A big thank you to the volunteers who gave up their Sunday morning, to help us clean 2 bags of rubbish from Hengistbury Head as part of the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) Beachwatch project.
Led by our Oceanarium Aquarist, Gary Hicks, the four volunteers collected and recorded the rubbish along a 100 metre stretch of beach. The data will help MCS identify the main sources of litter on Hengistbury Head and keep the issue of the dangers of marine litter high on the local agenda.
The beach litter survey recorded a total of 537 items, with the top five items found on the day identified as food wrappers, string, polystyrene, small bits of plastic, and plastic caps/lids.
Beach litter isn’t just unsightly, it can also be very dangerous to both humans and wildlife. MCS is working towards ensuring local communities right up to UK governments work together to try and stop littering at source. On Hengistbury Head, the main type of litter we found was fishing litter, like fishing line and nets. These are potentially lethal to marine wildlife as they can cause entanglement. Awareness of the issue needs to be raised in the local fishing community, and providing waste reception facilities at ports can offer a sensible alternative, but incentives may need to be introduced before this method is effective.
Plus you can always help, just remember when you are visiting any of our beautiful beaches please remember to take any litter away with you and dispose of it in an appropriate bin or in a suitable manner. Every little bit will help make a difference!
Oliver Buttling, Oceanarium Curator
Our resident octopus, Harry, so named because he carries a scar on his head just like Harry Potter, has remarkably similar talents to the world’s most famous wizard. The eight-armed mystical creature has left visitors feeling intrigued after learning of his skills in defence against the ‘dark arts’, his own ‘invisibility cloak’, an in-built ‘pensieve’ and handiness with a wand. 
