Water's Edge Experience
On Saturday 21 July, 2007 Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park
organised a Family Fun Day in Ardentinny to raise awareness about sea
life conservation in the Cowal area.
There were several activities for the kids such as guessing the number
of turtle eggs; carving a dolphin; cleaning up beach litter with
equipment provided by the GRAB Trust; observing sea creatures; and story
telling.
There was also useful information from Scottish Natural Heritage on conserving Scotland's water voles
whose population has almost been decimated by imported mink. There were
strong messages about beach cleaning and participating in the Marine
Conservation Society's Beachwatch
where litter is recorded at each beach
clean and the statistics then provide compelling evidence to government
and industry on the need for preventative action. The Marine
Conservation Society also runs projects such as Basking Shark Watch and
Turtle Watch and a jellyfish survey to help pinpoint where the turtles
are. Anne Saunders, their Scottish Projects Officer, is available to
give talks and presentations on their work. She can be contacted by
emailing anne.saunders@mcsuk.org. One of the MSC's most useful leaflets
was their Pocket Good Fish Guide which encourages the purchase of only
eco-friendly fish.
There were also exhibits by the Professional Diving Academy (Sandbank), RSPB Scotland,
fly-tying demonstrations from Dunoon and District Angling Club and the Coastguard, while Actual Reality laid
on free boat trips on Loch Long.