Seasearch Observer and Nudibranch Courses - June 08
Mention Norfolk and images of large white shrink wrapped clammy turkeys come to mind. However, that was to be my destination for two consecutive weekends, or to be more precise, Sheringham on the Norfolk coast. This was a part of the UK I had never been before and my purpose was to attend the Seasearch Observer course and then the following week a nudibranch specialist weekend. The observer course had been on my ‘to do’ list for some time. I was hoping that it would extend my knowledge of marine life but at the same time not be too technical…. I was not disappointed.
Arriving at the campsite just before it got dark I was not really aware of my surroundings to any great extent, only to conclude it generally seemed a very leafy rural county once I had left Norwich behind. The campsite I used was pretty basic but it’s only somewhere to sleep and as the light fell it was nice to watch the bats flying in and out of the trees at the edge of the field while I cleaned my teeth. Despite rain the next morning and with a start time of 10.00 I went off to do a little exploring and check out the shore dives sites we were meant to be doing on Sunday.
However, one look at the brown churned up sea told me that diving was going to be an unlikely event.
Driving back toward Sheringham I was fascinated by the freshwater marshes that lay for miles parallel to the sea.
Cley Marshes which is a Special Protection Area has an international reputation as being one of the best nature reserves for bird watching. This was certainly confirmed by the number of people I saw with what looked like hundreds of pounds worth of equipment for doing just that.
Originally established in the 1600’s the shingle tidal walls that were erected stopped the ingress of salt water (you can just about make them out in this photo)and created a vast area that became properly managed and in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s was used for wildfowling and as reed marshes. However, with the quantity of shingle dwindling and increasing costs it was decided in 2002 to let the area gradually revert back. Obviously over time this is going to mean a total change in the flora and fauna of this area and I am sure will be watched with fascination by many people.
Leaving the marshes behind I made my way to where the course was taking place. This was in the Youth Hostel in Sheringham. Dawn Watson and Rob Spray were the tutors and it was soon clear that not only were both of them very knowledgeable but both were extremely good photographers. We started off with a general introduction to Seasearch and its purpose and then went on to look at marine life classification and the major groups that marine life is sorted into.
I was astounded at how many of the things I see underwater were actually animals and not plants as I had thought. We also discussed the main habitats and seabed cover types and started to look at how these would be recorded on a Seasearch dive. All of this was delivered with the aid of a fabulous PowerPoint presentation peppered with superb photographs. In order to practise filling in a Seasearch observation form we watched a DVD of a dive and filled in the form as if we were actually doing the dive ourselves. This was an extremely good way to practise and we had the added bonus of being able to rerun it and see what we had missed!
Other areas addressed were recording survey site locations, seabed sketches and diving techniques. In order to complete the formal Seasearch observer qualification you then have to do five dives recording information and filling in the observer forms. Two of these dives need to be done with a Seasearch tutor who can then advise and help with any form filling.
I found it a really good course and although have yet to do my qualifying dives just doing the classroom work has increased my knowledge of marine life enormously.
I would also thoroughly recommend these two books for anyone interested in identifying what you see on your dives. They are produced by Seasearch and are both very user friendly and the photographs are superb. Chris Wood is the National Co-ordinator for Seasearch so these books are very much aimed at divers.
Observer’s Guide to Marine Life of Britain and Ireland – Chris Wood
Seasearch Guide to Sea Anemones and Corals of Britain and Ireland – Chris Wood
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Seasearch Nudibranch Course
Returning to Sheringham the following weekend the weather was much improved. Again we were not starting until ten so I took the opportunity of having a stroll around Weybourne taking photos of the marvellous stone work that most of the houses, walls and just about everything else was built out of.
Although this was a Seasearch course Jim Anderson a specialist in Nudibranchs had come down from Scotland to be our tutor for the weekend.
Most of the first day was given over to looking nudibranchs in general. How they are grouped and classified, their physical appearance and behaviour, how and what they feed on and reproduction. It was a day packed full of information but at an understandable level. Jim Anderson is passionate about nudibranchs and in particular Scottish ones and has an amazing site Scottish Nudibranchs . On the second day as we were once again unable to dive we all got kitted up with buckets and wellies and went off to the nearby West Runton beach which is covered in rock pools at low tide, (apparently the only place for miles which has rock pools).
We then all set off looking for nudibranchs. However, whilst a lot of other things were found not a nudi in sight!
Fortunately Jim had come prepared! Carried all the way from Scotland he had about six nudis that he had been keeping in the fridge in case such a situation occurred, (you can keep them alive this way). Dawn had also been out to the Vera (the wreck we were meant to have been diving) rescued the buoy that had been put on it and also collected some handfuls of vegetation that had been growing on the wreck.
All these things were then put under magnifying glasses and also the two microscopes that Jim and Rob had made available. It was fascinating to see every detail on the smallest of nudibranchs, those that were hardly a centimetre in size. Looking at some of the other creaures that had been lifted with the vegatation that Dawn had bought back from the Vera it was a little unnerving at first when you looked down the eyepiece to see huge alien like black eyes staring back up at you.
Again I felt I learnt a great deal on this weekend and diving a fortnight later I was very pleased to quickly spot some nudibranchs, something I had never been able to do before.
