The Wildlife Trust's North Sea Wildlife Project

Riding the Wave - The Wildlife Trusts, welcome a Marine and Coastal Access ACT!

It’s almost ten years since The Wildlife Trusts first pointed out that the seas around the UK, containing half our wildlife, were in dire trouble. Now, as a result of our combined effort (staff, members and volunteers) we have, after over ten years of campaigning secured a Marine and Coastal Access Act! During November, the Bill (which spent an incredible 6 months in the House of Lords - the second longest Bill in history!) received royal ascent and became an Act!

So how did we get here?

• 1999 Devon Wildlife Trust reach an agreement with local scallop fishermen not to damage sensitive reefs
• 2000 The Wildlife Trusts first call for new marine legislation
• Jan 2002 500 common dolphins, drowned in high-speed seabass trawling nets, wash up on the beaches of England and north west France
• 2002 The Wildlife Trusts publish two reports showing the threats to UK marine ecosystems and how science-based planning could avoid them
• 2003 A record 100 basking sharks seen, but 265 dolphins found dead off the south west. Scientists estimate 67,500 have died as fishing bycatch in 15 years
• 2004 Mass breeding failures by UK seabirds. Wildlife-rich reefs in Ulster’s Strangford Lough wiped out by dredge trawlers 
• 2005 Government commits to new marine legislation. Lyme Bay fishing agreement breaks down, exposing wildlife-rich reefs to total destruction. Seabirds suffer second year of breeding failure 
• 2007 Government publishes Marine Bill white paper. The Wildlife Trusts deliver more than 170,000 ‘petition fish’ signatures to Downing Street in support of the Bill 
• 2008 Only 18 bottlenose dolphins remain off Cornwall. Government bans scallop dredging in Lyme Bay. UK Marine and Coastal Access Bill enters Parliament   
• May 2009 The Wildlife Trusts (along with WWF, RSPB and The Marine Conservation Society) participated in a lobby in Westminster to secure amendments within the Bill
• November 2009 UK Marine Bill becomes an Act!

 

The future of our marine life?
Now, the journey really begins. We have in place the necessary legislation to allow the creation of an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas. This network will be implemented through four regional Marine Conservation Zone projects – the North Sea project is called Net Gain. Our job is to ensure the MPA network is established with wildlife at the heart, protecting not only the rare and threatened but a range of marine species and habitats. Through input into the Net Gain project we will provide information and data supporting the establishment of Marine Conservation Zones. However, we cannot do this alone. We need your help to achieve our vision of Living Seas, ones in which wildlife thrives from the depths of the ocean to the coastal shallows, where wildlife recovers from past declines and adapts to climate change and where people feel inspired by marine wildlife and the value the sea has on their quality of life. Help us do this and join us on our journey towards Living Seas by:

• Getting outside and exploring your marine environment, visiting a local coastal nature reserve.
• Telling others what’s out there, helping us promote the marine environment
• Sending us underwater photographs, videos or your stories of the sea
• Or by attending events or helping volunteer to collect valuable information that will highlight areas of marine life in need of protection.

 

Local Wildlife Information - along the North Sea

Northumberland

• Extensive sandy beaches, dunes reaching 10m in height, vast mudflats, huge sandy inlets and areas of rocky shore characterise the Northumberland coastline.
• Extensive mudflats and sandy inlets are rich in tasty invertebrates, providing food for thousands of wintering wildfowl and waders.
• Mudflats around Lindisfarne support the east coast’s largest beds of seagrass, a scarce habitat, which in turn provides foraging for wintering pale-bellied brent geese and wigeon.
• Offshore the great North Eastern rocky reef provides a fixture point for extensive forests of kelp, where shelter and food is sought by species ranging from sea urchins to grey seals. 
• The rocky reef emerges from the sea to form the Farne Islands, home to tens of thousands of breeding seabirds, and 3,600 grey seals. 
• These rocks have proved a shipping hazard for centuries resulting in countless wrecks which now form artificial reefs, covered in anemones and soft corals, and a hiding place for lobsters and curled octopus. 
• Sea caves provide a home for mussels, barnacles, sea squirts and purse sponges, alongside a hiding place for crabs, while deeper water rocky reefs abound with fern-like hydroids, the beautiful Devonshire-cup coral and dead man’s fingers (a soft coral). Here, the sea floor is a writhing mass of brittlestars. 
• The coastal waters are home to both porpoise and minke whales, whilst bottle-nosed dolphin, white-beaked dolphin and even killer whales can often be seen. 
• Further offshore, vast numbers of mackerel gather to spawn, while thornback rays scavenge the seafloor for crustaceans. Buried in these vast sandy plains are huge beds of venus clams.

Durham

• After years of devastation, the Durham coastline now prides itself with Heritage Coast status. A mix of headlands, magnesian limestone cliffs, stacks, rocky shores and coves make it a haven for wildlife.
• Magnesian limestone cliffs support a unique calcerous grassland, one of the UK’s most restricted habitats, with Durham boasting 225 hectares within its Heritage Coast area. Here 13 nationally scarce plants and 84 nationally scarce invertebrates make their home.
• Rocky shores are home to seaweeds, barnacles, limpets, brightly coloured sea anemones and inquisitive blennies.    
  Just offshore, recent surveys have revealed a landscape of kelp forests, sandy plains and rocky reefs, home to squat lobsters, lobsters, crabs, prawns, sea slugs, sea urchins, starfish, brittlestars and many colourful sea anemones. Fish recorded included plaice, bib and long-spined sea scorpions.
• Just over 15 years ago such offshore areas were found to be barren wastelands covered in coal dust, highlighting the resilience of the sea and its ability to recover if given the chance to do so. 
• Regular sightings of porpoise and minke whales also occur off the Durham coast.

