Tuesday 15 October 2013

Coastwatch 2013


The Coastwatch Survey effort this year has been a huge improvement over last year, with upwards of 50 survey units completed thus far (25km of coastline), and still a few days to go!  Coastwatch Europe and Tralee Bay Wetlands would like to thank everyone involved this year for their time and effort, from primary school classes all the way through to their grandparents!


The good news is that the coastline of Kerry seems to be in pretty good shape, with low levels of litter or nasty inflows found across the survey, with the exception of a few areas (the inner end of Tralee Bay around Blennerville unfortunately gets a helping of flotsam with every tide).  Similarly, with the exception of some areas where Spartina is encroaching, there does not seem to be a huge issue with invasive species in the surveyed units.


Some treasures were found as well, such as these beautiful Sabellaria reefs (see attached photos) and the huge expanses of Zostera noltii found around Tralee Bay and Castlemaine harbour that provide such an important food source for migrant waterfowl.

While the survey officially finishes on the 15th, Coastwatch will accept results up until the end of the week, so there’s still time to get a last bit of Coastwatching done!
Even if you don’t get a chance to go out, but you know of an issue with the coastline near you, such as dumping or pollution, we would love to know about it, so please contact us at iwtkerry@gmail.com with any information you have. 

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