SHORT FILM HIGHLIGHTS THE WONDERS OF DIVING IN NORTH DEVON

If you ever thought that scuba diving in North Devon would be dull then think again. The waters off the coast of Ilfracombe are littered with wrecks and populated by fascinating underwater life. A new short film - Every Dive is an Adventure - introduces members of Ilfracombe and North Devon Sub Aqua Club (ILFSAC) who dive alongside volunteers from Seasearch, surveying marine life as they explore this fascinating underwater landscape.

Film producer Jo Stewart-Smith talks about the inspiration behind this latest addition to the Boat Stories series "I had two people equally passionate about their favourite subject and was torn between whether to focus on exploring undiscovered wrecks or recording marine life in our short film. Luckily, because wrecks which lie on the sea floor act like rocky reefs and become magnets for marine life we are able to reveal a little bit of the excitement of both."

Jo says that the title for this film is a direct quote from ILFSAC Chairman Shaun Galliver who says in the film "Diving off the coast of North Devon is a challenge and we never know what we are going to find - whether we're looking for a new wreck or new marine life - every dive is an adventure."

Galliver, a self-confessed 'wreck head' told Jo about the many wrecks off the North Devon Coast "Around 1910 Cardiff was one of the world's busiest ports and in one year 13 million tonnes of coal or 300 ships a day travelled past Ilfracombe. Many of those either hit rocks or hit each other so we still have a lot of undiscovered wrecks here, we found four last year and even last week we dived two new ones."

He commented that to dive a new wreck, one that no one has touched or seen for 150 years, is amazing and the club can offer that opportunity to its members. ILFSAC has been exploring new wrecks since it was founded in 1960 so its club house is a bit like an Aladdin's cave of treasures from the deep. One of these holds pride of place at the bar; a ship's bell which came from the steamship The George Lamb which came a cropper on the rocks in the late 1800s.

Jo was entranced by the brilliant colours in ILFSAC diver, Maggs Ashton's photographs. Maggs is passionate about photographing this colourful underwater world 'people always say you must have photographed that in the Red Sea, I have trouble convincing people that they are found here in North Devon."

In the film Sally Sharrock tells us about Seasearch, a project which encourages divers to map out the sea bed and survey marine life "We work on the assumption that if we don't know what's there we can't protect it and the only people who see what is down under water are the divers. We train them in basic marine biology so that they know what they are looking for."

Talking about the variety and colourful nature of the marine life Sally says "It's like an old fashioned sweet shop where you have all the jars of different colours on the walls." On this dive she discovers a curious looking Tompot blenny and exclaims "they're always good fun, 'cause they've got a big smiley face!"

Every Dive is an Adventure will be shown on the big screen along with the 9 other Boat Stories Films at a free event on Friday 16 October 2015 at Bideford Cinema, Kingsley School, Bideford - details at www.bidefordcinema.org.uk.

Unsurprisingly, seats are selling fast so if you can't get to the screening you can watch the films online at www.boatstories.co.uk or look out for the DVDs which will be on sale in selected museums and information centres soon.

Underwater cameraman, Rich Stevenson, just surfaced and back in harbour,  ILFSAC, Seasearch members and camera crew after a successful mission, Neptune setting off on an adventure. Photos copyright Jo Stewart-Smith (All Rights Reserved)

• North Devon Moving Image CIC
• Ilfracombe & North Devon’s Sub Aqua Club (official full title of the club btw) they’re often called ILFSAC or Ilfracombe Dive Club
• Seasearch 

SHORT FILM: LIVING AND WORKING ON LUNDY ISLAND

Following several sneaky cameo appearances, North Devon's iconic Lundy passenger and supply boat the MS Oldenburg has her own starring role in Living and Working on Lundy Island, the latest short film in the Boat Stories series.

In the Boat Stories series so far we have been up the rivers and out to sea, often catching a glimpse of the Oldenburg as she sails out of Bideford or Ilfracombe. We now travel with her out to Lundy to meet the Island's warden Beccy MacDonald.

