National Marine Week 2022

Did you know that 24th of July – 8th of August is National Marine Week?

We know technically it’s longer than a week but it’s set over this time period to take advantage of the tides. It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate all the amazing wildlife that the Great British seas are home to. The seas around the UK are home to over half of all our wildlife (that’s more than 30,000 species). They are equally as astounding as anything you will see on a woodland walk and many of them contribute to flood management and water purification and the plants even provide oxygen.

You are never more than a few minutes drive from the coast here on the Isle of Wight and here are some great places to explore and things to see…

Seagrass

Seagrass is hugely important to not only the marine ecosystem but to the oxygen we breathe too. Seagrass meadows remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere around 35 times faster than rainforests. Not only do they provide a rich habitat for shelter, breeding grounds for marine life but also a safe haven for fish to forage for food. This ‘safety-net’ helps to contribute to sustainable fish stocks too.
The root system of seagrass helps to bind the seabed helping to minimise and slow down coastal erosion.

Isle of Wight Seagrass Project – a dedicated team are studying the seagrass meadows around the Island’s coast. They are looking at where seagrass grows now, where it was but doesn’t anymore and hopefully with the data they can understand the seagrass better and help conserve it for future generations.

Seahorses

The unique looking seahorse is quite often thought to inhabit tropical waters but did you know they live right here in the Solent? We actually have two species of seahorse that have been found living off the coast of the Isle of Wight, the long-snouted seahorse and short-snouted seahorse. Both species are found in shallow waters, as seahorses are not great swimmers. Did you know that male seahorses carry their young (fry) in a pouch?

Seals

Have you been lucky enough to see one of the Solent’s resident 40 something harbour seals? Newtown Creek is always a favourite spot to catch a glimpse of those round black eyes breaching the surface of the water. Paddle boarders and scuba divers regularly take videos of these curious creatures swimming alongside them

Did you know that canines share a lot of similar characteristics with seals (no we’re not joking)? Their whiskery faces and friendly eyes make them think of our four-legged companions. Seals are described as Caniformes (which means “dog-like”), they come from the same suborder of Carnivorans (whereas cats are Feliformes).

Dolphins/Porpoise

Another favourite to spot when looking at to see had to be bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises which seem to be more regularly swimming on our waters. Many sailors, kayakers and fishermen have captured some fantastic footage of pods swimming along with them. There’s nothing quite like sitting on the desk at The Spyglass Inn, Ventnor, looking out over the English Channel and seeing a pod of dolphins bob by.

Shark

Don’t think ‘Jaws’, but you wouldn’t think of the Isle of Wight when thinking of shark spotting, but it has been named as the fourth best place in Britain to do so. Due to sea temperatures rising, migration patterns for sharks are changing and the chance of seeing relatively new species to our waters is increasingly likely.

The thresher shark is one of the Solent’s most magnificent visitors. They use their mighty fin to whip, stun and kill their prey (usually smaller fish such as shoals of mackerel). Don’t worry, they are found in deeper waters and are no threat to people.