Warming Waters, Vanishing Reefs: Protect Marine Ecosystems
When we hear about coral reefs, we often think about huge ones like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. But England has coral reefs too, just as much in need of protection.
Built by the skeletons of tiny animals, coral reefs are a bit like ‘underwater rainforests’ and support a third of marine life on our planet (providing habitats for plants, fish and invertebrates). All are at risk from plastic/oil pollution and temperature shifts, that cause coral bleaching.
Never buy ‘sea sponges’. These are living creatures, cut away by divers with knives.
Coral Reefs You’ll Find in England
Canyons Marine Conservation Zone is just off Devon’s coast. It hosts cold-water corals, sponges, and unique marine life like seahorses. Cold water reefs are also in Scotland.
Near Norfolk, the Cromer Shoal Chalk Beds (the longest chalk reef in the world) stretch along the coast. They support rare sponges, anemones, and small fish. Compared to tropical reefs, English sites grow more slowly.
Norfolk’s Parpal Dumplin’ was discovered in 2011. This rare sea sponge got its name after a recent competition, the winner being a 9-year old who used a Norfolk accent to name it, because ‘the sponge is purple and it looks like a dumpling!’
How To Protect England’s Coral Reefs
Modern life is destroying coral reefs (over-fishing, careless boaters and oil/plastic pollution). So in a nutshell, live a simple sustainable life: Read our posts on:
- Organic gardening and farming
- Sustainable sailing
- Biodegradable beauty
- Biodegradable cleaning
- Biodegradable laundry
- Microplastic catchers (for laundry)
Switch to reef-safe sunscreens (many regular ones contain oxybenzone and octinoxate, which can harm coral even in tiny amounts). Some on sale in the UK are banned in Hawaii, as they pollute waters when washed down sinks.
Zinc oxide (also found in cosmetics, nail polish and some deodorants) is often found in natural sunscreens. This is toxic to pets. So never use human sunscreens on animal friends (and wash off your skin, before letting pets kiss you!
Climate Change is Harming Coral Reefs
Climate change is causing sea temperatures to rise, which lead to coral bleaching. And just like if someone bleached you, it then becomes weak, sick and dies.
Marine wildlife is washing up dead by the thousands. Coral bleaching is the canary in the coal mine for global warming. Yet at this time of historic climate breakdown, the government extends the biggest dirtiest fossil fuel project for another 50 years. It’s criminal. Senator Peter Whish-Whilson, Australian Greens
Paul Gamblin (head of the Australian Marine Conservation Society) says that his country’s coral reefs are ‘a raging underwater bushfire’. One tourist says ‘it was like snorkelling on a corpse, grey and lifeless. You can hear fish munching on the coral – there’s nothing’.
Environmental Lessons from Fiji
Fiji is home to around 333 islands, home to many coral reefs. It only gained independence from British colonial rule in 1970. And since then has created many environmental initiatives, in one of the world’s most beautiful tropical places.
The island has a gruesome history of cannibalism. British missionary Thomas Baker (who travelled to the South Pacific in the 1800s) was killed and eaten along with seven local followers). The remains of his shoes are displayed in a museum.
Apparently, this was because he innocently touched the chief’s head, not realising this was not custom. Even today, Fiji has strong tribal customs. If visiting a village, only the headman wears a hat. Visitors should therefore not wear one (and also dress modestly and remove sunglasses).
Today, Fiji is just as strict at managing tourists. It promotes eco-tourism, and does not allow locals to damage mangroves. And has strict laws on fishing, as most of its over-fishing comes from tourists and ships, not local people fishing for their supper.
Like Fiji, we should treasure our seas and native creatures within it. We could create ocean sanctuaries (the one in Scotland took years of campaigning to pass). Nothing is disturbed or caught (kind of like a ‘Switzerland’ for marine creatures!)
We can instead leave creatures alone, and take part in volunteer beach cleans (to clear plastic, litter and oil). Then native marine creatures, fish and coastal birds have a chance of survival.
Who’s Importing Bottled Water from Fiji?
Some companies import bottled water from Fiji, to sell in swanky restaurants. Sold at astronomical prices. Including by Waitrose and Ocado – what are they thinking?