On an island with a tiny working population, Lundy workers learn to multi task. Beccy overseas research projects and, working in the field herself, monitors puffins and surveys seals. She meets the Oldenburg as it delivers day trippers, wildlife enthusiasts and researchers and offloads essential supplies - like clotted cream - she keeps visitors informed - running guided walks and snorkel safaris. As a member of the island coastguard team Beccy's radio crackles constantly as she is the contact for all visiting charter boats and fishermen. Along with Jonny, her partner, Beccy fills divers’ air bottles and when housekeeping is stretched in the busy season, like the rest of the team and volunteers, she mucks in to help with bed making!

This short film captures the beauty of the island and its wildlife but also highlights an issue which is having an impact on marine life in North Devon and around the world. 

Boat Stories Producer, Jo Stewart-Smith says "We were walking along the coast path filming Beccy doing her seal survey when she turned and said ‘there’s something here I really want you to film.’ She’d spotted the pale seal with some plastic caught around its neck, which a diver had reported to her. While the other seals, hauled out next to it relaxed, totally chilled, the pale seal was rubbing her neck and scratching at it with her flipper. Beccy explained that unfortunately because Lundy is a rocky island it would be impossible to dart the seal to try and remove the entanglement because she’d jump straight into the sea and drown. 'It may upset people' she said, 'but it is something they should be aware of – the marine litter has quite a negative impact on all our wildlife, even on something as large as a seal.'"

Natalie Gibb from North Devon Coast AONB led Clean Marine project adds “It’s a fabulous film. Although incredibly sad, the example of the entangled seal on Lundy is a great way to put the issue of marine litter into perspective. I’ve seen many distressing images of injured wildlife, but I have never witnessed it directly, especially so close to home. It’s something that I hope many people can all relate to, with it happening right on our doorstep. It also reminds us that every piece of rubbish the Clean Marine and other volunteers pick up is worth removing. It’s that little bit of incentive we all need to keep us going when we head out on our next beach clean.”

Along with the other Boat Stories short films, Living and Working on Lundy can be viewed on the Boat Stories website www.boatstories.co.uk where you can read more about the making of the film.  Additionally, this coming September and October there will be two free Boat Stories celebration events, in Bideford and Ilfracombe, where members of the public will be able to view the complete series of films and meet the contributors and crew.

 

Simon Vacher filming Lundy warden, Beccy MacDonald

MS Oldenburg ferry sailing to Lundy 

Photos copyright Boat Stories Jo Stewart-Smith (All rights reserved)

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The Boat Stories series of short films is available to view free online at www.boatstories.co.uk.

Filmed and edited by Simon Vacher

Music by Rosamund Harper

Directed & produced by Jo Stewart-Smith

Beach Safety and Barrel Jellyfish. Look but don't touch!

I spotted this critter on the strandline on the beach at Westward Ho! yesterday. It was a beautiful day just after high tide, the blue waters of the ebbing tide lapping on the shore. At first I thought it was a plastic bag but on closer inspection I realised it was a huge jellyfish. It has been confirmed by the Marine Conservation Society as a #barreljellyfish which have been recently highlighted in the local press recently and the advice is to look but don't touch as they have a painful sting. If you see any of these in the water or washed up on shore please report your sightings at the Marine Conservation Society Website.

 Barrel Jellyfish sighted 10th June 2015 - Photo copyright Pat Adams (All rights reserved)

 Ebbing Tide at Westward Ho! - Photo copyright Pat Adams (All rights reserved)

Click here to read the North Devon Journal's article about the Giant Barrel Jellyfish

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Wikepedia Stub - Rhizostoma pulmo, commonly known as the barrel jellyfish, the dustbin-lid jellyfish or the frilly-mouthed jellyfish

Final 24 hours to help protect north Devon's marine wildlife

The Government's public consultation on creating more protected areas for marine wildlife - including two sites off the north Devon coast - closes on Friday evening (24th April). That means there is still time for anyone who wants to see a thriving marine environment in the south west to add their support for creating new Marine Conservation Zones. Twenty three potential Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) have been included in the Government's current public consultation. Bideford to Foreland Point is one: this stunning section of coast, stretching from the mouth of the Taw estuary all the way into Exmoor National Park, is enjoyed by thousands of walkers every year. The marine animals living off this coast include the harbour porpoises and dolphins regularly spotted off Morte Point and Baggy Point, along with the array of colourful anemones and starfish seen in the rockpools of Ilfracombe and Combe Martin. 

