Our lunchtime speaker in Southampton for March is Jacob Keen–Hammerson, UK Project Co-ordinator for the Blue Marine Foundation.

Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) is a charity dedicated to restoring the ocean to health by addressing overfishing, one of the world’s biggest environmental problems. Globally, an estimated 85% of oyster beds and oyster reef habitats have been lost, making them among the most imperilled marine habitats in the world. BLUE is creating a model for restoration of this key habitat by relaying millions of oysters into the Solent, in cages hung in the water beneath pontoons, facilitating the release of millions of larvae. The cages have been shown to provide a refuge for other marine life, with 97 different species having been found living within the cages so far, including critically endangered European eels, juvenile spiny seahorse and sea bass.

For location details and joining instructions, please see our post on 2020 SPS Lunchtime Speakers by taking this link.

I can still remember as a young teenager my amazement when told that there were flowering plants living completely submerged in the sea. Our sea grasses or eelgrasses, Zostera spp, form an important inshore plant community in the Solent and surrounding areas.

There are 3 eelgrass species in British waters and all are considered vulnerable and in need of protection and all live in the Solent. There are large eelgrass beds along the north coast of the Isle of Wight, Langstone, Portsmouth and Chichester Harbours and in Stanswood Bay, near Calshot, intertidal beds are easily seen. Leaves shoot from a creeping rhizome system that binds and stabilises the seabed sediment reducing coastal erosion. Leaves and rhizomes contain air spaces that aid buoyancy.

Eelgrass have separate male and female flowers on the same flower head. It usually flowers in late summer, dispersing threadlike pollen grains into the sea. Z. marina beds develop on firm sand, sometimes mixed sediments and usually grow below the low water spring tidal limit. Patches have been found in the Solent including to the west of Needs Ore, between Newtown and Gurnard Point, and to the east of the mouth of the Medina River on the north coast of the Isle of Wight (Tubbs, 1999).

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust have been running the Solent Seagrass Project to gather information on the extent of seagrass beds in the Solent area.

Zostera beds are species-rich, particularly the subtidal beds of Z. marina. A large number of algal species occur as epiphytes on Zostera leaves (some species are found only in eelgrass beds). Other algae grow amongst the eelgrass or as mats on the sediment surface. Eelgrass offers an attractive and protective habitat for small animals including many crustaceans and fish.

For example, in Solent seagrass beds you can find deep-snouted pipefish, seahorse and fifteen-spined stickleback. There are also plentiful prawns and cuttlefish. When an area has healthy seagrass beds it is almost certain that it will hold plentiful marine life. Zostera spp. is also an important food for wildfowl including the dark‐bellied brent goose and wigeon which feed on intertidal beds.

Although seagrass beds are critically important habitats that support human well-being the extent of the beds throughout the world are declining at a rapid rate. Within British waters the decline in extent and well-being of seagrasses is linked to pollution from industrial effluents and sewage, mechanical disturbance, land reclamation etc. Zostera marina is susceptible to a wasting disease caused by a slime mould. In the 1930s populations were decimated by this disease and some have never fully recovered. Zostera angustifolia and Zostera marina are both affected by nutrient enrichment from nitrates, oil pollution and anti-fouling paints used on boats.

Recent reductions in pollutant discharges have aided seagrass recovery, but we are still introducing large amounts of nitrogen and phosphates into the sea which encourage algal blooms and metabolic imbalance in eelgrasses. Eelgrass beds are not physically robust, and the plants are easily killed or damaged by trampling, digging, dredging, bivalve harvesting or other forms of physical disturbance.

Unfortunately, our direct impacts on the beds during our leisure activities have intensified. The damaging mechanical effects on Zostera marina (Common Eelgrass) seagrass beds in UK waters from recreational boating activities, anchoring and traditional swing mooring scour, have been of continuing concern. There is a clear need to implement good practices to limit these impacts while allowing people to enjoy their boating activities. Eco-moorings, a design that reduces the abrasion pressure of anchoring and mooring on the seabed have been developed and are being tested. However, there has been a limited uptake of eco-moorings to date. Eelgrass beds are a natural feature which we all need to protect and cherish if we are to maintain the rich marine life of the Solent.

