Studland bay preservation association

[MAD FRANKIE]

Hello ,
for those of you who don't want to see any changes made to the way Humans and Marine Life currently share this beautiful spot in harmony ...ie without any conservation zones or anchoring restrictions ,you might be interested in a newly formed local group at http://studlandbpa.blogspot.com
They will also be represented at the Dorset Coastal and Marine Conservation Forum and meetings with FINDING SANCTUARY.

 

[snowleopard]

We had an extensive thread on this last year with some of the conservationists taking part. What rapidly became apparent was that the anti-anchoring contingent were taking the stance that 'it is obvious that anchoring damages the habitat and we don't need research to test it' while the others were asking for a study to determine whether it is true. You can't argue with closed minds.

 

[webcraft]

.
This sounds like a group with its collective head screwed on if that blog is anything to go by.

Also, some interesting new news: moorings protect eelgrass:

The Eelgrass beds in the Bay have expanded considerably in the last few years and now spread across parts of the Bay where a few years ago there was just a sandy seabed. The thickest and most healthy beds are found amongst the Moorings which offer protection from the Fishing trawlers which come into the Bay dragging their nets along the sea bed.

If you live near or use or have an interest in Studland I would suggest this new group deserves your support.

- W

 

[activesail]

Marine Conservation Zones.

I certainly support Marine Conservation Zones. The only one we have around the British Isles is the Lundy Island zone, which has been a huge success.

I have been lucky enough to crew on a dive boat in the past, around Lundy Island and the range of sea-life and marine mammals is impressive.

As far as I am aware there are recognised anchorages around Lundy Island, where anchoring boats do not interfere with the preservation of the marine environment.

The same could become true of Studland Bay, Where the marine environment is protected but anchoring boats are restricted to areas where the anchors do not cause damage to the seabed flora and fauna.

It is also interesting to read that the eelgrass is strongest where moorings are allowed. This suggests to me that research may support duel use areas with a few areas having a higher degree of protection.

Such an arrangement would probably serve all the current interested parties well, whilst at the same time preserving the marine environment.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

The same could become true of Studland Bay, Where the marine environment is protected but anchoring boats are restricted to areas where the anchors do not cause damage to the seabed flora and fauna.

It is also interesting to read that the eelgrass is strongest where moorings are allowed. This suggests to me that research may support duel use areas with a few areas having a higher degree of protection.

Such an arrangement would probably serve all the current interested parties well, whilst at the same time preserving the marine environment.

Be careful what you wish for on here. You'll probably be forgiven as you are a newbie, but Studland is a very sensitive issue here.

More here.

And here.

Here as well

Here.

Oh, and here as well.

I could post many more but if you search the forum for ST44 you will find many posts from the Seahorse protection society, namely Steve Trewhella.

 

[falkirkdan]

I thought for a bit this was going to be some namby pamby group wanting to stop nude sunbathing on Studland but thankfully this is not the case!

 

[MAD FRANKIE]

Studland Bay Underwater Video

Hi Again ,
Just a little thanks for your the supportive comments....common sense prevails thank goodness ! You might be interested in having a look on YOUTUBE as there is a very nice video of a fixed mooring in Studland Bay ,that shows no damage to the surrounding seagrass .. amazing stuff .
Don't think the conservation camp will like that much ! Shines a whole new light on this business.
I have also been forwarded some of the "flack" coming back from the CONSERVATION side ... from the four skin divers...and they are now stating that there is a lot of rubbish created in the summer by the boats in the bay and some extra ordinary large human faeces on the sea bed ...and even a frying pan .
So bearing this in mind I think we all ought to eat a high fibre diet so we produce Floaters instead of Sinkers ...lol
Please rest assured Studland Bay is a very clean and tidy area and I've never had any reason to complain about anything that they allege.

 

[Robin]

Hi Again ,
Just a little thanks for your the supportive comments....common sense prevails thank goodness ! You might be interested in having a look on YOUTUBE as there is a very nice video of a fixed mooring in Studland Bay ,that shows no damage to the surrounding seagrass .. amazing stuff .
Don't think the conservation camp will like that much ! Shines a whole new light on this business.
I have also been forwarded some of the "flack" coming back from the CONSERVATION side ... from the four skin divers...and they are now stating that there is a lot of rubbish created in the summer by the boats in the bay and some extra ordinary large human faeces on the sea bed ...and even a frying pan .
So bearing this in mind I think we all ought to eat a high fibre diet so we produce Floaters instead of Sinkers ...lol
Please rest assured Studland Bay is a very clean and tidy area and I've never had any reason to complain about anything that they allege.

