WILDLIFE AWARENESS WEEK

This month is The Green Blue’s Boating Wildlife Awareness Week, which gives boaters the opportunity to learn more about best practice around wildlife and how best to protect it.

Setting off for an afternoon powering across the water on a motorboat or setting sail to navigate along a new stretch of coast, is a great way to enjoy the outdoors whilst gaining access to otherwise unreachable areas. There are always a plethora of animal sights and sounds to enjoy along the coast and being able to witness wildlife carrying out their daily lives is a rare treat that many of us boaters may take for granted.

Be prepared There are many ways that you can boat responsibly around wildlife and the presence of boats does not have to result in a disturbance to local animals. If you are exploring a new area of water, remember to research the wildlife that you may see before setting off. Learning about an animal’s behavioural habits, including feeding and resting locations and the times of the day that they undertake these activities, will not only help you to react better if you encounter them, but it will also make your trip more interesting.

Always keep a watch for upcoming wildlife, using binoculars allows you the chance to sight animals early on, and react accordingly. Maintaining a distance of at least 300ft away from wildlife wherever possible will help to minimise any unintended collisions and disturbance from the boat. Remember to never travel through a raft of birds or a group of animals, such as dolphins.

Good boat maintenance can also lower your impact, maintaining a well-balanced and clean propeller will cause less sediment disturbance when travelling and will reduce your boat’s effect on the unseen underwater environment. It is also worth remembering that a clean propeller can increase the fuel effi ciency of your boat.

Lowering your disturbance The wake or wash caused by a boat can also be a big disturbance to wildlife on the water. Sensible use of throttle on a powerboat or RIB, and good boat handling skills, can signifi cantly reduce the wash of a boat as well as improve fuel effi ciency. Installing an electric engine would also minimise noise as well as vibrations.

The hull design of your vessel should also be considered. This can have a major infl uence on the level of wash which is produced: short full bows give higher waves, while longer and fi ner bows can reduce wash.

Another recommendation for reducing the impact of wash is to lower the speed of your boat. Keeping to designated speed limits, such as 4 knots when close to shorelines and banks, will minimise disturbance to wildlife as well as the subsequent erosion of coastal habitats.

The Atlantic puffi n is the only puffi n native to the Atlantic Ocean

If you are able to maintain a slow and consistent course when travelling, this will lower your unpredictability for nearby animals. This will then reduce their level of perceived threat and you may even be able to view the animal for longer.

However, let any wildlife encounter be on their terms and never try to follow wildlife or get caught between a mother and its young. Approaching wildlife from behind should also be avoided as this can similarly be perceived as aggressive and predatory, therefore causing them unnecessary stress.

Consuming unsuitable food outside of an animal’s normal diet could cause them upset and could endanger their health. Boaters should not be tempted to entice animals nearer to the boat by using food as bait.

If this occurs on a regular basis, it could also affect an animal’s feeding habits as they become dependent on boaters supplying a food source. There is also a threat that an animal may then lose their natural instinct of avoiding human interaction and, like seagulls at many beaches, could instead fl ock towards boats instead. Wildlife protection legislation Most of the marine wildlife you will see around the UK are protected species, and this includes sea birds, porpoises, seahorses and many more. Whether you are in a Marine Protected Area or not, it is worth noting the legislation that protects wildlife in the UK. This includes the Marine Acts, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Habitats regulations.

Offences might be summarised as intentionally killing, injuring or taking a protected species, without lawful excuse; and intentionally or recklessly destroying, damaging or obstructing a protected species’ place of shelter or protection, or disturbing a protected species while within it, without lawful excuse.

Returning to shore We share the water with an amazing variety of marine life that often depend on the waterways as a safe place to feed and raise their young. At the end of your day on the water, remember to try to go ashore using recognised landing places to reduce risk to nesting birds on the shore and damaging shallow water habitats beneath foot, hull or trailer wheels. Making small and gradual changes to how you travel on the water can have a real, signifi cant impact on the surrounding wildlife and their habitats.

Join in the conversation This month, 20 - 24 June, is The Green Blue’s Boating Wildlife Awareness Week, a chance for boaters to learn more about best practice when experiencing wildlife out on the water and how to best protect it too.

The Green Blue, the joint environmental awareness programme between the Royal Yachting Association and British Marine, will be sharing guidance and information throughout the week across their website and social media channels.

To join them in raising awareness, or to fi nd out more about boating safely around wildlife, follow The Green Blue on Facebook, Twitter: @TheGreenBlue and Instagram: @the_green_blue and use the hashtag: #BoatingWildlifeAware.

You can also visit The Green Blue website at www.thegreenblue. org.uk where you can fi nd further information, guidance videos and downloadable resources.

“Most of the marine wildlife you will see around the UK are protected species.”

Take the time to enjoy the wildlife around you

Sensible use of throttle can signifi cantly reduce the wash