Final Report 27th - 28th September 2019 By Coral Smith, Nicholas Helm and Jack Sewell

The 2019 Wembury BioBlitz took place over the course of two days on the 27th and 28th September 2019 with over 600 participants taking part. A BioBlitz is an intensive survey of all wildlife living within a set area (see map below) in a roughly 24-hour period (including overnight) conducted by scientists and naturalists, with the support of the local community and volunteers.

Lead partners, Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) and the Marine Biological Association of the UK (MBA), have extensive experience of delivering BioBlitzs’ and this year’s event was a combined celebration of the 25th anniversary of DWT’s Wembury Marine Centre and the 10th anniversary of the MBA’s annual BioBlitz, the first of which took place at Wembury in 2009.

BioBlitz events are citizen science events, which attract participants from all sections of society, including those who may not normally get involved in conservation or ‘science’ activities. They are a brilliant way to bring together a whole community to discover wildlife, learn new skills and be inspired to protect their local environment. DWT and the MBA were joined by numerous local and national partner organisations, whom supported the event through the delivery of activities, schools’ sessions, providing equipment and/or hosting interactive stands.

This report summarises the main outcomes of the event and has been produced by staff and volunteers from Devon Wildlife Trust and The Marine Biological Association of the UK, with contributions from partners.

Thanks to the following for providing the photographs, and figures for this report:

Jack Sewell Marine Biological Association Coral Smith Devon Wildlife Trust Karen Williams Devon Moth Group Adam Davison South Devon AONB Nicholas Helm Marine Biological Association

Map of 2019 Wembury BioBlitz survey area distributed to participants

St Pirans Hermit Crab - Clibanarius erthyropus

Logos of partner organisations which were added to the back of the BioBlitz T Shirts for staff and volunteers

Schools activities

A total of 283 school pupils took part in the BioBlitz event, including every child from the local Wembury Primary School, as well as classes from two other local primary schools.

A ‘Mini BioBlitz’ was held up at Wembury Primary School for Key Stage 1 pupils, with staff/volunteers from Devon Wildlife Trust, the National Trust and Devon Moth Group leading activities. Sessions were based around Bird Sound, local Moths and Butterflies, and the fascinating lives of Minibeasts.

Key Stage 1 pupils enjoying the mini BioBlitz in their school grounds & Privet Hawk Moth

Key stage 2 pupils walked down to the main BioBlitz basecamp at Wembury Beach, ready for a full day of exciting activities delivered by partners from DWT, the MBA and South Devon AONB. The Wembury pupils were joined by two classes from Oreston Primary and Dunstone Primary Schools (see timetable below). The children also had a chance to look around the Basecamp and meet expert scientists and environmental education practitioners from numerous organisations around Devon and the wider region.

Wembury Explorers Timetable of school activities for KS2 pupils down at the beach/basecamp.

The school groups in front of base camp receiving a safety briefing from Jack Sewell from the MBA and Adam Davison from AONB. The unusual find of a green ormer shell (right).

Local Community Engagement

One of the most important outcomes of this project was to engage and involve the local Wembury community. A pre-event evening talk was delivered at the local village hall on September 5th by staff from DWT and the MBA, along with guest speaker, local underwater photographer, Chair of the Wembury MCA Advisory Group and marine biologist Dr Paul Naylor. Residents were introduced to how a BioBlitz event worked, what activities would be taking place and how they could get involved, as well as learning about the fascinating marine wildlife which also calls Wembury home. Participants were encouraged to register via Eventbrite and by the time the event came around on September 27th, there were 115 volunteers registered to help, many of whom came from the local Wembury community, as well as students and volunteers from the wider Plymouth/South Hams area. In order to thank volunteers for giving up their time to support the event, the funding allowed for dinner and breakfast to be provided free of charge, as well as the purchase of Wembury Bioblitz T- Shirts for volunteers to wear during the event and then keep afterwards. These T-Shirts helped the public quickly identify helpers and activity leads. Dinner was provided by local caterers/volunteers, thereby keeping the emphasis on supporting and including the local community in all aspects.

Poster for the evening talk at Wembury Village Hall, an enthralled audience listening to Dr Paul Naylor & a copy of his most recent book cover, which features many species from Wembury Bay.

Public Events

A programme of activities kicked off at 10am on Friday 27th September and ran through until 4pm on Saturday 28th. Activities were open for participants of all ages to attend and expert naturalists led walks, talks and surveys, covering a wide range of species and habitats, including shore safaris, woodland and meadow wanders, dusk and night-time wildlife wanders. A total of 205 members of the public registered and a total of 250 took part in the events below (see timetable below).

