Get Involved in a Local Marine Conservation Project!

Each summer the team at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust runs a series of surveys called Shoresearch, which aim to record and study the marine life of our local shores.
Shoresearch not only helps to increase our overall knowledge and understanding of our local marine environment but also helps to identify and monitor changes that may affect the marine life e.g. climate change, invasive species and local developments.
The surveys are very straightforward and are always carried out at low tide. Working in groups you are taught how to identify and record the marine flora and fauna found.
Volunteers are needed in order to ensure that valuable information is collected and action is taken to help preserve our biodiversity-rich shorelines.


 


Charlotte Goswell one of the parks animal keepers is the volunteer coordinator for the surveys that take place here on the island.
If you would like to volunteer and learn more about your local shore and the marine life it contains then please do get in touch!
For more information including dates please visit the Shoresearch website:
http://www.hwt.org.uk/pages/hampshire-and-isle-of-wight-marine-projects-671-shoresearch-675.html
The next survey on the island is at Freshwater Bay on Tuesday 7th August- so do come along and join us!


Booking is essential so please fill out a booking form and email it to shoresearch@hwt.org.uk to register your interest and we’ll contact you with further details.
 Booking form
Alternatively contact the Marine Officer Amy Dale on Amyd@hwt.org.uk or 01489 774444 to book.

Otter’s 5 Star Lunch at Seaview Wildlife Encounter

Our three Asian Short-Clawed brothers – Frank, Sammy & Dean – were snapped tucking into their lunch yesterday – Rainbow Trout, Lobster, mince-balls,fresh eggs and peanuts in their shells – how’s that for a five star lunch platter?!

  


 


  

  
  Images: Jules Brittan, General Manager

Why not treat yourself or someone you love to a Wildlife Encounter this summer?

One-on-One Wildlife Encounters here at the Park are not just for youngsters!  Close interaction with animals is a treat for all ages!  Go on, treat yourself to an experience of a lifetime!
Today we welcomed Chelsie Beaney as a Keeper for a Day (images below).  At the end of the day Chelsie said it was an absolutely amazing experience – she really loved it!

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Erin Hastings (below) was treated to a Meerkat Encounter by her parents as a surprise 8th birthday present – Erin didn’t know anything about it until she arrived at the Park and I explained it to her! The family are here on holiday this week from Horley near Gatwick airport. 

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This afternoon Anna Hastings (not related to Erin above!) was given a Junior Wildlife Experience as a belated 7th birthday present from her Mum Vicky, whilst the rest of the family were out sailing on the Solent today.  Anna (pictured below) and Vicki both seemed to really enjoy themselves – they said they’d had a really fun afternoon.  (I heard Anna ask her Mum if she could have the same birthday present again next year!)

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FABULOUS QUOTES OF THE WEEK FROM OUR VISITORS BOOK

“ Fantastic day out – loved the layout and personal feel of the place – thank you”
“ What a super place where everyone can interact with the animals.  Love it all.  Tame ducks and wallabies were great. We have been here three times now and always recommend you to friends “
“ I absolutely loved the Wallabies. The whole day was amazing. Thank you for the enjoyable trip”
“ A real treat for my birthday. Very impressed with the complete set-up”
“  I have been coming to the Island for 20 years and never knew this place existed!  It’s brilliant – stunning location and great hands-on experiences with the animals.  Looking forward to my Penguin Encounter this afternoon very very much”
“  My Junior Wildlife Experience was amazing really enjoyed it – thank you”
“  This is the third time I have been to Seaview Wildlife Park and it gets better each time.  Keep up the good work!” P.S. Loved the wallabies they are great!
“  I saw the advert that said if you see one animal experience on the Island make it this one.  How true! Fabulous day out for us all – from 1 to 61.  Many thanks”
“  Thank you for giving us such a fabulous experience with the Meerkats – wonderful”
“  Come here every year and never get bored.  Getting so close to the animals is such an amazing experience .  I’m 22 and this is my favourite place ever!  Will never stop visiting”

Animal Keeper Grace’s trip to Madagascar

I have just returned from a three week trip to north-west Madagascar, spending half the time in the dry forest region of Mahajunga and the rest off the coast at the Marine site, Nosey Be.
My role was a team leader and student assistant for the 16 A-level students who attended the trip from Peter Symonds College, Winchester. The trip was organised by a company called Operation Wallacea who specialise in scientific research expeditions all over the world helping to carry out research on species presence and abundance.
We travelled from the capital city, Antananarivo to the region of Mahajunga in the north west of the island (15 hour jeep journey) . It was extremely dry and around 29C every day. We stayed in a satellite forest camp called Matesdroy which was newly set up as a research station (so no one had previously carried out any research there) so was ground-breaking science!



