THIS YEAR’S COASTWATCH SURVEYS COME TO A CLOSE IN CO WEXFORD
VOLUNTEERS across the county headed out to local beaches to take part in the annual Coastwatch Ireland survey, which saw groups gather information about the changing environment of the coastlines.
One group took to Curracloe’s Raven Woods beach while another surveyed local beaches in Castletown with the aim of examining 500 metres at a time, for water quality, biodiversity, litter and waste for Coastwatch Ireland.
Following this, the data is used by Coastwatch to feed in to a global CoastWatch survey on the condition of Ireland’s coast.
The survey happens at low tide so that surveyors can record the sea, plant and wildlife, litter, rubbish and any pollution.
To the surprise of both groups, the biggest issue they noticed this time around was erosion.
‘In Castletown we found there was a large amount of erosion on the sand dunes lines, and even at one stage the car park had eroded away. We think someone might have been using the dunes as a horse riding area,’ said Megan Lee.
‘Walking along the beach we found a lot of rubbish, such as electrical wires and beer cans and illegal dumping such as left over camping material and a tire from a car’.
Volenteer Senan O’Reilly said that there was less rubbish in Curraloe, but this is not the case county wide.
‘I was involved in this some years ago but came back again this year and the erosion really stood out. I jog and run on the beach, and just by doing leisure activities on the beach you start noticing these differences all the time.
‘It starts to give you a sense of responsibility and even kinship of the protected area,’ he said.
Megan, who studies science at NUI Galway, said that being a Coastwatch volunteer has been a learning experience.
‘ Through Coastwatch, you learn so much about your local environment and enjoy the views while learning what you can do to help and preserve. A lot of it is about communicating to people what they can do for conservation, as maybe some in the local area don’t realise the damage this is causing.
‘I have a degree and a background in science but I learned so many things I didn’t know before. Seeing the change motivates you to keep going and to educate, it’s such a great experience,’ she said.
Senan agreed with Megan that his motivation comes from Coastwatch.
‘You get this feeling of being a citizen scientist, and that your work is feeding in to something that’s much bigger. The sea, the land and our interaction is going through changes and in a lot of cases it’s linked to man made behaviour. Hopefully raising awareness of this will lead to us taking some countering action,’ he said.
Karin Dubsky of Coastwatch Ireland said that the work done by local groups in gathering data through the annual survey is hugely important.
‘Wexford is consistently one of the most active counties in Ireland at undertaking coastal surveys. There are still areas in which I would like to see a greater level of analysis, especially around the Waterford estuary and at Kilmore Quay’.
CoastWatch also welcomes new volunteers, whether they are individuals, community or school groups and if you are interested please contact k.dubsky@coastwatch.org or visit coastwatch.org.