England’s coastline is teeming with marine wildlife, from fish to dolphins, seals to porpoises and there are even a few whales and harmless basking sharks. See the marine creatures tag to find out how to help each individual species.
Don’t let dogs go near jellyfish (even dead ones) on the beach, as they can still sting. If dogs get stung, pull off tentacles with a towel (don’t rub or touch them), clean with sea water, and take straight to the vet.
The best way to help all marine creatures is simply to live a simple zero-waste life. Don’t drop litter and take anything with you. If you smoke, use a personal beach ashtray, and take fishing litter with you. If you eat fish, only buy those labelled sustainably, to avoid ‘by-catch’ (when seals, turtles, whales and dolphins are caught in fishing nets, then left to die). It’s only recent the Scottish government acted to stop the shooting of seals who ate fish (their natural diet).
Noise pollution is harm to marine creatures (mostly from loud boats and military testing). After lockdown, one pod of marine creatures began to attack boats (annoyed at return of noisy fishing boats).
Don’t release balloons or fire lanterns (like 70% of everything that goes up in the air, it lands in the sea). Balloons explode mid-air and fall to the ocean (eaten by turtles, as they resemble jellyfish). And fire lanterns leave behind metal spikes, are fire hazards and get mistaken for coastal flares (putting lifeguard lives at risk). Kites can slice off bird wings or entangle (if you use them, choose ones with biodegradable string, but don’t use at dawn or dusk, when birds more likely flying)
Read tips to be a greener boater (including taking a course to be a wildlife-friendly boater). Jetskis harm marine creatures worldwide (including manatees in Florida and the Caribbean). If you are using one, always follow local manatee boating codes.
Found Injured or Abandoned Marine Creatures?
Call British Marine Life Rescue (RSPCA or Coastguard can put you through). Follow advice given (seal pups can drown if put back in the sea, and never cover a whale’s blowhole as this could stop it breathing). You may be asked to cover creatures with wet towels (or hose with buckets of water, until help arrives).
Get together with friends to take a Marine Mammal Medic Course. You will then be called out to help in emergency situations, for your local area.
The Main Hazards to Marine Wildlife
Marine wildlife in our seas are at risk from many threats. Here is a list of the main ones, and how to help prevent them to make a difference, both here and if on holiday abroad.
- Infections – there is not a lot we can do about this, but many seals on the East of England coast have died due to Phocine Distemper Virus, along with secondary infections like pneomonia.
- Navigational Errors – many sperm whales go the wrong way and land in the North Sea, instead of the Atlantic Ocean. This is not good as the shallow sea on the East Coast has no food for them, so they end up stranding on beaches across Europe. This is what happened to that whale you may remember ended up swimming the River Thames. Noise pollution that affects navigation is thought to be the main culprit. Usually caused by boats, military or jetskis.
- Bycatch – millions of marine creatures die in fishing nets and trawls, meant to catch fish. Even if they are released, often they are so injured they die later on. Some say up to 4% of creatures could be entangled in fishing gear. So if you eat fish, always look for sustainable brands free from using gear that could also by-catch other creatures.
- Plastic waste – most is tiny, invisible to the human eye. Not just avoiding plastic bottles and bags, but also choose natural fabrics like organic cotton, linen or hemp over ones made from recycled plastic (or at least wash synthetic fibres in a microplastic catch bag). Likewise, keep the use of recycled plastic sunglasses and flops etc to the garden, as if they dropped into the sea, bits of plastic also would break off. This then gets accidentally ingested by marine creatures, who can sometimes die.
- Use natural beauty, cleaning and sun care products, which are unscented or use with real essential oils, to ensure they don’t cause algae bloom when washed down the sink, which chokes oyxgen out of the water and harms marine wildlife. Choose sunscreens that are nano-friendly (wash skin before letting pets lick you, as most contain pet-toxic zinc oxide or titanium oxide).
- Human disturbance is a big problem, including boats. In the US, manatees have special boating codes to ensure that the jetskis and boats are turned off to protect them and keep away from areas. If you live near seals, keep dogs away (many mothers hide their pups in sand dunes and will give a nasty bite if disturbed). Never play frisbee near seals as they can get stuck around necks, and call British Divers Marine Life Rescue if finding orphaned or injured wildlife (the coastguard or RSPCA can put you through). Many well-meaning people try to help but don’t unless you have expert advice. For instance, returning a seal pup to sea could mean it drowns, and you should never cover a whale’s blowhole (like our nostrils). Never touch or try to make dolphins ride along boats etc – they should do this of their own accord, not because they are coerced. Swimming with dolphins is also not good (these wild creatures can kill sea lions, and it could be dangerous if the creature was spooked by a child).
- Noise pollution – from people making too much noise at the beach to military testing to boats, all can disturb wildlife and affect navigation. After COVID, one pod of marine creatures began ramming a boat. Experts think it’s because they returned to take more fish than was needed, and they were annoyed at the returning noise, after a nice period of peace.
- The same is true of cetacean populations. Whales and dolphins are often harassed by boats, jetskis and the like if they approach a shore close to human activity. While some dolphin species will approach boats to ‘bow ride’ this should always be initiated by the animals, not the boat.
- Don’t eat dodgy foods. From octopus (often eaten alive) to crustaceans who are often put in tanks alive to shark fin soup (made by cutting off the fins and throwing the creature back in the sea to die). Apart from sustainable fish if you eat it, leave all other foods off the menu.
- Don’t drop litter. It all ends up going down storm drains and into the sea. So from cigarettes to glass to plastic to not flushing anything down the toilet bar toilet paper, make sure you clean up every mess you make.
- Pair trawling in southwest England has a higher rate of catching crabs and lobsters (by catch) than other areas. Some versions are banned by law.
- Each year, plastic ingestion kills 100,000 marine creatures (including turtles and fish) and 1 million seabirds. Other animals get trapped in plastic or in other waste like fishing lines and ropes.
- Don’t wash cars on your drive or in supermarket car washes. Both leave oily untreated water to go down storm drains and into the sea. Wash at a professional car wash that recycles the water, or use a waterless car wash.
