Our Flowing Ocean Connection

Unexpected wildlife sighting acts as a reminder of just how connected we are to our oceans. Erin McDaid, Head of Communications & Marketing, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

A sighting, by two anglers, of a harbour porpoise in the River Trent at Torksey, on the border between Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire last month, serves as a reminder that nature retains the capacity to surprise as well as to inspire. Whilst we live in a landlocked county, our great river and those that flow into it, provide direct links to the marine wildlife around our shores.

Craig Reading and Matthew Haywood spotted the solo harbour porpoise in the river at Torksey and quite understandably Craig described the experience as a sight he’d never forget. The video captured on the day shows it frolicking in the water before it headed back towards the River Humber and presumably back out to sea.

The story and accompanying video clip caused quite a stir and when asked for comment by the BBC I explained that whilst an exciting and unusual sighting, such reports are not unheard of. I first became aware of porpoises and other marine mammals occasionally venturing well inland via the Trent in the late 1990s. Looking back at the records on nottsmammals.org.uk - a great source of information - it must have been 1997. I had no clue back then that such sightings occurred, but learned that porpoises, which can be up to two metres long and weigh in at around 65 kilos, and seals had indeed been recorded on the lower reaches of the Trent in Nottinghamshire.

I was also surprised to learn that the River Trent is tidal as far as Cromwell Lock, just five or so miles downstream of Newark. Bizarrely I discovered this whilst watching the ‘tide’ rise around my wellies after flood water had started to recede when I was helping rescue sheep from our conservation flock that had become stranded at our Besthorpe reserve many years ago - but that’s a whole different story!

Since the construction of Cromwell Lock and its accompanying weir around 1910, these impenetrable structures have marked the tidal limit of the river, and sporadic reports of marine mammals such as porpoises and seals are all now below Cromwell, but very early records show that a porpoise did once make it as far as Kelham.

This porpoise’s brief but exciting foray inland serves as a perfect reminder that we are connected to our oceans by the Trent and by all our rivers including the Meden, Maun, Idle and Ryton that feed into it and then on out into the Humber Estuary. It is equally a reminder that how we treat our rivers can directly impact the wildlife that relies on them and on the seas around our shores.

The issue of plastic pollution in our oceans was brilliantly brought to public attention back in 2017 by Sir David Attenborough and the team on Blue Planet 2, but the direct connection with how we treat our rivers was really brought home to me in 2020 when flood water deposited a filthy layer of discarded and decaying plastic across large parts of our Attenborough Nature Reserve. It was hugely upsetting to see the reserve’s paths and low lying islands blanketed in everything from cotton bud stems and bottle tops to biros and cigarette lighters. It was immediately clear that much of this plastic had lain hidden for years, possibly decades, either in storm drains, silt beds or quiet backwaters - only to be flushed out by the sheer volume of flood water. As well as recognisable items, there was a layer, up to a foot deep, of twigs and woody debris mixed with millions of tiny fragments, known as micro plastics, of every colour imaginable as well as copious quantities of plastic beads, known as nurdles, used in the manufacture of items such as bottles.

Realising that much of this polluting, pernicious plastic would be permanently embedded in the soils of one of our most protected wildlife sites made me angry and almost feel almost helpless. Whilst we could collect the larger materials including sizeable items such as barrels, bottles and footballs - and many volunteers came to our aid - it was clear we could never hope to clear the tiny fragments which will forever remain, getting smaller and smaller doing untold damage as they decay.

Title Image: The River Trent, Neil France. This image: Harbour porpoise, Niki Clear.

Toad in plastic waste washed in by flood waters. Paul Dyson.

When you consider the sheer volume of plastic deposited at just one nature reserve by one flood, the thought of what else was and continues to be washed down stream and out in sea is almost unbearable. As well as joining calls for improved legislation to protect our rivers and oceans, we must all look at our own behaviour and reduce our reliance of such plastics. We must also make every effort to ensure that any used are disposed of safely and not flushed down the loo or discarded in the street only to add to the polluting flotsam and jetsam in our oceans.

Anyone wishing to discover more about mammal records across the county should visit nottsmammals.org.uk

The short video of the porpoise can be viewed at bbc.co.uk/ news/england/Nottingham

Get Involved

Idle Valley Nature Reserve is situated directly off the A638 North Road just a few minutes from Retford. The centre hosts a welcoming café and shop.

The café and shop are open seven days a week from 10am till 3pm and following the arrival of eight beavers back in November, the first in the county for at least 400 years, the team are offering a range of enclosure tours to enable visitors to learn more about these incredible native mammals and later in the year will also be offering beaver watching sessions.

Directions and details of upcoming events can be found at www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/idle-valley.

Eel at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, Jack Perks.

Helping the marvellous, mysterious eel.

The connection between our local rivers and the wide expanses of ocean that cover two thirds of the surface of our precious planet was underlined a few years ago when a specially designed eel pass was installed between the River idle and Belmoor Lake – the water body immediately adjacent to the visitor facilities - at our Idle Valley Nature Reserve.

Considered one of our most endangered species, the magnificent yet ultimately mysterious eel (Anguilla Anguilla), which can live as long as 100 years, has long suffered through over fishing, persecution and loss of habitat.

Whilst there are still fundamental gaps in our knowledge of their lifecycle it is widely accepted that they are born in the Sargasso Sea and those that reach the UK will have endured a three-year journey. After reaching the UK as transparent elvers, known as glass eels, they inhabit a range of water bodies where they gradually mature, taking on a darker green-brown colour with a distinctive silver underside.

Given their critically endangered status we decided to give them a helping hand at the Idle Valley Nature Reserve and whilst they are known to leave the water and cross land between water bodies we decided to create a special eel pass to make it easier to access the lake. Hopefully eels will mature there for up to 18 years before making the miraculous journey back to the Sargasso Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean, to spawn and start the cycle all over again.

Idle Valley eel pass courtesy of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.