Last Friday and Saturday we celebrated the Great British Beach Clean and collaborated with The Rock Pool Project to deliver the Coastal Connections event. A fin-tastic day packed with Youth engagement sessions, a Rock Pool Project BioBlitz Battle, along with local organisations within the marine-sphere of whom provided activities and stands within the Mount Batten Centre.
With a total of 241 out of 250 bookable spaces filled and with additional walk-ins, together we invited well over 300 people to learn about Plymouth Sound National Marine park.
Eleanor Goodall (Plymouth Lead, The Rock Pool Project):
“The Coastal Connections BioBlitz was a resounding success, bringing together people from all walks of life to celebrate our local environment. Participants of all ages and experience levels – scientists, students, families, and nature enthusiasts – came together to explore, document, and connect with the incredible biodiversity along our coastline. This collective effort not only deepened our understanding of local ecosystems but also fostered a sense of community and shared responsibility for the environment. For me, it was a powerful and touching reminder that when we join forces, we can accomplish wonderful things for nature… and for each other!”
We began the day by giving the public the opportunity to meet brilliant local organisations all geared towards promoting wildlife and conservation of our environments:
- The Shark Trust
- Paul Naylor Marine Photographer
- The Island Trust
- The Marine Biological Association
- Cuttlefish Conservation
- Ocean Conservation Trust
- Epic Epiphytes
- Devon Moth Group
- Darwin Tree of Life Project
Jack Renwick (Conservation Officer, The Shark Trust):
“It was such a great day. We really enjoying talking to people about how amazing sharks are and letting them know what they can do to help. The event really connected people to the incredible range of wildlife found on our local shores.”
Maya Plass (Head of Engagement, Marine Biological Association):
“It was a great day and we were very happy to be able to recruit new Members which were really well received by the visitors. Thank you for the chance to attend, we had a great day and all your team were super friendly and helpful.”
David Gibbon (Volunteer, Devon Moth Group):
“I very much enjoyed the event and I think everything about went well. My thanks to your volunteers who helped me out. I have no suggestions for improvement and had a fully enthusiastic response from everyone who visited my stand. I would be very happy to attend again next year.”
Dr. Nova Mieszkowska (Marine Biological Association Senior Research Fellow, Darwin Tree of Life Project):
“Thanks for inviting me, it was a fun day and lots of people seemed to have a great time.”
If you would like to get stuck in with events like this one to learn about our marine wildlife or even have a good chat with like-minded people, check out our events page.
The Plymouth Sound National Marine Park Horizons project has been made possible thanks to money raised by National Lottery players with £11.6million of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.