Public events timetable as distributed to participants, showing activities taking place throughout the 24-hour survey period.

Churchwood Woodland Walk

Phil Sansum and Alex Worsley from DWT Devon Biodiversity Records Centre led the first terrestrial walk of the BioBlitz up into Churchwood Valley woodland, accompanied by local naturalists and volunteers. A highlight was the non-native Species, Favolaschia calocera (Orange Pore fungus), found growing on sycamore woody debris on the woodland floor. The species was first recorded in Madagascar and now found in many other countries globally. There were 28 species of fungus recorded during the walk and 155 species of vascular plants and bryophytes.

Numerous species of fungus and lichen were recorded during the BioBlitz, the total came to 105 species as of 21/11/2019.

Fish & Plankton Netting

Although the waves were particularly wild on the day, ‘Team Fish’ managed to get a Seine net in the water, catching some interesting species. There were the regulars such as Turbot and Blenny, but also an injured Conger eel, which could have had an encounter with a nearby Grey seal! Other species such as plaice, sand smelt, dragonet and several goby species were also recorded through the event.

Doug Herdson (Marine Fish Information Service) examining the catch and a rather wet and windswept Richard Ticehurst (University of Plymouth) after filming seine netting with BBC Countryfile.

Meadow & Churchyard Wander and Moth Reveal

Despite the incredibly strong winds and poor weather experienced on Friday 27th, a meadow and churchyard wander led by Barry Henwood, Amy Walkden and David Gibbon from Butterfly Conservation/Devon Moth Group, combined with overnight moth trapping, yielded a significant number of invertebrate species to add to the count, with the final invertebrate count coming to 536 species.

Fox moth larva and Silver Y Moth recorded during the Meadow and Churchyard Wander led by Barry Henwood and Amy Walkden; and an Unarmed stick insect recorded in Down Thomas during the 24-hour survey period.

Dusk Walk

Friday evening’s Dusk Walk into the surrounding wooded valley was led by Ed Parr Ferris from Devon Wildlife Trust, along with freelance ecologist Adam Chambers. This was a very popular event and many local families came along with lots of excited children! Following the event, Ed reported:

“The bat walk was very popular with 44 people of all ages joining us. With such high winds, we weren’t that optimistic of getting any bats, but the valley woodland was the best chance. As we were explaining how the detectors worked, we started to get common pipistrelle flying around us. There were at least four or five individuals and we heard their feeding buzzes – which was exciting. We thought we may have picked up soprano pipistrelle too, but hard to separate from common pips as there was so much activity. With everyone happy that we’d heard and seen bats, we headed back down the valley to see if we could pick up any bats using the strandline. Unfortunately, it was so windy that there were no bats and it was hard to hear each other! We didn’t get any more bats but the detectors picked up a fair few crickets in the hedges. Happy, windswept and feeling like we’d had some fun, those few remaining went back for a cuppa.”

The large group heads out through the meadow into Churchwood Valley woodland; Alex and Tom talk about the local nightlife; and the weather conditions on the beach prove too windy to pick up any bats using special detectors.

Night-time Rockpool Safari

Arguably the highlight of this year’s BioBlitz, a midnight ramble across the Wembury Shore revealed a suite of species not normally seen in daylight hours. Sightings included two individuals of the very rare Giant goby, as well as a snoozing Corkwing wrasse, whom in a dazed state allowed us to get close enough to collect several parasitic isopods (blood sucking relatives of woodlice) from its body! The focus provided by searching with torchlight enabled participants to find other smaller, more unusual shore inhabitants, including stalked jellyfish, nudibranchs and sea spiders. Using a UV torch highlighted the beautiful florescence in several species, including snakelocks anemones (see photo). The change in how everything behaved under cover of dark was very noticeable, with crabs scuttling over feet and limpets openly grazing on seaweed and many other species, usually confined to holes and crevices, actively foraging and grazing around pools and over rocks creating a symphony of sound. 35 adults of all ages and 10 children shared this amazing experience.

An excited group of volunteers & local community members; Jack Sewell (MBA) delivering the safety talk before heading out; The rare Giant goby – an amazing find during the night-time safari.

Special UV torches demonstrate the amazing luminescence of Snakelocks anemones.

