Apologies for my late arrival…

When the rest of my life got in the way, I couldn’t get to Flamborough Living Seas Centre on time for the start of the conference to celebrate the wide variety of marine work that can only be done with the help of our volunteers. I rang the YWT “Batphone” (the out-of-hours emergency contact line) to inform the organisers, Ana Cowie (Marine Pollution Officer) and Bex Lynam (Marine Advocacy Manager) of my late arrival. The call went something like this

“Hi, it’s Howard Roddie”

“Hi, it’s Rachael how can I help?”

Rachael takes the details and sorts everything out for me…

I ask, “By the way, which Rachael?” (there are a few Rachael’s at the YWT)

“Rachael Bice, Chief Exec”.

Just another of the many responsibilities covered by our chief exec…

Themes and discussions

I arrived, with Andrea, my partner and fellow Shoresearcher, just before midday and the conference was in full swing. Sadly, we’d missed the first three sessions, but a lively Q&A session was taking place and some themes were emerging at that point…

• The vast majority of the work YWT does would not be possible without the energy and knowledge that all of the Trust’s volunteers bring to all of the ongoing projects, not just the 30 or so at this conference.
• Most externally funded projects have a lifespan of 3 years which can make ongoing continuity difficult. Here the role of volunteers in keeping things going when a project finishes is both part of the legacy of the project and one of the key reasons why the YWT can attract external funding in the first place. If the purpose of a project is long term, for instance to get seagrass to regenerate naturally, we have evidence from the USA that says it will take 8 years to do so.
• A lot of what we do is “Citizen Science”, certainly in the area of data gathering. A lot of effort goes into collecting precise and accurate data, whether it be recording beach litter, shoreline species or individual cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises). A discussion we need to have is how we can best use our data, and connect it to data collected by other organisations.
• Ultimately, our aim is to preserve and improve our seas and coastlines, but in order to do this we need to influence decision makers in local and national government and other agencies. We can only do it if our aims have a high level of support in the community. So, engagement with local populations is another key part of our programmes. For instance, getting schools involved engages children who tell their parents and spread the word. Also, Shoresearch sessions and Waves of Waste litter picks often lead to questions from curious people on the beach. The Waves of Waste volunteers have, up to the end of September 2024, engaged with nearly 800 members of the public in this way, many of whom ask about the role of climate change.

An overview from Bex 

To help bring me up to speed I asked Bex Lynam to give me an overview, and she provided me with this extensive summary:

• A key aim of our marine advocacy work is to inform and guide marine conservation policy and management. Our volunteers are incredibly important for helping us to achieve this, as they have a role to play in collecting relevant scientific data. We can then advocate for marine conservation measures by presenting our evidence base to those working in our government agencies who can use this to shape policy and management at the local, regional and national levels.
• A great example of how ‘on the ground activities’ led by our volunteers can help shape policy is the Waves of Waste beach cleaning project. We ask beach cleaners to remove the pollution they find on our beaches for us in organised groups. This is important so that we remove the entanglement and ingestion threat that this pollution poses to our marine wildlife. However, some of our groups are also recording what they find on the beaches which gives us key information about the types of items that are commonly discarded. We’re able to feed this information back to government agencies so they better understand the nature of marine and coastal pollution, and also to work with local businesses to make changes to their own practices to lessen the pollution that might be associated with their activities. In this way we’re able to target our advocacy to ensure that we can help to shape policy and create tangible, lasting change.
• Volunteers also have a really valuable role to play in helping to educate the next generation – campaigning for change in policy and management is key but typically this is achieved with the help of public support. Gathering public support is much easier to secure by enabling the local people, and our next generation, to understand the riches that our seas hold and what they do for us. Our volunteers assist with running lots of exciting and educational events and activities for schools, groups and the public. In this way they help to ensure people are inspired and appreciate our marine environment and so feel empowered to speak up for it and take action!

I couldn’t have put it better myself…

Shoresearch

Keith Clarkson, previously site manager at RSPB Bempton cliffs, is a volunteer who has been involved in the Shoresearch programme for around 3 years, so he is the natural person to lead this session. In his own words “getting involved with Shoresearch gave me that new sense of purpose, taking me on a journey of discovery and wonder which I was able to share with a fantastic team of volunteers”. His knowledge is impressive, extending to species names in Latin. More than that though, the enthusiasm with which he shares this knowledge engages everyone in the Shoresearch team. For example, I can now say that the life cycle of the sea squirt is truly amazing! The Shoresearch team has a WhatsApp group where photos and knowledge are shared. Sometimes I look at this and see 30 or 40 new messages… Many of them are Keith’s latest finds.