Whilst we were at Matesdroy camp for 5 days, we discovered a new species of snake (so hot off the press- it is yet to be named!) We also discovered footage from pre-set camera traps that a species of small carnivore was present at the site (that was not previously recorded there) which is very similar to a Civet but lives such an elusive life- we hardly know anything about its ecology.




Just some of the species present at the site that I was lucky enough to see included; Corquels sifaka, Brown lemurs, Mongoose lemurs and nocturnal mouse lemurs as well as an outstanding array of Herpetofauna; including chameleons, iguanas, day geckos and snakes each of so many varieties. The leaf-tailed geckos were a particular favourite.










The bird-life was also very diverse, from the Paradise flycatchers in the forest to a Madagascan Fish Eagle which we were incredibly lucky to spot whilst searching for crocodiles in a nearby lake. Other than simply admiring the wildlife; one of our main research aims was to carry out forest plotting- which we did on a daily basis. This involves measuring the circumference and estimating the height of a plot of trees as well as estimating percentage canopy cover in order to give a good estimate of the amount of carbon present in the forest. The short term plan is to gather as much of this data as possible and present it to the Malagasy government in order for them to buy under the Carbon Credits scheme to protect the forest from being cut down.







Deforestation is a massive problem in Madagascar (as I found out after driving through miles of desert- which was once forest). The deforestation is so vast that it has devastated many populations of rare and endangered species, particularly lemurs and reptiles as they struggle dispersing between remaining fragments of forests. Operation Wallacea also supports the creation of forest corridors to join the remaining fragments of forest together. It would be fantastic if all our hard-work pays off and the site is granted special protection.





The second week was spent doing effectively the same- carrying out species abundance surveys but at a marine site off the west coast on the island of Nosey Be. The island is also quite a popular tourist destination and much of the coral reef ecosystem has been badly degraded (similar to the forest) due to the removal of the protective mangrove habitat for development and over-fishing. Equally the marine life was equally as endemic and fascinating. Highlights from Nosey Be included brightly coloured vibrant Parrot fish and the clown fish hiding out in their anemones homes.







Overall I had a fantastic trip- the whole experience was amazing and it was good to be part of such useful important conservation research which has really opened my eyes (and hopefully many others) to how badly we need to help conserve areas such as Mahajunga and Nosey Be before all their unique endemicity and biodiversity is lost forever.

Another cracker of a day for Wildlife Encounters!

We enjoyed the company of Jessica Williams aged 11 this morning who is on holiday on the Island from Swindon with her Mum and sister Victoria (images of Jessica below). Victoria was a Keeper for a Day with us last year and really loved it, so this time it was her younger sister’s chance to be treated to a Junior Wildlife Experience.

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This afternoon Ally McCarron (aged 8) and brother Ethan (both pictured below) enjoyed a Junior Wildlife Experience.  The McCarron family are having a holiday in Seaview this week from their home in Monaghan, Ireland. 

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It was a special day for Gabrielle Bizet today.  Gabby celebrated her birthday here at the Park along with her family and friends.  Gabby was given the surprise of an Animal Adoption Certificate by the Team – adopting Dean the Otter for the year ahead!  Happy birthday Gabby from all of us!

Watch out here comes the most famous water sports Olympian!

Look out Michael Phelps, Tom Daley and all you other Olympic swimmers and divers – here comes real Penguin Power!  Dippy was seen proudly sporting his gold medal at the Olympic Games earlier today … before re-appearing at Seaview Wildlife Encounter in time for his afternoon feed!