Well sea toilets on boats break up faeces before discharging them so if the divers saw any extra large human ones as they claim then they either came from Seahorses, divers or swimmers. I suspect they are telling porkies rather than finding them.

 

[MAD FRANKIE]

A load of Poo

Well Robin,
Thats just what I was thinking ....Studland has always had a top clean beach and bathing water award and I'm sure any solids wouldn't get out through a boats system.....just another attempt by the four skin divers to get out of the corner they are in .

 

[Robin]

Well Robin,
Thats just what I was thinking ....Studland has always had a top clean beach and bathing water award and I'm sure any solids wouldn't get out through a boats system.....just another attempt by the four skin divers to get out of the corner they are in .

Sea toilets break up solids at worst into very small bits and you will see a cloud of shredded paper mixed with it too all of which disperses fairly quickly even in the slightest current. Why not ask these divers for photographic proof of their claims? This is an easy claim for them to make to get joe public hot and bothered who will imagine the worst regardless.

 

[Madhatter]

Perhaps they ought to ban diving and swimming in these area's , as they must scare the sea horses to death and trample the grass beyond recognition .

 

[webcraft]

.just another attempt by the four skin divers to get out of the corner they are in .

I have a friend who insists on calling them frogmen. That gets right up their nose.

- W

 

[Pete7]

Please don't tar all divers though, it woud be like putting yachties in the same group as jetski owners. ST44 and his mates are only using scuba equipment to carry out an invasive study into Seahorses. If they really cared they would leave the alone.

As to marine toilets well what makes eel grass grow? nutrients perhaps.

Pete

 

[ST44]

Here we go again.

Please feel free to watch the you tube video, it looks like someone has tied a camera to a dog , and then thrown a stick into the sea, it proves nothing.
We have worked on many times with the BBC natural history unit at Studland , we also have footage of huge amounts of damage under the moorings.
What do people really think a large mooring chain does to eelgrass ?
Do they really think it is robust enough to have a heavy chain dragging across it every day ?
As for us being a handfull of frogmen ?
Our group is made up of some of the UK's leading experts on seahorses and eelgrass, data and scientific reports will be published soon to prove what we are saying.
This will be given to finding santuary , and used in the process of trying to make Studland an M.P.A. (marine protected area )
Eelgrass with breeding seahorses is a priority habitat under the new marine act, Studland will be hard to ignore.
We have a wave of public support over this site, they are also stakeholders and user's of Studland bay.
Its a shame mad frankie has to stay anonymous, although I now have a pretty good idea of who he may be, judging by some of the village gossip and nonsense being thrown around online.
At least you all know who I am.
As for the sewage photo's, I am happy to email them to mad frankie, I think he is part of a very small group of locals who are fighting any conservation measures at Studland, for thier own selfish reasons.
The same people who have put moorings in the bay without consent or planning permision from Crown or the M.F.A.
This is a problem that we hope is being delt with as we speak.
In december Crown and Natural england had a meeting to discuss the moorings at Studland.
Crown stated that no permision had ever been given to install moorings , and they had no plans to consent any new ones , I would be happy to email mad frankie the minutes that show that statement in black and white.
This explains why they want this problem to go away, it must be nice to have a free mooring at Studland .
I would love to see mad frankies proof that will back these statement up.
We have photographic and video evidence of sewage and large amounts of litter on the seabed.
We have proof that seahorses are breeding on site.
We have proof that anchors and mooring chains are damaging the habitat.
What do you have Frankie ?...at best you have ' a bloke in the pub told me ' who has lived in Studland for years..so it must be true ?
Its easy to say boats have been using the bay for hundreds of years , whats the problem .
I can't imagine the bay had 300 boats anchored in it 100 years ago , its a stupid thing to say.
There is no comparison.
By the way , I have been called much worse things than a frogman, it dosn't get up my nose.
Although ignorence does.
Steve.

 

[toad_oftoadhall]

What do people really think a large mooring chain does to eelgrass ?

From the fact that the eelgrass is thriving we can deduce that at worst it does nothing, at best it helps it.

We have proof that seahorses are breeding on site.

Best not to change anything then.

 

[glashen]

What do people really think a large mooring chain does to eelgrass ?
Do they really think it is robust enough to have a heavy chain dragging across it every day ?

This is an interesting statement, you claim to have science on your side and then ask us make an assumption without any scientific backup.

As for us being a handfull of frogmen ?
Our group is made up of some of the UK's leading experts on seahorses and eelgrass, data and scientific reports will be published soon to prove what we are saying.

This is what many of us have been asking for since this debate began, but yet again we are promised it will be "Soon".

