July 23, 2024 - 1153 views
The Irish Sea separates the English, Irish, Northern Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Manx from each other but it also connects us all. A festival of nature is bringing everyone together in celebration of the Irish Sea. The 27th of July marks the first ever Irish Sea Day, where a joyous chain of events will surround the 17,763 square miles of water to celebrate its wildlife and the communities that live and work around it.
A total of 10 Wildlife Trusts and other conservation groups in six countries will hold separate events, so wherever you go you can join the party.
Wildlife Trusts from Cheshire, Cumbria, Ireland, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Northern Ireland, North Wales, Scotland, South and West Wales and Wales will be creating events along with the Sustainable Water Network, the Irish Wildlife Trust and the Northern Ireland Marine Task Force.
These organisations make up the Irish Sea Network, which for the last 5 years, has been bringing awareness to the Irish Sea’s wildlife and the need for stronger protection as the impacts of rapidly expanding human activities continue.
All the Irish Sea Day events are free, community events, and everyone is welcome to attend.
With a huge variety of marine-themed activities taking place. At all events, visitors will be able to put their hopes and wishes for the protection of the Irish Sea onto decorative paper fish to create a school of “wish fish” to be used to lobby for more protection for wildlife.
The Our Dee Estuary project, hosted by Cheshire Wildlife Trust, will run three events along the estuary, including a water and wildlife event in Chester, a day of talks about the history and heritage of the Dee Estuary at Flint Castle and a beach clean at Talacre beach.
In Half Moon Bay, Heysham, Lancashire Wildlife Trust will hold a fancy dress parade and discuss responsible dog ownership with dog walkers, while others seek wildlife in rock pools.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust will have its festival of the sea at St Bees, where there will be the annual beached art sand sculpture competition, a sand mandala, theatre performances, rockpooling, arts and crafts and more.
There will be virtual reality undersea experiences on the Isle of Man, as well as seal pebble art and life-sized basking shark modelling!
In Wales, there will be a seagrass themed area at the Holyhead Festival and will take part in the festival parade. There will also be a Marine BioBlitz in Cardigan Bay.
A joint event run by Shifting Tides, SeasearchNI, Ulster Wildlife, Irish Wildlife Trust, RSPB and SWAN will take place at beautiful Carlingford Lough, linking Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, raising awareness of the issues facing the famous stretch of water.
A Scottish festival will take place on August 5 to coincide with the Port William Gala week, activities will include snorkelling if conditions are suitable.
Hannah Phillips from Our Dee Estuary at Cheshire Wildlife Trust said: “Our seas are one of the main things that unite us as different nations around the world, here on the Dee Estuary we are blessed to be a part of the Irish Sea Network. With this comes an acknowledgement of the responsibility that we all have towards this special and biodiverse habitat which we know is subject to so many threats.
“We also know that it is not too late to save much of the wildlife in our seas. It is all about raising the profile of nature in the Irish Sea and around the coast, so Irish Sea Day will help us to engage with thousands of people.
“From cockles to grey seals, harbour porpoise to wading birds, we ask communities around the Dee Estuary and whole Irish sea day to join us and celebrate this amazing place and work together to protect it.”
Irish Sea Day will also give visitors an insight into how they can make a difference, by taking litter home with them or stopping their dogs chasing birds away from coastal feeding and breeding areas. Importantly the festival all around the Irish Sea is about having fun and celebrating the incredible marine wildlife on our doorstep.