Richard White, Devon Wildlife Trust's Senior Marine Conservation Officer, said: "The two new proposed MCZs at Bideford to Foreland Point and Hartland Point to Tintagel are home to a stunning variety of marine life. Their collections of corals and sponges form a beautiful backdrop to shoals of colourful fish. All will benefit from the protection provided by becoming Marine Conservation Zones." Public support for the creation of protected areas for marine wildlife played a significant part in the first designation of MCZs in 2013. That's why Devon Wildlife Trust is encouraging people who love the beach, the sea and the wildlife they support to take part in the final day of the Government consultation. 

Richard White commented: "Devon Wildlife Trust urges anyone who cares about the future of the South West's marine life to back these MCZs and take part in the government's consultation process. Responding takes 5 minutes online - but it's five minutes that could make a real difference for our precious marine life." 

Responses to the consultation on Marine Conservation Zones can be made until Friday evening on the Defra website at www.gov.uk or The Wildlife Trusts' website at www.wildlifetrusts.org/mcz

 Photo Beadlet Anemone copyright Paul Naylor (All rights reserved)

 Photo Harbour Porpoise copyright Colin Speedie (All rights reserved)

Government cuts back on ambitions for marine protection

The long-awaited consultation on the next stages of Marine Conservation Zone designation in English and non devolved waters is launched today.  But with only 23 out of a possible 37 sites included, The Wildlife Trusts are frustrated at the lack of ambition shown by the Government.

Joan Edwards, The Wildlife Trusts’ Head of Living Seas, said:  “We are bitterly disappointed that the Government has opted to consult on just 23 new Marine Conservation Zones and that some very important areas for marine wildlife  have been dropped from the list.  We are particularly frustrated that a number of sites – including in the Irish Sea - have been removed because of the likely ‘economic cost’. 

“The Wildlife Trusts believe this is a missed opportunity to achieve longer-term gains that will benefit marine biodiversity and fishing.  Ultimately an economic activity that is based on over-exploitation, beyond the ability of the resource to renew itself, is not sustainable and has no long-term future. 

In Devon the news of two new recommended MCZs was met with a mixed reaction by Devon Wildlife Trust. While the news of more protection for North Devon’s marine wildlife was welcomed, The Trust reflected on missed opportunities elsewhere. Devon Wildlife Trust’s Richard White said:

“We are pleased that Government has recognised the value of North Devon’s marine life by recommending two areas for protection.  These two new proposed Marine Conservation Zones at Bideford to Foreland Point and Hartland Point to Tintagel are home to a stunning variety of marine life. Their collections of corals and sponges form a beautiful backdrop to shoals of colourful fish.  All will benefit from the protection provided by becoming Marine Conservation Zones.”

“At this stage today’s proposals for new MCZs are just recommendations and the Government is now asking people their views on whether they should become a reality. We’d urge anyone who cares about the future of the South West’s marine life to back these MCZs and take part in the government’s consultation process. Responding doesn’t take long via Defra’s website. It gives everybody an opportunity to shape the future of our precious marine wildlife.”

“While today’s announcement provides some good news we are very disappointed that we still don’t have the network of areas of protection that our seas need. We hope that this will be remedied by Government in the future.”

Professor of Marine Conservation at the University of York, Callum Roberts, says: "The decision not to create protected areas in the Irish Sea on the grounds of cost to fisheries is ironic and misguided. Irish Sea fish stocks are among the most heavily overexploited in the UK and are now on their last gasp.  Two centuries of fishing with destructive trawls and dredges has stripped the seabed of its fish and once-rich habitats like oyster and horse mussel reefs.  It will remain impoverished without protected areas; it has a chance of recovery with them.  There is no in between."