As for the sewage photo's, I am happy to email them to mad frankie, I think he is part of a very small group of locals who are fighting any conservation measures at Studland, for thier own selfish reasons.

Their own selfish reasons being to keep Studland Bay and Village as it is without restrictions brought in without proper evidence. I do think you should be careful when your accuse people of "selfish" motives.

The same people who have put moorings in the bay without consent or planning permision from Crown or the M.F.A.
This is a problem that we hope is being delt with as we speak.
In december Crown and Natural england had a meeting to discuss the moorings at Studland.
Crown stated that no permision had ever been given to install moorings , and they had no plans to consent any new ones , I would be happy to email mad frankie the minutes that show that statement in black and white.
This explains why they want this problem to go away, it must be nice to have a free mooring at Studland .

As I am sure you know the issue of the mooring is not clear, since we have a right to anchor we presumably have a right to leave a buoyed anchor in place for our return, this is all a mooring is. I certainly wouldn't accept the Crown Estates view of the legal position as the only possible interpretation of the law.


As I have said before I am prepared to wait for the results of the survey commissioned by Crown Estates.
Crown Estates

I do feel your urgency in wanting to pre-empt the results of this survey and stop all anchoring when you have still not produced any evidence of the immediate demise of the seahorse colony or even of any reduction in numbers, makes it look like you know the survey will not back up your own conclusions and wish to exclude boats from the bay.

 

[toad_oftoadhall]

data and scientific reports will be published soon to prove what we are saying.

Would it be better to form your opinion based on the data rather, than form an opinion and wait for data to back it up?

Incidently, thanks for having the balls to come here and talk directly to the people who will be affected if the bigger picture suggests draconian restrictions are required.

 

[Robin]

Ah the plausible side of ST44 again.

Lets wait for the scientific studies already commissioned for some facts rather than fiction, remember that study, the one ST44 said was a waste of time and would ignore?

The 'wave of public support' is a result of the public being continually fed only one side of the story both via local papers and the BBC.

There are actually really very few moorings in Studland yet it is a large bay. Yes on occasions there are lots of boats anchored but most of the time the bay is empty. Studland is only usable as a safe anchorage in winds from SW to NW and boats are only there in any numbers on sunny summer weekends when the wind direction suits. So please do not try to say there are heavy chains dragging across the area daily because that is a gross exaggeration of the reality which is typical of the selective and biased information fed to the media.

As for 'sewage', Studland has awards for it's clean beaches. However some of us remember when sewage from Bournemouth outfalls used to be a common feature out in the bay at the turn of the tide. The accusation however that divers have found large intact human faeces is quite absurd unless they were a 'plant' and shows a complete lack of knowledge of how marine toilets work. Such accusations of course are quite effective at getting the general public on your side and of course you wouldn't want to miss that chance would you.

You say you have photographic evidence of rubbish on the seabed. That may be true but why simply assume that comes from boats on moorings or at anchor? Boaters in general are very conscious of the environment and hate to see it littered with rubbish. I would suggest that any rubbish in Studland is from shipping in the Channel or the public on the beaches not from anchored boats who if anything pick up what they see.

 

[snowleopard]

So there we have it in a nutshell: 'We don't need a study to tell us anchoring is bad' v 'We need a study to tell us whether anchoring is bad'.

There seems to be solid evidence that the extent of the ellgrass has increased considerably over the same period as the increase in anchoring so to say 'anchoring is damaging' without seeking a reason for the changes is irrational.

 

[webcraft]

.
Well, I may have a reputation on here as a bit of a pinko treehugger with certain environmental obsessions, but 'conservationists' like ST44 make my blood boil. Utterly unwilling to examine any evidence that doesn't correspond with his point of view, he is prepared to inconvenience any number of people to push his insignificant single-issue views forward. He strikes me as the sort of unstable animal rights nutter who would happily sink your yacht to save a single seahorse.

It's not my fight because I don't use Studland, live hundreds of miles away and have only ever wandered vicariously along the nudist beach there once, but it is a lovely place. Good luck in the fight to keep it lovely and free for all to enjoy. Just remember that seahorses are cuddly and the public are easily fooled when cuddly creatures are involved.

My suggestion would be for as many of you as possible to go and make your own videos for presentation at any enquiry - and on youtube of course. get videos of boats actually anchoring and retrieving their anchors, draw up your own diagrams of where the eelgrass is versus moorings and anchoring areas, create your own powerpoint presentations and get some credible non-sailing locals on your side. The video of eelgrass growing all around the fixed mooring looked fairly convincing to me, but get more like that and add commentary - that is not so difficult surely.

Good luck in the fight against the seahorse-huggers

- W