Dr. Peter Henderson – SPS

Because of the extensive shipping movements and numerous marinas welcoming boats from overseas, the Solent receives a large number of new species from other parts of the world, often attached to hulls or in ballast water. This has long been the case and many, often termed invasive species, are far from welcome. DNA analysis of water and sediment samples is now being used to detect new members of our aquatic community. Using eDNA Holman et al (2019) report the presence in a marina in Southampton Water of three newly arrived species described below:

Arcuatula senhousia (Asian date mussel) This mussel is a native of the Pacific Ocean from Siberia to Singapore, but has invaded many other regions of the world. It can live in the intertidal or shallow subtidal zones. It grows quickly and lives for only about 2 years. It prefers soft substrates and surrounds its shell in a dense mass of byssus, the beard-like threads mussels use to attach to rocks etc. This species is considered detrimental to seagrass beds which are important in the Solent region (see article in this issue). In fact, shells had been spotted prior to 2018, but the presence of DNA indicates a living population is certainly in the Solent. Readers should look out for this mollusc when walking our beaches. Barfield et al (2018) reported shells of Asian date mussel on Solent beaches.

Cephalothrix simula is a nemertean worm and is an invasive, non-native, ‘highly toxic’, species of ribbon worm. Commonly called the Pacific Death Worm, it has only physically been found in the UK at two sites, one in Cornwall and one in Dorset. Its presence in Southampton Water is only known from eDNA analysis. Do not be concerned by the name this worm currently poses little to no threat to health or the economy.

The third species was Paranais frici an oligochaete worm. The first actual specimens were recently reported from Deptford Creek. It is now probably living in brackish waters within the Solent region.

Plankton has been monitored in Southampton Water for some years and recently noted surprising numbers of two invasive species which would not normally be considered members of the plankton. The first is the North Pacific pycogonid or sea spider, Ammothea hilgendorfi. This species cannot swim so it is surprising that at some times of the year they appear in the water column.

The second is the Japanese skeleton shrimp, Caprella mutica. This is also a non-swimming species which is surprisingly common in the water column possibly when reproducing or dispersing to new habitat. It was first reported in Europe in the Netherlands in 1994 now widely distributed in British waters. These are truly odd-looking animals, the head is at the right of the picture.

ARticle submitted by Dr. Peter Henderson, SPS

AQUIND Interconnector is a new subsea and underground High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electric power transmission link between the South Coast of England and Normandy in France. This proposal sees a new interconnector cable coming ashore at Eastney and being routed via underground trenches through the road system of Portsmouth to a new Converter Station at Lovedean. For further details, please refer to the AQUIND Consultation website.

Following an initial round of consultation in January 2018, AQUIND is now undertaking statutory consultation on its proposals for AQUIND Interconnector between Wednesday 27 February 2019 and Monday 29 April 2019.

The purpose of this consultation is to seek informed feedback on the proposal which may be taken into account as it is further developed prior to the submission of an application for a Development Consent Order that would seek the permissions and powers required to build and operate AQUIND Interconnector in the UK.

The detailed consultation material can be viewed by taking this link. This is a large document (132 pages) which will open in a new browser tab.

Held at the Holiday Inn, Southampton on 11 December 2018. The following is a brief summary of the proceedings at the meeting.

The Chairman, David Sizer, welcomed members and reported that the President, Lord Montagu, who apologised for his absence, had stressed that he was keen to find ways of increasing awareness of the Society, especially among mooring holders and visitors to the Beaulieu river.

The Treasurer, Poh Chye Lim, presented his report and receipts and payments account for the year ended 30 June 2018. The excess of payments over receipts for the year of £3387 did not take account of refunds of tax after the year end. Additional costs were incurred including those in respect of a new computer, software and the website. A further grant was made to Peter Barfield in support of his research project. Total assets of the Society were just over £120000 at the year end.

Lord Montagu, Nicholas de Rothschild and Peter Nicholson were re-elected as President and Vice-Presidents respectively.

Council members, Sarah Fremantle, Bill Pimlott, Poh Chye Lim and Peter Henderson were re-elected and Bobby Payne (former Secretary of the Society) was elected to the Council.

