Nora's Blog World

I did not expect that beach clean could be that fun. It was like a treasure hunt game. Because the beach, even before our cleaning, was already very clean! I had to search it carefully for any litter hidden in the sands – like a detective conducting a carpet search for forensic evidences.

The beach was at Southwold a coastal town in Suffolk and about one hour and fifteen minutes’ car drive from Norwich. We, however, were not playing there. The beach clean we did was organised by the Marine Conservation Society and coordinated in Suffolk by the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB Unit (see the third paragraph from here for the meaning of AONB). The purpose of the program is not just to clean beaches but to tackle the whole problem of marine pollution. Because volunteers (like us) record all the litter that is collected, the Marine Conservation Society are able to identify the sources, target offenders and lobby government.

When we arrived at the Southwold beach, a lady from the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB Unit greeted us and explained to us why and what we needed to do for the beach clean. Then each of us was given a plastic bin, a trash pickup tool, a pair of gloves, a box for storing sharp pointed glasses, a sheet and a pencil to record what litter we have collected.

We, a total of 9 people, had in one hour and forty-five minutes, collected trash of 45.7 kg. It included many kinds of trash, even sanitary napkins and condomes. Rubber and plastic formed the majority of the trash. We actually had overdone what we were requied to do. We were asked to clean the beach for 100 metres only but we had made it 400 metres!

Southwold is part of Suffolk Coast and Heaths, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).  Created by the legislation of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949, AONBs represent precious landscapes whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so outstanding that it is in the British’s interest to safeguard them. Currently there are 49 AONBs in the U.K.. Their care has been entrusted to the local authorities, organisations, community groups and the individuals who live and work within them or who value them.

Southwold was once a very busy fishing port. Nowadays, the harbour area of Southwold (where the beach we cleaned is situated), although still provides sale of freshly caught fish, the boatyard services have become the prominent business there.

In Suffolk, there are two nuclear power stations at Sizewell (the structure with white dome in the left most picture), even visible for many miles along the coast of Southwold. one of them is no longer in operation but remains harmful for health for decades even after ceasing operation. The British government is now proposing to build the third nuclear power station at Sizewell. Inevitably the people in Suffolk and especially the environmental groups there object this proposal.

I went to Toll’s Meadow today again for the conservation work, together with a few others from the UEA conservation club. This time, we needed to use a rake to pull out the grass on the soil surface, and then use a pitch fork to remove it to and pile it up at the side of the field.

Toll’s Meadow is a water meadow – an area of grassland beside a river. A meadow is a habitat of terrain where grasses predominate. Typically a meadow contains not only grasses but a significant variety of plants. We need to prevent the soil of Toll’s Meadow from having too much nutrients otherwise it will turn into a woodland. The purpose of removing the grass from the soil surface is to reduce the nutrients in the soil.

Sheringham is about one hour train from Norwich. In the past, the lower Sheringham was a fishing village and the upper Sheringham was an agricultural village. Now it is a town well known for its coast and the cliffs along its coast line.

After the walk in Sheringham, we headed to another seaside town, Cromer. Cromer is just 3 miles away from Sheringham. It took about one hour to walk there.

I went to Horsey to see the grey seals, an activity organized by my university’s conservation club. Horsey is about one hour car drive from Norwich. 

Grey seals are a species of seals (the scientific name is Halichoerus grypus). The female grey seal is silver-grey in colour, with small scattered dark spots, while the males are a dark grey with silver grey spots. The male is also distinguished from the female by having a long-arched roman nose which is the basis for its Latin name, Halichoerus grypus, meaning the hooked-nose sea pig. The average adult grey seal weighs around 200 kg and is about 2 meters long.

Grey seals occur in temperate and subarctic waters on both sides of the North Atlantic ocean. Half of the world’s population of grey seals are found on and around British coasts. The grey seal is Britain’s largest carnivorous mammal. Its thick, insulating layer of blubber and waterproof fur allow it to survive in cold water temperatures.

The habitat of the grey seal differs among each individual group of seals. Some are found along rocky continental coasts, while others are comfortable on isolated islands. There are also many grey seal populations around that haul out on icebergs and ice shelves. 

The breeding season of gery seals differ with different populations. Around British shores, they breed from September to December. Once impregnated and following a gestation period of eleven months, females usually come ashore and give birth to a single pup one day after.

At birth the baby is covered with a thick, creamy-white coat, but this is replaced by a greyish juvenile coat after about three weeks.  The pup is nursed for approximately 3 weeks after it is born, growing quickly on its mother’s milk. The milk is almost 60% fat, and the pups drink roughly 3 litres a day. As a result the pups weight rapidly increases. They put on about 35 to 40 kg in under 3 weeks. At the same time the mothers lose around 70 to 80 kg.

Once the pup is weaned, the female mates with one or more males and then leaves the pup at the shore. The pup will remain on land, living off of its fat reserves until it has fully moulted, at which point it will feed at sea. Grey seals are attentive mothers and defend their pups against predation and intrusion.

During the months prior to the breeding season, grey seals actively feed to build the fat reserves for the fasting during the breeding season: the female’s fasting will usually last for three weeks after giving birth, and the male’s fasting will typically last for up to six weeks.The grey seals mainly feed on fish. They can dive to a depth of seventy metres and stay underwater for up to thirty minutes before coming up for air.

The males haul themselves onto the shore and fight each other to establish territories for mating. After mating, the female returns to the sea, but the fertilised egg does not start developing until much later so the birth will be at the same time the following year.

After watching the grey seals, we had a walk around the broads in the Horsey area.

We had lunch at a traditional Norfolk holstelry.

There were two windmills, one working and one abandoned.

Cromer is about one hour bus or train from Norwich. It is an old small town. There was a large Morrison supermarket and we had lunch at the cafe of Morrison.

Cromer is at the seaside, so naturally there is a beach, but not just a beach, the beach is next to a cliff. When we were there, it was windy and cold. There was hardly any person at the beach save for the few people walking with their dogs.

At that time, the bus station there was under repair and the temporary bus stop to Norwich was located in open air just opposite the tourist office. To safeguard our lives, while we were waiting for the bus to Norwich, we sheltered in the warm tourist office from the cold wind, watching the old men and women standing in the wind at the bus stop. Old people can be stronger than young people!