Education and Marine Biology Club Update

July saw lots of excitement when a letter from our hero Sir David Attenborough arrived towards the end of the month. Our Marine Biology Club wrote to him and received a beautifully handwritten response!  They told him how much they enjoyed the Oceans documentary and requested that they could use some of the footage to make their own video showing the consequences of trawling.

He’s responded, “Dear Members of the Marine Biology Club, thank you for your letter. I’m so glad you thought well of my programme. You are, of course, free to edit & show any programme of mine as you wish. – unless, of course, you charged people for the showing it them. I hope your audiences enjoy it, however you edit it. Best wishes, David Attenborough.”

If you haven’t watched ‘Ocean by David Attenborough’ already, it’s definitely worth a watch. It’s extremely powerful and highlights a never-before-seen view of trawling, which is both horrifying and hopeful.

Marine Biology Club ended for the summer with our last session spent finishing off their letter to David Attenborough. Not even a week after sending their letter, we received his response, which will be a very exciting thing for them to return to in September!

We had a busy final week of term time with 5 school visits before the summer holidays, showing children our local marine life in the aquarium and artefacts in the yellow submarine.  Over the summer holidays, we had a further 5 educational groups, as well as seeing the aquarium full of the general public throughout July! More and more people are becoming interested in Pembrokeshire’s marine life, providing a hope for the future of our area.

We expanded our education to a nature talk at Marloes Village Hall on Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, focusing on Pembrokeshire’s big five and their behaviour.  It was great to reach a further afield audience and talk to people of all ages about the incredible biodiversity in Pembrokeshire. We shared fantastic footage of Risso’s Dolphins taken by James Shelton, which were spotted off Strumble Head on the 19th of July, displaying some interesting behaviour.

 Anna, our wonderful Marine Conservation and Education Officer, has gone on sabbatical to Skomer Island and is enjoying frequent surveys of cetaceans, butterflies and reptiles, as well as welcome talks, brush cutting, gull chick ringing and lots of DIY!  We welcomed back Rebecca, who was an intern with us last summer, to cover Anna’s role while she is on leave.