Get involved and help scientists monitor the impact of climate change on our marine environment
Our seas are changing! The temperature of the coastal waters around Britain has already risen in the 20th Century and scientists predict that the average seawater temperature could rise a further 2oC by the 2050s. This along with a rise in air temperature will have an impact on our rocky shore species: southern species will flourish further north and northern species could disappear from our shores.
The Shore Thing project is an initiative of the Marine Biological Association (MBA). We aim ‘To generate records of marine wildlife by facilitating intertidal biological surveys at sites around the British Isles, and to make the results available to all on the Internet. In addition we aim to raise awareness of marine conservation amongst the participants and the wider community’.
The project builds on a research project led by the MBA called Marine Biodiversity and Climate Change Programme (MarClim). MarClim used historic time series data, from the 1950s onwards, and contemporary data to provide evidence of changes in the abundance, range and population structure of intertidal species and relate these changes to recent rapid climatic warming.
Volunteers from Higher students to members of community groups conduct surveys of their local rocky shore around the UK coast. To date we have over 100 survey sites several of which lie within the VMR. The fieldwork is in two parts: a transect survey of the rocky shore and a 20 minute search for climate change indicators and non-native species. Identification cards for each species with photographs and key features help volunteers to accurately record the abundance of these species. Individuals are not expected to look for all 22 at once but are allocated one or two to make recording easier and more accurate. Once validated the data is made available to the wider community via the National Biodiversity Network. Please go to www.mba.ac.uk/shore_thing for more details about the project and how you can get involved or contact the VMR Ranger.
The MBA are interested in all your marine sightings in particular non-native species. If you would like to have your records archived at the MBA and then made available on NBN please go to http://www.mba.ac.uk/recording/. You will first need to register http://marinesightingsnetwork.org/register.