The Chairman’s report had been circulated to members with the other AGM papers:

• The Society has had had a happy and successful year with a change of emphasis to its activities in that more time had been spent on consulting with quasi government and other similar organisations. Council members were thanked for their time spent on these matters.
• There had been a fall in membership but a number of efforts were being made to endeavour to halt this trend.
• As regards developments, focus was on Southampton Water West with Fawley Power Station and ABP’s proposals for Marchwood and Dibden of particular interest to the Society together with New Forest District Council proposals for new houses in the National Park.

There was no other business, the Chairman thanked members for their attendance and the meeting was closed.

The SPS website has been overdue for an update and this month we’re launching a new, simplified look, bringing the development back in house.  We have taken the decision to reduce our website management costs while at the same time we hope to make the site more responsive to topics of interest to our members.

Here are a few of the features of the new site.

New for Autumn 2019. We’ve changed the homepage so that it now shows a number of ’tiles’, small images which highlight particular pages and posts of interest. These provide a quick way of accessing some of the menu items, for example, the ‘Solent Live’, ‘Marine Licensing applications’ and ‘Membership’ pages and most recent articles of interest. To return to the home page at any time, simply click on or touch the SPS logo in the header.

Context sensitive Sidebar menus which appear on the right hand side of the page if you’re looking on a larger screen, or immediately below the page text if you’re using a mobile device.  In fact, it’s worth noting that this new incarnation of the site should react ‘responsively’ to the type of device you’re using.

The Recent Posts sidebar menu displays up to eight recent items, doubling the number previously visible.

At the foot of the home page, a Category Cloud menu gives an indication of the categories of content contained on the site.  Take a look, and select an item to see the relevant content.

On the right hand side of the page footer, a Tag list menu shows a list of ‘tags’ with which certain items of content are indexed.  Select a tag to view relevant content.

Solent Live – All the links to live information relating to harbour movements, shipping, weather and tides can be found at the ‘Solent Live’ option under the ‘The Solent’ menu.

News and Comment – Under ‘Solent Wide News’ you’ll find summaries of items of news from around the region.  For a more focused selection, take one of the options under ‘Regional news’.

Our focus areas – Also under ‘News and Comment’, you’ll find a subset of areas which are of particular interest to SPS. Here you will find, for example, specific notes and documents relating to ‘Planning’ matters, Conservation and ‘Marine licenses’.

Cordgrasses, known scientifically as Spartina Anglica, occupy the lower shore areas of the coast at depths which are regularly covered at high tide. They offer coastal protection and create intertidal land; by trapping sediments they also increase the elevation of these land areas and stabilise sediment, thus aiding in the creation of new saltmarsh areas. Spartina has high productivity and its growth and decay flux large amounts of energy and organic matter through the estuarine ecosystem. It lies at the base of the Solent saltmarsh food web and is a possible food source for many organisms. It creates a characteristic habitat which offers shelter and sustenance to a wide range of shallow water and intertidal animals and plants.

The first appearance of Spartina occurred as a hybridisation in Southampton Water sometime prior to 1870 and it spread rapidly by seed to Lymington and the Isle of Wight by the end of the 19^th century. However, from the mid 20^th century, there has been an almost equally dramatic loss. This erosion generally takes two forms; the erosion of the seaward edge of the marsh as material is washed away and secondly internal destruction of marsh areas by the widening of channel margins.

What sort of future habitat do we want and can we influence future events? If the Solent loses its Spartina saltmarshes, it seems that these areas will not return to the original open mud habitats of the 18^th and 19^th centuries, but the Solent coastline presently protected by saltmarsh will suffer extensive and quite rapid erosion. It is worth considering why the mud flats will not reform. Part of this reason may be that fine sediment is no longer flowing into the Solent in the quantity it once did. It is also possible that dredging, as well as the wash created by boats and shipping wave action may have decreased the tendency for fine silts to settle in the Solent.

As humans, we have an extraordinary ability to alter the natural world and frequently do so in adverse ways. However, when confronted with major ecological events such as Dutch Elm disease and Spartina die-back, it is notable how passive and fatalistic we have all become. This need not be the case and using our science and engineering skills, we can reverse ecological change. There has been considerable debate about the reason for the die-back, one of which is the development of areas of algae created when nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are increased by human effluents. Spartina changes the habitat and in part is self-destructive by reducing sediment permeability. This leads to the conclusion that like almost all organisms, it needs constant new habitat– but without the fine sediments for it to colonise, the question must be asked of those who take actions to stop the flow of sediment down our rivers. Also to those who dredge and remove the sediment thus impacting on mudflat availability. The amount of oil residues found in Solent sediment is considerable and needs to be greatly reduced.

