttlefish bones washed ashore. 

The measurements should be sent to athena@naturebureau.co.uk 

Find out more below

Help Our Kelp

When I was in the USA back in 2014 as a guest of National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) I visited 14 of the National Marine Sanctuaries that are in their care. I had planned to dive on the amazing kelp forests at Monterrey Bay, but stormy seas made it impossible.

Kelp forests were once common along the Sussex coast, off my beach at Shoreham but due to fishing methods, they have been decimated. The kelp supported a wealth of marine life, helped protect the coast from wave action. An amazing project to restore the kelp forest began in March 2021. 

In November 2021, Sussex Kelp Recovery Project hosted the first Sussex Kelp Summit. 

You can find out more about this amazing project on the project website link below.

Rewilding the Sussex seabed | Sussex Kelp Recovery Project

Sussex Bay Project

On 13th June, the Sussex Bay Project was launched, covering 100 miles from Selsey in the west to Camber Sands in the east. My beach at Shoreham by Sea sits roughly in the centre of the Sussex Bay.

This exciting initiative aims to restore local marine ecosystem to support biodiversity, provide clean water, protection from storms and increase carbon capture. You can find out more about this amazing project at Sussex Bay | Investing in Nature Conservation and Shoreline Restoration

A New Adventure

 

Many of you may have followed my original adventures as I travelled around the ocean visiting marine and conservation experts to discover how climate change and other issues may impact my beautiful beach in Shoreham. 

During my travels I met some very inspirational people, came face to face with some amazing wildlife and also witnessed damage caused to the ocean but also witnessed conservation in action. With the help of NOAA, I even had my own superb dive bubble built by Ed Williams, which allowed me to dive on coral reefs and shipwrecks. 

Sadly, like many people, my travels came to an end because of the Covid Pandemic. Even though I could not visit people face to face, I continued to share my story through my blog and zoom.

While people are doing some amazing stuff to help the ocean, there is still much to be done, part of which is raise awareness and understanding of these conservation issues. So I am in the process of planning a new adventure, learn more about the health of the ocean, see some amazing marine life and share what I find out at home and during my travels.

Ed the Bear's Travels Come Full Circle

One of the major missions for Ed the Bear was to find out how climate change might affect his special beach and the rare plants at Shoreham. Warming seas causing thermal expansion and melting polar ice both lead to sea level rises. At high tide, this means there is a higher volume of sea water in the harbour and river estuary. With increased rainfall flowing down to the sea, this adds even more water increasing the river height which can then flood the surrounding area.

As mentioned in earlier posts, in September 2016 construction of an extensive river flood defence started on the river Adur called the Shoreham Adur Tidal Walls Scheme. This was in response to this increase in flood events at Shoreham and the surrounding area including a flood caused by a tidal surge and heavy rain in 2013. This was completed in March 2018 and will help protect at least 2,300 properties. 

Flooding from the river is a major worry, this scheme cost £45 million, so this shows how important the flood protection scheme is.

The pebble beach at Shoreham may still be in danger. Climate change is warming the ocean which may cause more powerful storms and in the future this may threaten the pebble beach home to the rare plants. 

So Ed the Bear's work continues. Ed is now sharing what he has learned during his travels, the amazing people and wildlife he has seen and also a warning of the conservation threats he has witnessed first hand.

Big Bang Stem Science Event at Ardingly Show grounds

We are back again for our 6th year to share ocean science at this amazing event. This event has grown rapidly over the last few years from 2000 attending teachers and children to now almost 10,000.

We exhibited our updated stand for 2018 this year including more updates about the offshore wind farm and the river flood defence at Shoreham on the River Adur.

Back in 2009 when Ed the Bear first started visiting scientists around the world - sea level rise and the treat to the rare habitat at Shoreham Beach Nature Reserve were high priority.

Since then it has come full circle and a flood defence wall is now necessary to prevent flooding.

We also included other main topics; plastic pollution was a major feature with two activities illustrating this. We also exhibited examples of plastic around the world from Ed the Bears on-going adventure. We also focused on climate change and also ocean acidification.

To bring the marine world alive we exhibited our popular tide pool display where live rock pool invertebrates were shown on a tv screen through a live link with tank cam

We also chatted to many interested children who also shared their views about ocean conservation issues and also discussed possible ocean science careers.



It was a fantastic event as even with lots of positive questions and feedback from very excited children.

Ed the Bear meets CARE4BASKETS

While we were running our workshops at the EYE Project Education Summit we met Jib Hagen who also had a stand.

Jib is the Global Development Director and founder of care4baskets. CARE stands for Collect And Recycle Ecologically. They collect plastic waste from communities, schools and churches in Ghana.

The plastic waste is woven into these beautiful baskets. Traditionally these baskets are made from straw but in northern parts of Ghana these grasses have become scarce due to climate change. 

The baskets are woven to the same excellent quality of the original baskets.

To find out more about this amazing and important programme, please follow the link to their website http://www.care4basket.com/