Studland Eco moorings will cost you this year

[Boathook]

Not long picked one up, my chart suggests a good number of them are in little more than 1m at CD.

Perhaps I should have investigated rather than stopping at the first convenient one.

1m is fine for my cat !
If the wind is from the SW or west it means that you are in the wind shadow of the land, so flat seas.

 

[Bristolfashion]

I am quite simply disgusted by anyone who claim we destroyed 90% of seagrass stock.

Wow, you have a really low threshold for being "simply disgusted".

And it's simplistic to say, unequivocally, that the only cause of loss is the 1930s disease event,

The wildlife trusts say,

"A wasting disease was the cause of a drastic reduction of seagrass in the UK in the 1930s. The following recovery has been hampered by increased human disturbance such as pollution and physical disturbance from dredging, use of mobile fishing gear and coastal development."

And the government says,

"The UK seabed is threatened by a variety of factors, from seagrass wasting disease (SWD) to pollution and physical disturbance from activities such as the anchoring, launching and mooring of leisure boats."

So, it's your opinion that the no anchoring zone is not required, but not everyone's.

And, for anyone that is really, really cross about not being able to anchor there - just anchor there it's voluntary. As Ken Endean says in his 2023 YM article,

"When we visited Studland in August 2022, about a dozen boats were anchored inside the new zone:"

 

[lustyd]

And it's simplistic to say, unequivocally, that the only cause of loss is the 1930s disease event

He’s quite familiar with the subject, if you’ve not spent a couple of decades researching then it might be better to listen to him.

 

[oldharry]

Well, nature is highly tolerant of trains - but thoughtless dog owners ......!

You may be confusing "disturbance" and "noise".

I'm getting a sense that there is quite a lot of anger, a willingness to make off the cuff criticism but very little knowledge about nature / an unwillingness to inconvenience people, however damaging the outcome.

In actual fact a significant number of us know a very great deal about the conditions specific to Studland, and see through the transparently flawed arguments being put up by NE. We continue to ask why NE completely ignore some very real threats to the Bay, researched and confirmed by Swansea University Oceanographic Department, concentrating instead on an argument based on deeply flawed thinking, that falls flat on its face at the starting post. NE completely failed to respond to the fact the eutrophication caused by high nutrient levels is regarded as th biggest single threat to seagrass in UK today. They also failed to respond to the discovery by Swansea Uni in 2016 that Studland has one fo the highest nutrient pollution levels in UK.

NE's incredibly blinkered view presents significant threats both to the Bay, and its users both human and wild.

Oh, by the way: railways do cause significant problems for wildlife through mortality, disruption of habitat, and by creating barriers. See for example amongst many others "Railways as Barriers for Wildlife" Barrentios & Borda-de-Agua 2017.

 

[wonkywinch]

1m is fine for my cat !
If the wind is from the SW or west it means that you are in the wind shadow of the land, so flat seas.

We tucked into the furthest SW ball yesterday after deciding Swanage was too exposed. I thought there would be shelter but it was still exposed to the 20/25 knot WSW and we only slept soundly once it died down.

It's not as sheltered as you might believe from the chart/topography. Close enough in to avoid any rolly swell that we'd experienced in the past when we were anchored/moored further out.

1m CD in calm good for us with 1m tide at the bottom and a 1.3m draft.

 

[Lodestone]

He’s quite familiar with the subject, if you’ve not spent a couple of decades researching then it might be better to listen to him.

Here here, well said.

 

[jaminb]

I got stuck motoring off the other day. I had plenty of water even at low tide on my mooring, set off due east and ran aground. That will teach me for not paying. Hope i didn't damage the seabed with my old anti fouling!

 

[Boathook]

We tucked into the furthest SW ball yesterday after deciding Swanage was too exposed. I thought there would be shelter but it was still exposed to the 20/25 knot WSW and we only slept soundly once it died down.

It's not as sheltered as you might believe from the chart/topography. Close enough in to avoid any rolly swell that we'd experienced in the past when we were anchored/moored further out.

1m CD in calm good for us with 1m tide at the bottom and a 1.3m draft.

The really sheltered bit is by south beach. Nearly flat calm and blowing well over 20 knots from a SW'ly direction when further out.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We have yet to try it, ideally we’d be even shallower. I can walk around the boat with a nylon scourer in the right depth, did that at East Head on Wednesday. We like to be slime free, and its so much less work if you have your feet on the bottom.

 

[oldharry]

I got stuck motoring off the other day. I had plenty of water even at low tide on my mooring, set off due east and ran aground. That will teach me for not paying. Hope i didn't damage the seabed with my old anti fouling!

Prop wash can actually dig a significantly large hole in sand or mud. Even a small engine can blast a hole 2 - 3 metres long half wide and deep. A big powerboat can do a great deal more very quickly shifting several tons of sand. Far better to wait for the tide as this is something that does cause significant local disturbance. This one of the very few things we actually need to do to help marine wildlife.

 

[Tranona]

I must admit I get confused by seagrass and eelgrass, but all my comments are based upon the stuff growing at Studland and persumably in other parts of the UK.

The number of people who says it needs protecting in Studland but have never visited seem to believe everything that NE and MMO; say but NE / MMO don’t seemed to have done any proper research at Studland as to what the relationship is between the grass and anchors, etc.

Actually the research has been done and post#119 is more or less what it shows. Unfortunately it does not support a prior held belief based on a mixture of opinion emotion and incorrect assumptions that is held by NE. The confusion in use of terms and species is part of the problem as many of the so called "experts" listened to by NE are similarly confused.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We notice something else when pushing the depth limits, even under sail. In under 3m, we leave a trail of mud swirling in the water if we’re going quickly. We came up the shore in Bouldnor bay and noticed this behind us at about 10kn. I imagine it must be worse with power boats, just the pressure wave, never mind the prop wash.