Coastal Wildlife Walk

Saturday morning’s coastal wildlife walk was organised and delivered by local bird enthusiast Adam Davison (South Devon AONB) with support from invertebrate expert Andrew Whitehouse (Buglife). Highlights included the incredibly rare Cirl Bunting, a lowland farmland bird, whose numbers dropped to a low point of only 118 pairs in 1989. Thanks to dedicated conservation efforts from multiple NGOs and farmers/landowners, their numbers increased to 862 pairs in 2009 and Wembury remains one of the few places in the country where they can still be seen.

‘The Wembury BioBlitz event in September 2019 was a real success on many counts – the intense practical birdwatching sessions with 6 classes of local school children gave me a great opportunity to highlight species loss and biodiversity decline from a global and local perspective. The public event I led was well attended and generated lots of interest and questions about wildlife, the South Devon AONB and local habitats. The whole event was a fantastic networking event. I had some inspiring conversations with people who I hadn’t met before and made some really useful contacts for future wildlife projects. In many ways it was such a good event over and above seeing lots of species that make their home in the Wembury area.’ Adam Davison – South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Adam Davison from South Devon AONB and Andrew Whitehouse from BugLife co-leading the Saturday morning Coastal Walk; & the view of Basecamp and Wembury Marine Centre from the walk.

Seashore Safari

Wembury is arguably most famous for its world-class rocky shore and huge diversity of intertidal marine wildlife. A total of 68 members of the public joined Saturday morning’s rockpool safari, including 44 adults and 24 children. A wide range of species were recorded, with lots of excitement and buzz around a massive Spiny starfish, as well as a very shy juvenile lobster which could be seen occasionally peeping out from its watery overhang! As well as a public seashore survey, a small group of experts ventured to Wembury Point, adding three species of stalked jellyfish, several seaweeds, keyhole limpets, sea cucumbers and a number of other species to the inventory. Highlights also included the rare trumpet anemone Aiptasia mutabilis and the St Piran’s hermit crab Clibanarius erythropus, which wasn’t present in the area during the 2009 event but has now returned following its disappearance in the 1960s.

Cat Andrews from DWT Wembury Marine Centre delivering the Seashore Code at the start of the Rockpool Safari; a BioBlitz volunteer showing off an exciting find; and a child finds a large Spiny starfish.

Woodland Walk –

The final event of the 2019 Wembury BioBlitz was a Woodland Walk into Churchwood Valley, led by local Ecologist Fiona van Es: “One of my Bioblitz highlights was exploring Churchwood Valley with park manager Tom Stansell, local botanist Sally Luker and a small group of volunteers. I have visited the holiday park as a David Bellamy Conservation Award assessor over many years but rarely have time on those visits to record species in any detail, so this was a lovely opportunity. Tom is very enthusiastic and keen to learn more about the ecology of his home patch, so it was a real pleasure to delve into the depths of the woodland with our ID guides, hand-lenses and recording forms. It was most encouraging to see the active woodland management to clear laurel and I think we would have loved to linger in the Forest School area but stayed focused on finding as many plant species as possible. Whilst there were no rarities, we recorded a representative snapshot of the plant species, both native and introduced, within this steep, wooded valley.”

Candelabrum cocksii, a hydroid Aiptasia mutabilis, Trumpet anemone

Carcinus maenas, Common shore crab Vanessa atalanta, Red admiral butterfly

A stalked jellyfish Ophiothrix Fragilis, Common brittle star

Basecamp activities

The basecamp was filled with activities from lots of different organisations, from microscopes and plankton samples to 250-year-old whale ribs – there was something for everyone’s interest, terrestrial and marine alike! In the evening, Dr Nigel Marley (University of Plymouth) gave an inspiring talk to families and volunteers about tardigrades (water bears) a highlight of which was revealing the new species to science, which was discovered during the 2009 BioBlitz event!

Expert taxonomists Dr Richard Comont (Bumblebee Conservation) and Esther Hughes (MBA DASSH) identifying their finds; Dr Nigel Marley gives an evening talk on the fascinating lives of Tardigrades (Water Bears); and lots of buzz around the basecamp on Friday’s schools day!

Dr Paul Naylor showing his fascinating footage of local underwater wildlife; Prof Dave Conway (MBA) examining plankton under a microscope connected to a screen; and Graham Winter from Distributed Dialogues.

Kate Baker and Emma Gifford delivering evaluation activities as part of the Distributed Dialogues Training Programme; Wembury Primary children examining finds under microscopes; and Chris Wood (MBA) showing specimens of local Marine Invasive Species.

