I’ve often wondered why being near the sea is so captivating. In all the years i’ve lived in Norfolk and holidayed sporadically along the coastline of the UK, the sea has always drawn me in. When the winds blow in from the North Sea and you’re stood on the Norfolk Coast, wrapped up in your jacket and hat, fingers freezing and cheeks biting, you sometimes feel like the only person in the world. Not in a lonely way though, I always take a lot of comfort from being by the sea. Something about it’s rhythm and ability to turn from roaring waves into seductive laps of water in a moment .
But more and more, i’m noticing just how vulnerable our sea is becoming. It’s strength and magnificence is giving in to a creeping doubt. Doubt about the future of our sea and the life which relies upon it.
There is a lot about the sea we don’t know. Programmes like BBC’s Blue Planet will offer us a small snapshot of the marine life, but it’s not the whole blockbuster. There are some unique creatures living by the sea, from quirky molluscs to elegant sea birds. You only need to explore the shore lines of East Anglia to witness the beautiful gannets plummeting towards the water for their dinner catch, the majestic terns looking after their young or the red-throated divers, discovered recently along our coast-line in such numbers they’ve been highlighted as internationally important.
But there are some significant threats facing our sea life. The sad reality is that we have very little accessible data about where sea birds forage for food, whether they breed successfully and where their food supplies are. This short-fall of accurate information would offer a vital missing piece in the jigsaw of proposed development off our shores. Off-shore wind farms, if planned properly and given the correct environmental guidelines can be effective. However, unless the government offers our birds at sea the correct level of protection, development at sea, along with other factors could put their future in serious jeopardy.
The RSPB is urging the government to consider our marine life with the importance that it deserves. Our wild birds are given legal protection on land, but out at sea is a vast, unchartered territory where our sea birds are vulnerable. If conservation measures are cut in the short term for financial reasons, it will have catastrophic impacts on our UK wildlife. Our seas put on a tough facade masking a truly delicate place that needs as much protection and respect as we can offer.
Erica, RSPB Communications Team, East