FIJI water’s artesian aquifer (thousands of miles from the nearest continent) protects the water, as it’s bottled at source and shipped to you. The natural process adds silica, that contributes to a unique soft mouthfeel. Waitrose website
- Fiji water costs £3.20 a litre (plastic bottes)
- Highland spring water is 50p to £1.50 a litre (glass bottles(
- (Safe) UK tap water is 0.3 to 0.5p per litre (no packaging, it’s from your tap!)
In 2025, The Plastic Pollution Coalition filed a lawsuit against one company marketing Fiji water as ‘natural’, as tests found it contained microplastics and BPA (plastic).
This batch tastes weird. I shined the torch from my phone into the FIji water bottles, and I can see dust particulars in them. It tastes like plastic. Ocado Reviewer
Let’s Protect England’s Rare Chalk Streams
We often hear of chalk in England – the white cliffs of Dover, the chalk South Downs and the chalk carvings of horses on ancient hills. But what is it exactly, and how did it form?
Chalk is simply a porous form of white limestone composed of microscopic marine plankton skeletons that have settled over millions of years. It accumulates at roughly the rate of just 1cm every 1000 years, with some chalk forms over 30 million years old.
It’s not the same as classroom chalk (this is gypsum – calcium sulphate). Natural chalk acts as a massive aquifer to store rain and provide drinking water for many cities. Abroad, there are massive chalk deposits in Texas, Arkansas and Nebraska.
Chalk streams in England are unique and some of the world’s rarest habitats (we have around 85% of them worldwide). They have nutrient-rich water fed by chalk aquifers that provide vital ecosystems for brown trout, water voles and water crowfoot.
Most of the 300 or so chalk streams are in England, from the Dorset Downs to the Yorkshire Wolds. They start from springs in chalk aquifers, and are often called ‘England’s rainforests’. Yet many face threats from over-extraction of water, agricultural pollution and loss of habitat.
In history, they were used to power flour mills and used for watercress farming.
The (sometimes green) White Cliffs of Dover
The White Cliffs of Dover are one of England’s most iconic landmarks, which you can see nearly all the way to France (just 21 miles) on a clear day, or from the ferry. The are white due to erosion of fine limestone, but in areas protected from erosion, plants grow on them, so they are green!
Mostly chalk, formed over millions of years from the remains of sea creatures, that settled on the ancient seabed. Pressed together over time, they became layers of soft pale rock. Running through the chalk are bands of flint, which close-up look like black or grey lines.
The cliffs are home to many unique plants and insects (like pyramidal orchids and chalkhill blue butterflies).
Out walking? Follow the Countryside Code to keep all creatures safe. Keep dogs away from steep banks, mushrooms (and other toxic plants/trees) and on leads during nesting season (and near barnyard friends and wild ponies).
At the coast, keep away from nesting birds and never walk on sand dunes. Learn how to keep dogs safe by the seaside (check beach bans before travel).
Stay on marked trails, as chalk edges crumble easily. Wear sturdy shoes and bring a windproof jacket. Keep dogs away from cliffs (The National Trust has tips to keep dogs, livestock and marine creatures safe, if visiting the area with your pooch).
No Bluebirds on the White Cliffs!
Despite the iconic song from forces sweetheart Vera Lynn, there are no bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover. At least none have ever been spotted, though many other birds have!
The tune had an anti-war message, looking forward to a day when there would be peace. Vera’s friend Harry Secombe joked that Churchill did not beat the Nazis – Vera ‘sang them to death!’ She lived to 103, spending her last days in the village of Ditchling, the highest point in East Sussex.
In 2009, feisty Vera took the BNP to court, for using her song on an anti-immigration album, without her permission. She was concerned this would link her name to far-right views. It later transpired that the party had not realised another song was by a black artist, and another by Jewish songwriter Irving Berlin.
Vera lost the case, as the song was by now in the public domain. A spokesman for the BNP said of our national heroine: ‘She can complain, but it’s not going to do her any good’. Charming.
From freshly fallen snow to fluffy clouds, white reminds us of nature’s calm moments. We have several white flowers like daisies, snowdrops and lilies. All are toxic to pets.