Kirstie Pritchard from DCC/Local Nature Partnership; Wembury Primary pupils examining whale bones with Lottie Hawkins of the NMA/OCT; Group shot of Wembury Primary children looking happy after an exciting day of activities. BioBlitz Data Collection and Results

Citizen science is the main driver behind BioBlitz events and without such public involvement and inclusion, the event would not have had near as much value. The main goal of all BioBlitzs’ is to identify as many species as possible.

All participants were encouraged to use iNaturalist to record species observations but were also provided with a map and a hand-written recording form. We also provided ID books and guides as well as hand lenses, trays, nets, specimen pots, buckets and microscopes all were freely available to use for all involved. In order to ensure that all species being recorded were genuine, all recording forms and iNaturalist records had to be verified by an expert. All iNaturalist records are available at: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/wembury-bioblitz-2019

The MBA data team and their volunteers were at the Base Camp throughout the BioBlitz, taking records, photographs and voucher specimens. All data that was verified by an expert, or included a supporting image or specimen, was passed to the National Biodiversity Network and archived in the Data Archive for Seabed Species and Habitats (DASSH). It is available free of charge to anyone on request.

This year’s BioBlitz had the highest species count of any MBA BioBlitz yet, a total of 1328 species (as of the 21/11/2019) were found. Compared to the 823 species found in the 2009 Wembury BioBlitz, this highlights how the BioBlitz and citizen science has grown over the past 10 years. (See graphic at bottom of page.)

Comparing our 2009 BioBlitz to 2019 species, all groups (Higher plants, Lower plants / algae etc.) have seen a relatively equally proportioned increase in species count, there are a few interesting things that could have caused this result to occur: In 2009, we sampled mainly on the coastal fringes, rocky shore and in the water, whereas the 2019 sample area included a larger range, especially in the terrestrial area.

Jack Sewell showing the Reference 2009 Wembury BioBlitz report: BioBlitz count so far on the Saturday https://www.mba.ac.uk/sites/default/files/katcla/Wembury_Bioblitz_2009_Summary_report .PDF

Bioblitz Species Highlights

This BioBlitz had an astounding amount of interesting and novel species to the area, and some returning favourites from the previous BioBlitz. Some particular rare highlights were: The empty shell of a green ormer found washed up on the shore by a pupil of Wembury Primary School. The origin and species of the shell are still unknown and the shell has been retained for expert analysis. There are currently no species of ormer native to Great Britain although one species Haliotis tuberculata is native to the Channel Isles and mainland Europe and some believe its spread to Great Britain naturally or with human assistance might be possible. Other species of ormer (e.g., abalone) are also farmed in Ireland and shells are often bought and sold as souvenirs locally, meaning there are many other possible routes the shell could have taken to end up on Wembury beach!

Orange pore fungus (Right) – A recent introduction from Madagascar, as of yet there are no entries of this to the NBN atlas. A small bright orange fungus with deep pores reminiscent of honeycomb seems to have invaded not just the UK but also places like Australia and New Zealand.

The Giant goby, an incredibly rare species with only 33 NBN atlas records of it, mainly in Wembury and Plymouth, this was on everyone’s ‘must find’ list. During our night-time rockpool safari, we managed to find 2 in neighbouring rockpools from one another!

St Pirans Hermit Crab – Named after the patron saint of Cornwall, St Piran, this crab only has 17 NBN records and Wembury is the only place outside of Cornwall where they have been found previously. The species also seemed to have disappeared during the 1960’s, and now recently seems to have reappeared!

Cirl Bunting (left) - a once widespread and common species of farmland bird which in 1989 was reduced to 118 breeding pairs and now is estimated to have around 1000. Mainly still confined to Devon and Cornwall.

Publicity – Media and Press Articles

The Wembury BioBlitz 2019 was featured heavily in numerous media outlets, including local and regional newspapers, BBC and ITV News and Radio channels and a huge amount of social media from multiple organisations’ accounts. A particular highlight which really topped off the BioBlitz was extensive coverage of the activities for a special BBC Countryfile episode all about Wembury.

The Wembury BioBlitz was featured in numerous local & regional newspapers including Western Morning News, a front-page headline in the Plymouth Herald with inside article and a full page in the Wembury Review.

BBC Countryfile filming on the beach; a group shot with Presenter Joe Crowley, DWT’s Coral Smith and children from Wembury Primary School; BBC CF filming the night-time rockpooling.

Cat Andrews and Coral Smith from DWT being interviewed for BBC Spotlight, ITV West Country News & BBC Radio Devon.

