Coastwise North Devon

Westward Go!.......

.........to survey the Westward Ho! rocky shore.

On a brilliant July day 10 members of Coastwise North Devon spent two happy hours surveying shore life of the rocks as part of the new Wildlife Trusts' Shoresearch survey.

Coastwise is really pleased to be able to contribute to the Shoresearch survey. In addition, members will benefit from from the systematic approach and will learn much more about our shores. The verdict so far - it's been great fun sharing what we find with one another confident that it will contribute to a better national picture of marine biodiversity.

Surveying the scene.....

........is an important task undertaken regularly by Coastwise members.

The more we know about the presence or absence of marine life on our shores, the more we can understand the natural processes at work that may be influencing the seas.

Breaking up is hard to do.................

...........when it's the last of the summer session meetings by Zoom. Normally members would be meeting outdoors on the coast, but this has been restricted to structured surveys until the C19 restrictions are lifted.

This last meeting was a member's 'show and tell' session, where they talked about items of interest to them., and there were certainly plenty of interesting items to discuss.

Baggy's not just for the birds.....

.....as Rob Jutsum showed Coastwise members.

This lovely NT area has a huge range of interest in the natural world.

Rob took us on a trip round the coast path above the cliffs, with a range of birds and flowers, and also the NT's herd of Hebridean sheep.

Pictured R, Baggy Pond, with resident Water Rail, Hottentot Fig, a S African invasive species, the Oldenberg en route to Lundy as seen from Baggy Point, a Crested Grebe beside a Great Northern Diver, showing how large it is, and the view down to the NT car park at the end of the circuit.

An Order of Magnitude........

..........is what separates Maggs Ashton's marine life photos from what the rest of us take.

Maggs is an experienced SCUBA diver and Coastwise member, and took us on an underwater trip round the local coast from Ilfracombe to Barnstaple Bay, via various wrecks.

She started with the "Princess" in Woody Bay (R, top), where the exposed innards of the ship are covered in marine life of various sorts.

Then west to Copress Bay, off Great Hangman, and round to near Bull Point, where the "Stan Woolaway", a sand barge, sank in the 1960s.

Pages

User login