Seas of Plenty
Postcards from the blue

I was sailing up the Humber Estuary towards Grimsby one evening last week. It had been an unsettled, wet and at times windy day so we were glad to be reaching our destination after setting out at 9 am from Wisbech yacht haven. The wind settled, the sea became smooth and the sky cleared to give some evening sunshine. Spurn Head lighthouse was on our starboard shore, big container ships were moored up. A few fishing boats were returning and some passenger ferries going out but we were the only yacht in the estuary. We were sailing with some help from the engine. We had seen a few seals on our passage and another bobbed out of the water, shortly followed by another and another so we turned off the engine and sailed at 1 1/2 knots. In all fifteen seals joined us and played around the boat for about forty minutes. They swam under the boat, raced with us and followed in out slipstream. Each one was very distinctive and they were a mixture of grey and atlantic seals. After a spell underwater they came up snorting and gulping lungfuls of air, and stared us in the eyes before curving back down into the water to perfom more more tricks. It was a delightful end to our voyage. I got the feeling that this was a regular activity of theirs and that they were sometimes rewarded with some fish, sadly we had not managed to catch any. They probably come from the seal sanctuary on the mouth of the Humber and so are fairly used to humans. It was all quite magical.

I have also seen porpoises in hunting in the Straights of Corrivreckan, between Iona and Jura off the West coast of Scotland. This was several years ago on midsummers day. We were sailing through the Straights towards the mainland ( it was a calm evening - they can be dangerous) and the sky was just starting to glow orange. some porpoises started playing around our boat and soon the sea was full of leaping, diving black bodies. Wherever we looked there were porpoises, presumably fishing. They were impossible to count. We just let the boat drift and watched this amazing spectacle, knowing that we were the only people on Earth to be witnessing it as there was not another boat in sight. I shall never forget It.

My impression of how our sea life and seas have changed:

Since I have been sailing I have been more aware of sea life. I sail in the Wash and every time we go out I see hundreds of birds and many species. My best spot was an Arctic Skua, brown and like a giant thrush, dive bombing the terns and trying to steal their fish, a solitary outsider and unwelcome guest.

I think some coastal areas are well protected, we just need to do more for our seas.

Sarah Cardew, Lincolnshire

My fondest memories are as a child taking the tram car to the Pier Head Liverpool then taking the overhead railway the full length of the docks to see the the ships and liners. When I left school, at 15, I went as an apprentice with Walkers Refrigeration which took me onto the docks to repair ships refrigerators. We were called to a whaling factory ship, the smell was terrible, the flencing deck was covered in whale oil and blubber, making it slippery and dangerous. Thank goodness whaling has been abolished by most countries.

Gordon Fox, Merseyside

I was born in 1936 in Waterloo, Liverpool, we were only 5 mins from the River Mersey and my fondest memories as a child was seeing all the big liners and huge oil tankers and cargo ships coming into Liverpool. I can remember the huge whaling factory ships coming into Gladstone dry dock for repairs, they were that big that bows used to hang over the road at Seaforth, I think Gladstone dock was the biggest dry dock in the world at that time, sadly no more.

I also remember a ship being grounded on Waterloo beach, it was totally upright and we went out and could walk underneath it.

A cattle ship from Ireland sank in the river and there were carcasses all over the beach - not a pretty sight.

Also at times you used to get hundreds of jellyfish washed up on the shore, and you could walk along the tide line and it was amazing the stuff that got washed up (no plastic bags then though).

I can recall also that when we had a really high tide the water would come a couple of hundred yards up Gt Georges road and flood the cellar of the Victoria Hotel - we have a seawall and marina there now.

We also had the overhead railway at Liverpool it ran for 13 miles from Seaforth to Dingle and we used to travel on it and see all the ships that were in the docks, a fascinating journey.

You could get ferries from the Pier Head to New Brighton, Llandudno, Isle of Man - only to the Isle of Man now. I still love going on the Mersey ferry for an hours cruise.

I served my apprenticeship at Cammel Lairds the Shipbuilders, one of the biggest employers at that time (all sadly gone) and it was a proud day when a new ship was launched.

I go to Scotland every year for my holidays, and I have been with Sealife Surveys from Tobermory when on holiday with Speyside Wildlife. We had only just left Tobermory when we spotted minke whale and harbour porpoise, and later that day we were drifting off one of the islands having lunch and there were about five basking sharks around the boat, and later that afternoon we had a school of common dolphins under the bows (a marvellous sight).

Ted Stevens, West Lancs 

My impression of how our sea life and seas have changed:

The River Mersey is very much cleaner these days than when I was a child, we used to go swimming in it, and if I knew then what was in it I never would have!

I was watching Trawlermen on the television, and I was amazed to see the waste and the amount of fish that had too be thrown back because of quotas, or being the wrong size.

Liverpool was once a thriving port and although there is still a lot of trade coming in it is mostly container ships.

Ted Stevens, West Lancs

My fondest memory (or memories) of UK marine life, coasts or seas is:

A holiday on jersey, I went for a swim in the sea, the water was warm and clean, the sun was shining and I was able to totally relax. It was my first holiday in 10 years after never giving myself time for a break.
I realised how important the sea is to me. I followed this holiday with a trip to a surfing school in Cornwall and then a trip to the Northumberland coast.

My impression of how our sea life and seas have changed:

There seems to be a lot of rubbish dumped in the sea, and on the dunes. A good developement is the active support of clean seas and beach by The Wildlife Trusts and surfers who are proactive, compared to the majority who, despite living on an island seem to have no connection with the sea and its wildlife.

Michael Tattersall, Lancashire

My husband and I are keen divers and snorkellers, and make the most of living on the coast. Our best experience to date was while we were snorkelling, he heard what he assumed was another snorkeller, turned around to look and realised we had been joined by a curious seal. My husband called my name, I turned and saw this beautiful creature a few feet away. The three of us, in a triangle, were there treading water looking from one to the other, us in shock, it probably wondering what we were doing. It swam around us for a while, moving so fluidly through the water it put us to shame, then swam off - amazing.

Tracy Cook, Dawlish

My fondest memory (or memories) of UK marine life, coasts or seas is:

My husband and I are keen divers and snorkelers, and make the most of living on the coast. Our best experience to date was while we were snorkeling, he heard what he assumed was another snorkeler, turned around to look and realised we had been joined by a curious seal. My husband called my name, I turned and saw this beautiful creature a few feet away. The three of us, in a triangle, were there treading water looking from one to the other, us in shock, it probably wondering what we were doing. It swam around us for a while, moving so fluidly through the water it put us to shame, then swam off - amazing.

Tracy Cook - Devon

A Wildlife Trust rockpool ramble many years ago when my 6 year old son found a rare squat lobster.

Anne-Marie Ellis, Camborne, Cornwall

My impression of how our sea life and seas have changed include: rockpool life is scarcer, fewer cetacean sightings and more people.

Anne-Marie Ellis, Camborne, Cornwall

During July 2007 we were lucky enough to have a family holiday on the Isle of Coll.

Such a beautiful place. During our stay there we stumbled across an Otter, feeding and generally enjoying itself in one of the bays. We watched it for 45 minutes until finally it disappeared from view. Our very first Otter encounter.

During one of our final days before we left the island, we climbed up onto a rocky outcrop above Breachacha Bay and couldn't believe our eyes,
2 basking sharks happily feeding followed by a huge splash made by a Bottlenose Dolphin! Our daughter who was 7 at the time said she was so happy, she could cry (she's always wanted to see a dolphin).

Definitely wildlife experiences we shall never forget.

Juliette Butler, Northants