The final Marine Champion Action Weekend of the summer took place from 5th to 6th September, with clubs getting out and about in the name of marine protection and conservation.
With Marine Champion activities continuing throughout the month, Stafford SAC’s Marine Champion Sarah Burgess reports on her club’s first coastal Action Weekend:
“Being a landlocked club located a long way from the sea, Stafford Sub Aqua Club has faced a bit of a geographical challenge when planning Marine Champion activities. However, our shore diving trip to Anglesey took place during BSAC’s Marine Champion Action Weekend on 5/6 September, giving us the opportunity to combine diving with a litter pick and shark and skate eggcase survey.
Seven members of the club started the weekend with a litter pick at Porth Dafarch near Holyhead. We collected several bags of litter from a rocky inlet near the beach, much of it apparently washed up by the tide - everything from plastic bottles and bits of polystyrene to lengths of rope and walking boots. Fortunately, there was very little litter on the beach itself.
We also hunted for shark and skate egg cases along the strandline and logged our findings with the Shark Trust. We found several eggcases from a couple of different species. The Great Eggcase Hunt is a citizen-science survey that maps where sharks, skates and rays are found by recording eggcases washed up on beaches or found underwater - find out more here: www.sharktrust.org
As there was quite a lot of wind and swell at Porth Dafarch, we headed over to Bull Bay for our Saturday afternoon diving, where the sea was much calmer. Sunday saw us exploring the sheltered bay at Porth Eilian.
As our first Action Weekend and the first I organised as a Marine Champion, the weekend was thoroughly enjoyable. By combining activities with club diving it really became a team effort and was an example of how we can all dive with an environmental purpose. We are already looking forward to our next one!”
Are you interested in becoming a Marine Champion for your BSAC club and take positive action for our marine environment? Then join our growing network! For more information on the role and to register, go to bsac.com/marinechampion
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