Marine Conservation areas at Deal and Dover under assessment

 

Marine Conservation Society has flagged up that the Government is assessing two local areas off our coast as Marine Protection Areas.

9 Dover to Deal
10 Dover to Folkestone

For more details please see the MCS site here

Deal Beach Clean 16th Jan

A big thank you to the 30 volunteers who came to our first Beach Clean of 2015. 

In little over an hour we collected some 21 bags of rubbish weighing 91kgs.

There was lot of fishing line found today. We know from experience that has caused the deaths of several sea birds and seals in the last few years.

The next  MCS clean will be on the 29th March. We have had feedback that the Sandown end of the beach is bad at the moment - so we will look at either a pop-up clean down there before or have the 29th down there.

Great British Beach Clean in Deal 21st Sept

Very strong winds and a high tide today but this did not dent the enthusiasm of our 34 volunteers out this morning as Deal's part of the Great British Beach Clean.

We collected 20 bags of rubbish weighing 42.5Kg.

Plus:

• 1 lobster pot weighing 16Kg
• 1 metal pole weighing 20Kg (still trying to work out what it is - any ideas welcome!)
• 2 x pieces of wood weighing 1.7Kg

That is a staggering 80kgs - a definate record for us.

Ideas?

A Massive thank you to our wonderful volunteers and also to Deal Beach Warden, Wendy Boorman for keeping us in order and doing all the collation work for the MCS.

beachclean@dealwithit.org.uk

Deal Beach Clean 1st August

On the Deal Beach Clean today, this time down at the Sandown end of the beach,  our 24 volunteers managed to collect a massive 16 sacks of rubbish weighing 58.2kgs in about 1 and half hours.

A lot of anglers discarded  fishing line was found as well as the usual random mixture.

 At start of the beach clean we were accompanied by one of the local Seals

A big thank you to all our great volunteers and to Wendy our beach warden who will be collating all the data we recorded for the Marine Conservation Society

Do you know long that drinks can takes to decompose on the beach ?

Well would you believe up to 200 years ....

Our next beach clean of Deal Beach is this coming Sunday 3rd August at 9am meet at Sandown Castle end of the beach (North End)

Deal Beach Clean 4th May

We had a great turnout this morning with some 25 enthusiastic beach cleaners decending on Deal Beach

In little over an hour they collected some 11 bags with over 36kgs of rubbish.

Disappointingly, We found a lot of nylon cable ties on the beach on the Royal Hotel side which appear to come from the Environmental Agency works on that side of beach. We will be going back to them next week.

A big thank you to all our beach cleaners and to Wendy & Sue for organising.

We are looking a date for a clean of the area around the Sandown Castle end of the beach in the summer


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Next Deal beach clean is on Sunday 16th @ 9am Deal Pier

Deal With It's next Deal Beach Clean will be on Sunday 16th Feb @ 9am starting from Deal Pier. 

We do the beach clean's was part of the Marine Conservation Society's work to monitor on how rubblish impacts on our coastline.

We supply bags, pickup tools and gloves - please wear waterproof and warm clothing as conditions on the beach can be cold & wet. Beach clean last 1-2hrs depending on conditions and numbers.

Deal Beach Clean 27th Oct

Despite the dire warnings for later today - it was really nice on Deal Beach this morning. 

Our 18 volunteers managed to collect 41kgs of rubbish from the beach in little over an hour.

Our youngest member found the heavist item - a sizeable piece of lead piping.

Our next Beach Clean will be in Feb 2014 - if you want to stay informed of this or other Deal With It activity please send you email address to info@dealwithit.org.uk and we will add you to our monthly email newsletter.

A big thank you to Wendy and Sue for organising and all our volunteers who came this morning

Next Deal Beach Clean is Sunday 8th May

The next Deal Beach Clean is on Sunday 8th May. Meet at 9am at the entrance to Deal Pier.

This Beach Clean is organised by Deal With It and the Marine Conservation Society.

All welcome - equipment supplied.

First beach clean of January 2011

On a January Sunday morning, with a bitter NE wind, a harden crew of 17 from Deal With It completed the first Deal beach clean of 2011.

In just over an hour we managed to pick up and log over 130kgs of rubbish from the beach.

Deal Beach Warden, Wendy Boorman said "It was a great turnout for such a cold day. We picked up a record amount in such a short time. The information we collate from the beach cleans is invaluable to the work of Marine Conservation Society which campaigns to keep our coasts clean and healthy."

The next clean will be on Sunday 24th April.

Well done all!

Deal Beach Clean - Sunday 26th Sept

About 40 people braved this cold, wet Sunday morning to enjoy a lovely breakfast of egg or bacon rolls, tea or coffee courtesy of the Co-operative Group and Jasin's Restaurant at the end of the pier. Thus fortified, they set off to remove 110kg of litter from Deal Beach in just one and a half hours.

Several organisations were represented, including 'Deal With It', Rotary Club of Deal and the Marine Conservation Society.