The North West Wildlife Trusts’ Marine Conservation Officer, Dr Emily Baxter, said: “The muddy habitats of the Irish Sea are as diverse as the Amazon rainforest and coral reefs.  There are also living reefs that support a wealth of species from sponges, crabs, lobsters, and anemones to an array of seaweeds.  At least 30 species of shark and a dozen species of cetacean (whales, dolphins and porpoises) live in the Irish Sea, including the basking shark, the world's second largest fish.

“By postponing action to protect these areas yet again, the Government is leaving the Irish Sea open to an environmental disaster. 

“Supporting sustainable fisheries, instead of encouraging overfishing and habitat destruction, would increase fish landings, generate more income and create more jobs in the sector.  Decision-makers need to think of sustainable fisheries as an opportunity for job creation and increasing the value of fisheries rather than an environmental principal that comes at a price to the industry.  Marine Conservation Zones are a vital part of this process.”

Joan Edwards explains:  “Only this week, the Government’s Natural Capital Committee published a report which shows that investment in nature makes obvious economic sense.  The Government must develop a comprehensive strategy to secure the recovery of nature in a generation.  This must include the designation of a well managed and ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas.” 

The Wildlife Trusts will be responding to the Government consultation and plan to publish our recommendations online in due course.  We will be urging the public to have their say and respond to the consultation to help ensure no further potential Marine Conservation Zones are lost. See www.wildlifetrusts.org/mcz

Marine Conservation Zones protect threatened undersea habitats such as eelgrass meadows, rocky reefs and deepwater canyons – and the animals that live in and around them.  These important sanctuaries for marine life remain at risk until more areas offering effective protection are established.  Marine Conservation Zones should protect the species and habitats found within them from the most damaging and degrading of activities such as scallop dredging and trawling, whilst mostly allowing sustainable activity to continue. 

Valley of Rocks, North Devon Photo copyright Nigel Hicks (All rights reserved)

Of the 37 sites listed below, 23 are now included in the current Marine Conservation Zones consultation, which runs for 12 weeks from Friday 30 January 2015.  The 23 sites are shown in bold black (we’re disappointed the ones in red have been dropped – for site descriptions, please see attached document):

Coquet to St Mary’s	Farne’s East	Fulmar	Runswick Bay	Compass Rose
Holderness Inshore	Cromer Shoal Chalk Beds	Swale Estuary	Dover to Deal	Dover to Folkestone
Offshore Brighton	Offshore Overfalls	Utopia	Bembridge	Norris to Ryde
Yarmouth to Cowes	The Needles	Studland Bay	Western Channel	Mounts Bay
Lands End	North-West of Jones Bank	Greater Haig Fras	Newquay and the Gannel	Hartland Point to Tintagel
Bideford to Foreland Point	North of Lundy	South of Celtic Deep	Celtic Deep	East of Celtic Deep
Mid St Georges Channel	North St Georges Channel	Slieve Na Griddle	South Rigg	West of Walney
Mud Hole	Allonby Bay

The centre-piece of the landmark Marine & Coastal Access Act (2009) legislation was the commitment to establish a network of Marine Protected Areas throughout UK seas; a response to the widely acknowledged crisis facing the health, diversity and productivity of our seas.  While this Parliament has seen the first designations, we remain a long way from the full network.  

127 recommended Marine Conservation Zones were chosen after two years of hard work by more than one million stakeholders from all sectors of the marine environment and at a cost of over £8.8 million to Government.  Twenty seven Marine Conservation Zones were designated in November 2013 as a first step towards achieving an ecologically coherent network of areas which will protect and help to restore the marine environment.  In February, Defra released a list of 37 sites, recommended by experts and stakeholders, to be considered for a second tranche of Marine Conservation Zones.  The excluded areas were identified by the statutory nature advisors as necessary to help fill current gaps in the network of protected areas at sea and achieve ecological coherence.  The Government is committed to a third tranche, to complete the network, by 2016.