BSAC Marine Champions turns one on 7 August! As one of the Marine Champions who joined us during the first year, we would like to thank you for all your enthusiasm, commitment, and hard work. It’s great to have you on board.
To mark our first anniversary, the next BSAC Marine Champions Action Weekend (1-2 August) will kickstart a month of club diving with a purpose, and we are inviting you and your club to lead the way.
The call to action this August is simple – make every club trip, dive or visit to the coast a Marine Champion opportunity! And it doesn’t have to be just the 1-2 August Action Weekend, but anytime during the month.
We know that August is the golden month of the summer diving season when many of our clubs and members are out doing what they enjoy most – diving and snorkelling, either in the UK or overseas. So, we see this month of club activity as a real opportunity to incorporate the diving with a marine environment purpose message.
Here’s how
Encourage your club and members to factor in the Marine Champion message on all their dive, snorkel and beach trips:
- It could be a beach clean after a day’s diving or looking out for marine litter when enjoying a dive.
- You could encourage your members to think differently about a regular wreck site favourite when on a dive trip and notice the marine life and underwater habitats that have made it their home.
- Divers could go prepared to take photos of marine life sightings or you could make it an egg case hunt, seagrass or oyster survey.
- You could also incorporate non-native invasive species (NNIS) awareness and ask divers and snorkellers to document and report any NNIS they see.
- Or why not add in a Marine Champion focus into your dive trip updates and dive briefings to raise awareness of the specific habitats and marine life to be found on the sites your club will be diving. Then report any key findings through relevant organisations/projects such as The Shark Trust, the Great Seagrass Survey, Operation Oyster
DON’T FORGET – certain social/community events or unusual activities such as underwater litter picks, new projects etc may require approval from BSAC insurers and so will require the submission of a risk assessment to BSAC HQ. You can read our full guidance on running a Marine Champion event, including risk assessments, here. Any further questions regarding your event and risk assessments, please email insurance@bsac.com
Other ideas to consider:
August will also see a host of BSAC and marine partner activities picking up the pace. And this means some great opportunities for Marine Champions and their clubs to have fun while making their diving and snorkelling count.
Here’s just a few ideas to explore:
Wildlife Trust National Marine Week - 25 July - 9 Aug
Perfect for members and their families, this year’s event is themed ‘incredible journeys’. From whale and dolphin watching to rock pooling, bird watching, seashore safaris and ‘mud dipping’, the Marine Week offers fantastic marine life experiences for enthusiasts of all ages.
Give a diver’s perspective to Lisa Drewe’s Shipping Forecast expedition
Currently on a tour around 17 British Islands that make up the Shipping Forecast, paddleboarder Lisa Drewe is gathering first hand experiences of the changes around our coastline. The Award-winning explorer will be in Lundy and Plymouth in August – so if you and your club are nearby, she’d love to meet up with you! For more information and to contact Lisa, click here.
BSAC Snorkelling Festival — Sunday 23 August, Swanage
Swanage is the location for this celebration of all things snorkelling! And as it is in the marine life-rich waters of the Jurassic coastline, there will be plenty to see – and record!
NW Dive Fest — Friday 28 August, Capernwray, Lancashire
Promising a great day out for all divers, and their families, this year’s Dive Fest is making the most of the August Bank Holiday weekend. And with Capernwray’s freshwater site famous for its sturgeon and trout, there’s plenty to see and observe. Which makes it a good opportunity to practice marine survey and observation skills as well as underwater photography.
Make your surface interval count with the Seal Alliance
Why not sign the Seal Alliance’s petition during your diving downtime and help them to get the sale of flying rings banned in the UK. It only takes a moment but can make a real difference in helping to prevent unnecessary injury to our seal populations. We’d love to see the petition get to 65,000 signatures by the end of August so please also share it with your club members, family and friends – find out more
And finally, share your summer Marine Champion stories!
We really look forward to seeing and hearing all about your diving and snorkelling this August and the creative ways you have incorporated the ‘diving with a marine environment purpose’ into your club’s summer plans! We’d also like to put together a summer ‘album’ of Marine Champions activities so get in touch and share your August Action stories with us! Email the BSAC Marine Champion Team at marinechampions@bsac.com.
And don’t forget, when sharing your summer stories on your club’s social media feeds, make sure you tag them with #BSACMarineChampions and we can help you share your summer of scuba and snorkelling as you help to safeguard our precious marine world.
Wishing you all a fantastic August in, on, under and around the water!
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