At noon, the group gathered at the Landmark Centre in the High St. to watch a short film and talk about the 'You Seas, Your Voice' campaign supported jointly by the Co-op and the Marine Conservation Society, which was followed by a light lunch

Government announces 15 new Marine Protection Areas

Marine Conservation Society welcomes new UK Marine Protected Areas but  urges  Government not to lose site of deadline for a wider network  

 
Following the Government announcement on 20th August 2010 of the designation of fifteen new Marine Protected Areas around the UK coast, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS)  says it’s delighted at the move but believes further protection is still necessary if the seas are to be given a chance to fully recover after decades of mis-use and bad management.
 
The latest protected sites, including Land’s End and Cape Bank, Lyme Bay and Torbay as well as Lizard Point and Margate and Long Sands, have been selected  on the best scientific evidence available and will mean protection to habitats like reefs, sea caves and sandbanks where marine life thrives.
 
MCS Senior Policy Officer, Melissa Moore says she welcomes the new designation: “These are an important step by the Government towards their commitment to produce a full network of Marine Protected Areas by 2012, a deadline that the UK must not let slip to 2016, as is being discussed by Ministers at the North-East Atlantic Environment Summit in Bergen next month.”
 
“ 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity and an opportunity to firm up commitments to conserving our seas, not detract from them. Government must also ensure such sites have strong conservation objectives of recovery where damaging fishing and extractive industries are halted, otherwise they will just be ‘paper parks’. It has taken sixteen years since the EU Habitats & Species Directive came into force in 1994 to designate these sites, so let’s now make the wait worthwhile for marine wildlife.”
 
The Marine Conservation Society  is running an online voting website to allow the public to have their say on where Marine Protected Areas should be. MCS has selected 73 sites around the UK coasts chosen to protect rare and threatened species and habitats from over 20 years of dive surveys by volunteer divers.
 
“We’re the only voice for the public in this process.” said Melissa Moore “We would urge them to visit our website www.yourseasyourvoice.comand vote either for or against our proposed sites or suggest areas they think should be protected. There is so much to lose if we don’t protect our seas.”

Kingsdown Butts - Marine 'National Park' ?

A set of reefs built by humble worms off Kingsdown could be one of the New Marine Protected Areas - a 'Marine National Park' - but only if you support it.

The nearly 3sq km site just off Oldstairs bay at Kingsdown and running towards St Margarets is known as Kingsdown Butts. It is one of 73 sites the Marine Conservation Society has put forward as a possible 'Marine Protected Area'.

These 'Marine National Parks' are being setup by 2012 after the passing the Marine Bills in Scotland & the UK.  Currently on 1% of the UK Seas are protected - the Marine Protected Areas have come after a long campaign by the MCS to protect the bio-diversity & habitats of our amazing coast.

As part of their Your Seas, Your Voice campaign they are asking to vote online so we can influence the Government's priorisation of the sites.

You can Vote for Kingsdown Butts here

Kingsdown Butts

Ross worms build their own tubular homes out of tiny bits of shell or sand.When thousands of worms build in the same area they can create a rich reef habitat. This reef is teeming with life including fish, starfish, mussels, sponges and anemones.

Observations on use

Damage to the ross worm reef suggests that there could be some trawling in this area.

What difference would protection make?

Complete protection for this site could help protect the seabed and the sea life that relies on this important habitat for food and shelter.

Beach Clean on Deal beach 14th August

Today's Beach Clean went ahead despite the showers with volunteers from Deal With It, MCS and local Rotary Club

As well as 'cleaning' the rubbish from the beach the group also logs what rubbish is found for the Marine Conservation Society.  

Wendy Boorman  Beach Warden for Deal beach said "it was a great turnout but it is always disappointing to see how much there is to pick up - especially the plastics which are so toxic to marine life"

The next Beach clean for Deal Beach is on Sunday 26th September  9:30-2pm and is being jointly organised by the Co-op as part of their 'Your Seas, Your Voice' Campaign. There will be an educational film from the MCS plus a breakfast/lunch. Please contact the Coop for this specific event at 0800 015 1147 or email membership.southeast@co-operative.coop

Wendy organises the Cleans throughtout the year for the MCS & Deal With It and can be contacted at andarta12@hotmail.com

Beach Clean on Deal beach 14th August

Deal With It are supporting the Marine Conservation Society's 'Beach Clean' of Deal Beach on Saturday 14th August. 

Meet up at the front of Deal Pier between 8:30am to 9am. Equipment supplied

More info on the MCS's work see http://www.mcsuk.org/

Beachwatch at Kingsdown

Volunteers from Sea France & Kingsdown recently cleared 37 sacks of rubbish from Kingsdown Beach. Working as part of Marine Conservation Society's BeachWatch programme which  clears beaches around the UK and raises awareness of the damage that litter, especially plastics which never biodegrade, can do to our marine life. .... Watch this space as we will be organising an Deal With IT session soon.


Full story at http://www.yourdeal-sandwich.co.uk/ 

Follow the work of the MCS here:  http://www.mcsuk.org/