Ed the Bear at the EYE Eco Summit

We participated again this year in the E.Y.E Project (Eco Young and Engaged) Eco Summit which this year was hosted by Shoreham Academy.  

The E.Y.E. Project brings local schools together to focus on the importance of caring for our planet and to provide an additional opportunity for the young people within those schools to learn about environmental matters through fun and educational activities available at Eco-Summit events. 

The EYE project is made up of local schools from Shoreham, Lancing and Worthing.

I have enjoyed participating in the eco-summit on numerous occasions and this year I was asked to be the Key Note speaker. 

I started the keynote by talking about Shoreham Beach Local Nature Reserve, why it’s important and the role of the management group and the Friends of Shoreham Beach in caring for the reserve and engaging the public. 

I also discussed the education opportunities that we offer from rare vegetated shingle, to tide pooling, coastal geography, global dimension and much more.

I then spoke about the adventures of Ed the Bear and how Ed the Bear’s travels have created links with scientists around the world and to share their knowledge about the oceans.


This includes the possible impact of climate change on Shoreham Beach as well as other issues.

I also ran three workshops during the day based around Ed the Bears travels to scientists around the world to learn about ocean science and conservation. 

The first two focused on topics touched on in the keynote such as how oceans moderate our climate and weather; provide 50% of our oxygen, freshwater, food, new medicines and more. This included a fun quiz to explore the many thinks that oceans and rainforest provide and how we rely on both of these biomes every day.. 

This was followed by an activity where the children took on the role of albatross to explore the dangers of plastic pollution to marine life. 

The third workshop was for secondary school pupils and explored the same issues but in a more scientific context.

We also took a display stand which I manned during lunch and breaks and gave out the LNR leaflets and educational flyer. The day was a great success.

Friends of Ed the Bear explore West Beach Local Nature Reserve UK

Hi all

If you are a follower of my this blog you will know I spend much of the time travelling around the world learning about marine life and investigating conservation threats to the ocean. You may not know this but the wildlife and coasts around the UK are just as fascinating and important.

So I will be enlisting the help of children and their 'bear friends' around the UK to visit these beaches and make a report of what they discover. This may be individual children, schools or at special events.


They will be the Friends of Ed the Bear.


To find out more about the Friends of Ed the Bear and their adventures at West Beach you can follow the link below to the friends of Ed the Bear website.

http://friendsofedthebear.blogspot.co.uk/  

I hope you enjoy discovering West Beach along with the first of the Friends of Ed the Bear. Sand beaches, tide pools, a pier, vegeatetd shingle and sand dunes all on one beach.  

Bye for now  

Ed the Bear

Sea Mammals

My local coast is also visited by sea mammals each year, in particular bottlenose dolphins and common seals. Both of these species are protected because they are threatened by human activities.

Bottlenose dolphin off Shoreham Beach

Bottlenose dolphin often visit in the summer months, sometimes as early as March, and may be seen on and off until about September. These dolphins migrate along our coast, usually travelling west to east, often as close at 100 metres from the beach. They are beautiful animals and a spectacular site. I have never seen a whale, but I am hoping I might be able to do some whale watching during my journey around the world.

We even had a visit from a sociable dolphin called George (above) who spends most of the year off the coast of France. Unfortunately George loves boats and has recieved several injuries from boat propellors because of this.

Common seal on a jetty near Brighton (photo by Bill Carter)

Common seals also visit our coast, but sadly the numbers of these seals have declined by over 50% in the last few years. Earlier this year 5 seals a few miles up the coast were fitted with elecronic tags to monitor their movement. This is a small group of seals that live in the Solent area and there is a lot of worry about their future. This is why the seals have been fitted with special tags so scientists can find out the important parts of their habitat. They hope to find out where they feed, haul out on land etc, so these places can be protected for the seals.

This is one of the seals fitted with a tag, it does look rather funny. Its like having a mobile phone on your head. Everytime the seal comes to the surface of the sea it sends a message (automatically) to a computer which records where the seal is. The tag also records and transmits information about how long and how deep the seal dives underwater and where it rests out of the water. Very clever technology.

This map shows how the information from the tags can record where the seals travel each day, how far they swim etc.

Surpringly, the common seals that swim past my local beach sometimes also travel many miles up river for a while. Maybe they are following fish?

Common seal , River Ouse in East Sussex, near Brighton.

Most of the seals are fit and healthy but occasionally a seal is washed up on the beach because of injury or illness.

Common seal pup suffering from pneumonia, rescued near Brighton.

Occasionally we also see the larger grey seal as well. This young grey seal (below) is underneath the footbridge on the river Adur which connects Shoreham Beach with the high street.

You can find out more about these sea mammals, including the seal tagging project, on the following weblink

http://sussexmarinejottings.blogspot.com/

There are many types of seal and sealion that live in different parts of the world. I hope to be able to see them on my travels.

Bye for now

Ed