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| Capturing the Coast in the Outer Hebrides |
Who doesn’t feel better after a day at the seaside. It’s nice if the sun is shining but the wind and rain can be exhilarating too. Victorian ladies delighted in taking the sea air and some prepared little books to encourage amateur collectors of seaweed.
When I go sea-weeding I am looking for new species, so I was rather disappointed when the field work from a citizen science training day took place at a rising neap tide. Neap tides are sluggish and not a lot of the coastal garden is revealed. However, the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch has shown that the starling, famous for its stunning murmurations, (when thousands of the birds flock together in formation the sky), has in recent years, seen a steady decline in its number. In many ways it is the recording of the duller species, the ones we take for granted, that gives valuable insight into the ecological monitoring of the landscape.
Citizen science involves the participation of people who are not trained scientists but who contribute to scientific research. Its not a new idea. Victorian ladies gathered and pressed seaweeds, which they then packaged up to male Professors. Some were less amateur than others. Mrs Alfred Gatty, author of British Seaweeds (1863) commented on almost two hundred species in a simple but thorough manner. She spent time on a Horn Book of seaweeds, which I interpret as a primer, a basic guide. She considered herself an amateur naturalist.
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| Mrs Lane Clarke, Am Amateur Naturalist |
At a time
when mental health is no longer locked away, citizen science has the
opportunity not only to help scientific research but personal wellbeing. Nature
soothes pain. It provides respite for the tired over anxious brain. The
Victorian, Mrs Alfred Gatty writes in a letter to her sister, ‘It was great
mental rest to do nothing but seaweeds’. I can relate to this.
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| A Quadrat, Kildonan, Isle of South Uist |
CoCoast is a programme that engages in collecting records of marine species
along our coasts. Volunteers are invited to a free of charge training day and
introduced to ways in which members of the public can contribute, in a
meaningful way, to conservation and scientific understanding. My brief indoor
training involved lentils and sweeties and a quadrat to encourage
accurate recoding, and then we went down to the seashore. An otter ran past as
we enjoyed our picnic lunches, but this can’t be guaranteed unless perhaps you
record in the Outer Hebrides.
CoCoast is
nation wide and by participating, individuals can enjoy a day at the seaside at the same time as working in a collaborative way with marine scientists. The project will raise
national awareness of the richness of our marine life. Participants will gain
local knowledge and the added bonus is that you may meet some kindred spirits
too.
Of course
some things shouldn’t be found on the beach but beachcombers can take a bag and
remove such items. Citizen scientists can help prevent ocean pollution. It would
be a good idea if Local Councils provided sea shore bins, which were emptied
regularly to help prevent fish and sea birds eating nurdles.
I was
slightly irritated that my training day didn’t involve a decent spring tide
where I could look for interesting species unknown to me, but the things we
take for granted, the species we don’t miss until they have disappeared, need
to be recorded too. In a world where many seek notoriety, (yes, who doesn’t
want to record a rare species) we need to slow down, step back and breathe.
Go Citizen
Scientist, go. @CapturingRCoast