Lunch and a quiz

Make no mistake, lunch at this kind of event is a very important time, especially when you can get a fully loaded scone with great coffee from ‘Scrumdiddlyumptious by the Sea’, the little cafe right next to the Living Seas Centre. It’s also a time to catch up with the volunteers you know and some you don’t. It’s quite remarkable that a lot of our marine volunteers live nowhere near the coast, and there were volunteers from places such as Harrogate, Driffield and Selby at the conference. I was part of a conversation with a geologist about the difficulty of establishing “base data” in a dynamic place like the North Sea coast. These informal gatherings allow us all to learn something new.

Talking of learning something new, Ana Cowie was our host for a nature themed quiz just after lunch. It showed me that I still have a lot to learn. For instance I did not know that whale vomit (known as Ambergris) is a highly valuable commodity used for scenting perfumes. On the other hand, I did know that starfish turn their stomachs inside out to feed.

Bottlenose Dolphin ID and Citizen Fins

Our guest speaker, Grant Ellis from the University of St. Andrews, showed us how a 1980s population of around 50 bottlenose dolphins around the Moray Firth had grown to 245 by 2020. Of these, 100 regularly pop up in the Firth, but the rest have spread south over time. Bottlenose dolphins are now seen regularly from the Yorkshire coast with an average pod size of around 12, but groups of 60 to 70 have also been seen. In fact, they are now calving off Yorkshire.

We understand much more about the population because a network of Seawatchers is reporting sightings. Grant has taken more than 10,000 photos of individuals this season alone. He uses his and others' pictures to track the movement of individuals up and down the East Coast.

The Citizen Science project “Citizen Fins” has so far received 2000 additional photographs from 70 volunteers up and down the East coast. This has allowed Grant to identify more than 60 individuals on the Yorkshire coast that are part of the Moray Firth population.

In case you wonder why we don’t just tag dolphins, just ask anyone who’s ever tried to tag a swan. At least swan tags stay on for more than a few days…

Wild Eye - Art and Engagement

Caroline Hill (Wild Eye Project Manager) and Katie Andrews (Wilder Communities Engagement Officer) took us through the 3 year Wild Eye project, funded by North Yorkshire Council, to celebrate Scarborough’s wildlife through art. This will leave a legacy of artworks including a new seawatching station on Marine Drive , featuring an amazing roman style mosaic floor by Turner prize winning artist Jeremy Deller. This is also a prime spot for spotting Bottlenose Dolphins and Harbour Porpoise.

Whilst collaboration with national conservation bodies, art organisations and universities helps to increase engagement, the most important connections are local. Big names like English Heritage and the Natural History Museum are involved, but it is the events run with local schools and groups, not to mention a further 172 public events, that will potentially have the most impact. Currently local engagement with nature around Scarborough is low, but if we can raise this, we can involve more local people in Citizen Fins, Shoresearches, Waves Of Waste, Wild Eye and other initiatives. This would be a real legacy for our coastline.

The Fun things, with a purpose

At the end of the conference, we had a choice - a group Sea Watching session or soap and jewellery making led by Sophie Atkinson (Inspiring People Officer - Marine), and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see engagement activity in action. For the soap making, Sophie had gathered a range of dyes and fragrances alongside a special ingredient - dried and ground up seaweed gathered from the Flamborough shore. Seaweed in soap is a great moisturiser as well as having anti-ageing and antiseptic properties, although if you use too much, it can end up smelling like fish…

Whilst our attendees got stuck in, Sophie explained that this type of session really helps to engage people in nature. Similarly, the jewellery making uses fragments of glass and common shells from the beach.

Finally, I want to leave you with news of the group who went Seawatching. While they didn’t see any Dolphins, they did spot the odd seal, a Kestrel and a Peregrine Falcon. They also drew attention from others on the cliff, giving a final opportunity to spread the message…

Find out more via these links...

Citizen Fins - https://citizenfins.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/

Join our Waves of Waste beach cleans here. https://www.ywt.org.uk/our-events/beach-cleans

Wild Eye YWT site: https://www.ywt.org.uk/news/wild-eye-exciting-outdoor-art-and-nature-project-north-yorkshire-coast

Wild Eye invisible dust site: https://invisibledust.com/projects/wild-eye/