Tees Valley

• Despite just 38 miles of coastline, the Tees Valley has a lot to offer with respect to marine wildlife.  
• The coastal cliffs of the Tees Valley are home to internationally important numbers of breeding kittiwakes, alongside other seabirds such as fulmars and cormorants, while the grassland clifftops are home to coastal wildflowers including Spiny Restharrow, Sea Plantain and Wild Carrot.
• The majority of the coastline however, consists of shingle beaches and sand and mud flats. Such areas are both important breeding areas for little terns and ringed plovers, and important feeding grounds for sanderling and oystercatchers. 
• As a direct result of environmental improvements, common seals have returned to the Teesmouth after an absence of nearly 60 years, the only known estuary in Europe where seals have done so for this reason. Small but successful breeding populations have established themselves at Seal Sands, Greatham Creek and Billingham Beck, and now account for 2% of the English population.

Yorkshire

• A perfect combination of beaches, rocky coves and towering cliffs makes the Yorkshire coastline a haven for wildlife.
• Key sites include the 400ft chalk cliffs of the Flamborough Headlands, the UK’s most northerly coastal chalk cliffs, and Spurn Point, a 3 ½ mile long sandy spit extending into the mouth of the Humber estuary.
• Flamborough’s cliffs play host to over 250,000 pairs of breeding seabird, including puffins, kittiwakes, guillemots and England’s only mainland Gannet colony.
• Flamborough’s characteristic chalk continues offshore, combining with limestone to form Europe’s largest underwater chalk reef. Unique chalk pillars provide an attachment for kelp, while anemones, sponges and starfish cling to the pillar walls.    
• Due to the sea’s erosive power, over 200 submerged and semi-submerged sea caves are dotted along the headland, some extending for 50m inland. These unique habitats give shelter to large lobsters, octopus and conger eels, while the walls play host to brightly coloured sponges and sea anemones. 
• As a result of the Flamborough Front, a 200 mile long nutrient flow, the waters off the headland are particularly diverse. The results of this nutrient upwelling are rich feeding grounds, attracting fish, seabirds, minke whales, dolphins and porpoise.
• The 3 ½ mile long spit at Spurn was formed 10,000 years ago after the retreat of the icecap and has huge botanical interest with many maritime species present, including sea holly and sea rocket. 
• The estuary mudflats provide a wintering area for thousands of waders and wildfowl, while harbour porpoise often venture far into the Humber.
• Offshore, sand and mud dominates providing spawning grounds for sole, while evidence that this area was once a land bridge with mainland Europe abounds. A mammoth tusk, believed to be 50,000 years old, has recently been found washed up on Spurn, highlighting the areas former role.   

Lincolnshire

• The Lincolnshire coast is a largely flat coastal plain consisting of long sandy beeches, sand dunes, saltmarsh and brackish lagoons, supporting many national and internationally important species, such as the natterjack toad.
• Ragworms, catworms, lugworm and sand mason worms make their home in the sand low on the shore.
• These sandy plains continue out into the sea, providing important nursery areas for sole. Further still, the plains become the 40m high sandy mountains of Dogger Bank. Here millions of sand eels shoal together, diving into the sand at the nearest hint of danger. 
• The Lincolnshire coast also boasts one of England’s most exciting natural spectacles. Every autumn, at Donna Nook, seals haul out onto the beach to give birth to their white, fur covered pups. This annual event attracts thousands of visitors each season.

Norfolk

• The Norfolk coast is an important area for many marine species.
• Both common and grey seals can be found around the Norfolk coast and both breed in important numbers.
• Great Yarmouth supports one of the most important little tern sites in Europe, who depend on coastal waters to supply hungry chicks with food.
• The starlet sea anemone, a rare UK species, has recently been ‘rediscovered’ at two sites in north Norfolk, after it was feared lost in the November 2007 storm surges.   
• The major offshore habitats of Norfolk are sand, mud and gravel. Such substrate supports extensive internationally important ross worm reefs, which in turn provide an important habitat for other species, such as worms, starfish, shrimps and porcelain crabs. 
• One of the most famous residents of the Norfolk seas is the ‘cromer crab’, more commonly known as the edible crab.
• The wash provides an important nursery ground for many species of fish, including plaice, herring and cod, alongside vast beds of cockles and mussels.
• Out at sea, large flocks of common scoter, and other seaducks winter off the coast, attracted by the abundance of tasty molluscs.  
• Encrusting coralline algae, a type of red seaweed, cover the ridges of the Sherringham chalk gullies, while the bottom and sides are cloaked in sponges, seamats, anemones and hydroids. Both squat lobsters and small common lobsters can be found lurking in crevices while, larger holes contain conger eels, waiting for unsuspecting fish to swim by.  
• Wrecks litter the northern areas of Norfolk’s coast, including the World War II submarine HMS Umpire, now a beautiful reef covered in hornwrack, plumose anemones, dahlia anemones, burrowing anemones, dead man’s fingers (a soft coral), sponges and light bulb sea squirts. 

Suffolk

• The beautiful Suffolk coastline incorporates both an Area of outstanding Natural Beauty and Heritage Coast status.
• Over 60 miles of low-lying coast comprises crumbling cliffs, shingle beaches and coastal lagoons, all rich in wildlife.
• Offshore, extensive sandy plains are a home to huge beds of striped venus clams, burrowing brittle stars and heart urchins, also known as sea potatoes.
• Vast sandy plains are punctuated by shipwrecks, forming colourful artificial reefs cloaked in sponges, anemones and hydroids.
• The open water of the Suffolk coast is home to commercially important species such as cod and herring, while sole and plaice hug the seafloor.