 

Proposed English Coastal Path (South) Making Progress.

The English Coastal Path (South) is part of the proposal by Natural England (NE) to achieve as full a coastal path as possible along the area bordering the Solent. It is part of the coastal path project around the whole of England brought about by the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.

There are seven stretches along the South Coast from Highcliffe to Shoreham including the Isle of Wight, each of which is progressing at different speeds.

There are 5 stages to the process, Stage 4 being the one in which the inspector makes recommendations to the Secretary of State and on which the public, including The Solent Protection Society (SPS), can comment.  Stage 1 is an information gathering stage and involves detailed ecology and land use/ownership assessments. Stage  2 involves discussion with interested parties and walking the proposed route on the ground and this is clearly taking time.  Stage 3 is when proposals are finalized and published for public consultation. Stage 5 is implementation.

 None of the proposed sections have yet reached implementation. Three are now going through stage 4 and are past the stage of public comment, though the detailed proposals are still available to see at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/england-coast-path-in-the-south-of-england. These are the Portsmouth to South Hayling, East Head to Shoreham and Highcliffe to Calshot pathways.

Generally the project is running behind the somewhat optimistic earlier timescales and even the revised ones are proving difficult to maintain. This is largely due to the complexity of many of the coastal margins around the Solent, with special protection areas, private parks and gardens and substantial commercial interests all needing to be worked through to try and establish a path as close to the shoreline as possible.

During 2018 the important stretch from Highcliffe to Calshot on the Western Solent fronting the New Forest and Beaulieu River was published and SPS commented in May 2018.

The full text of our comment is set out below:

The route of the proposed ECP and   its associated Spreading Room  has the potential to cause significant damage to several  notified  SSSI together with internationally important wildlife sites (SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites) on the shores of the Western Solent. Many of these potential impacts have been identified by Natural England in their Sensitive Features Appraisal. However, we do not believe Natural England have fully understood the range of impacts likely to arise from  the designation of this section of the ECP. Natural England have powers (under section 26 of the CROW Act, 2000) to control or prevent public access to these ecologically sensitive wildlife sites, but we do not consider they have used  these powers sufficiently to protect these sites from the damage that will result from the designation of this section of the ECP.

We note that in a number of instances a S26  Direction has been recommended  for some of these sites in which our understanding is this removes the ‘spreading  room’. We would strongly suggest that a S26 Direction is made for all of the protected  sites where the ECP is adjacent  to it, so that there is no spreading  room  off  the path.

We are also concerned that there is an adequate barrier provided to stop the public, or dogs in particular, straying onto protected areas, while still enabling the public to enjoy the protected areas from the path.

In the case of  the revision to the route at Pennington  Marsh, where a S26 Direction  is rightly proposed, SPS is concerned  that   the drainage channels, that can often  become blocked, will be more likely to do so with increased foot traffic. Some strengthening of the crossing points should be considered before damage is done.

We note that  large amounts of spreading  room will be created as a consequence of the proposed  route going inland, which could in turn  have a detrimental impact on sensitive areas. We also note that in some instances S26 Directions have been proposed, however, we are of the view that  the concept of spreading room is inappropriate where the path  turns inland and so spreading room  should automatically be excluded.

We are aware that the Beaulieu Estate  has taken or has cited  legal opinion on  some aspects of the report and if these are  upheld  SPS  would support them.

Finally we are of the view that  it may be necessary to revisit the path  route if problems arise in future so that more protection can  be added. We are not sure if this is in the legislation somewhere but hope  that it is.  Linked to this is the need for adequate maintenance in the future, properly funded, so that the upkeep of this important  national route does not fall disproportionally on certain local authorities.

We anticipate the next stretch to come forward will be Calshot to Gosport but this has been put back to Winter 2018/19 . We are awaiting Gosport to Portsmouth which is also delayed. South Hayling to East Head and the Isle of Wight are the last stretches scheduled to come forward for consultation. Whenever possible we will post updates on the SPS website. Hopefully by next year’s newsletter all the proposed stretches will have been published, though the final approvals are likely to be sometime after that.