Social media feedback from volunteers and participants taking part in this year’s Wembury BioBlitz 2019.

Evaluation

Key Achievements:

A total of 615 people were engaged with the Wembury BioBlitz 2019 including:

o 120 registered volunteers o 290 school pupils o 205 members of the public/local community

A total of 1328 species (As of 21/11/2019):

o 609 of which haven’t previously been recorded within 10km of Wembury Marine Centre

A total of 72 evaluation forms were completed by participants taking part in the Wembury BioBlitz 2019 (excluding school pupils) and the below information is a summary of the results:

Participant Feedback

In order to get gauge the value of the BioBlitz event, participants were asked to fill in an anonymous evaluation form before leaving. An analysis and example questionnare are below:

Participants were asked to name any marine wildlife which they had learned about during the event. 77% of participants were able to list 3 new species/groups which they had learned about during the event and 100% of particpants were able to list at least 2 new species/groups.

When asked if they felt more aware of the marine life at Wembury and the challenges it faces, as a result of attending this event, 95% of respondents circled ‘YES’.

Participants were also asked to circle any of the following five actions, which they feel they could do to help protect the marine environment after this event:

1. Reduce your plastic usage – 85% of respondents circled this action 2. Only buy sustainable fish – 56% of respondents circled this action 3. Reduce your carbon footprint – 63% of respondents circled this action 4. Educate yourself on the issues – 69% of respondents circled this action 5. Support your local wildlife trust – 82% of respondents circled this action

Almost half (47%) of all participants circled all five actions.

The above results suggest participants have been inspired as a result of this event and are ready to take personal action to change their behaviour in order to better protect the marine environment.

An example of an evaluation form filled in by a participant

The below comments were also received from participants:

“Very well organised, lots of info and opportunities to find out about different facts”

“This was incredible and so important”

“Well organised and a lovely day out. The kids really enjoyed themselves and used a microscope for the first time”

“Very friendly people who are al l about helping you learn. Very well organized and inspiring”

“Amazing event, so interesting! Feel very lucky to be a part of it.”

“Fantastic community event – learnt loads” “Enjoyed it a lot. Thank you to all involved”

“Fantastic collaboration between local and national organizations”

“Very exciting, hands on and educational!”

“Fantastic event. Well organized, very engaging for all ages, promoting awareness

of the diversity of our local area”

“I learnt about the vast amount of diversity of species in a relatively small area”

“Great to see so many people coming together to look at the biodiversity of the

area” “A great way to educate and involve the community about environmental issues. To be part of this event has been really great”

“Great mix of events for all ages”

“Very enjoyable community event. Great to work alongside experts and learn more about species. Loved the night time rock pool safari”

“Excellent to educate people about the marine world and what’s out there in order to preserve and protect it!!”

Demographic Data

The majority of attendees taking part in the BioBlitz (this data excludes the school groups) appeared to be children and young people, but these results are likely a reflection of the fact that many adults did not disclose their own age on the sign in sheets, but instead filled in ages on behalf of their children.

There were far more females taking part than males, with a 70/30 split.

80% of participants described their ethnicity as ‘White British’ or ‘British,’ with remaining participants describing their ethnicity as ‘British Chinese,’ ‘British Caribbean.’ ‘Maldivian,’ ‘White’ and ‘Peruvian.’

Index of Multiple Deprivation analysis, using participant postcodes, indicated that the largest number of particiapnts (40 out of 72) came from the second most deprived postcode (PL4), but this is likely to be a reflection of the large number of students participating in the event who rent houses in this area.

The data was taken from the 2015 IMD data available at: https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/IMD%202015%20report_FINALv1.1.pdf

Competitions

As well as all the exciting species finds and identification, there were competitions for correctly guessing the final species count and a passport style challenge for children to take part in. Clare Kessel, the winner of the species competition won copies of ‘A Sea Monsters Tale’ and ‘The Marine World’, books kindly donated by the publisher Wild Nature Press.

Acknowledgements

Devon Wildlife Trust, Wembury Marine Centre and the Marine Biological Association would like to thank all our sponsors, supporting organisations and volunteers who helped to organise and run this year’s event:

Sponsors:

• The National Lottery Community Fund • South West Water • South Hams District Council - Councillor Matthew Chown Locality Funding

Organisations

AECOM Environment Agency South Hams District Council APHOTOMARINE Hewitt Hire South West Water Marine Biology Society British Myriapod and Isopod Group Southampton University Secretary Marine Fish Information Buglife The Bear's Den Services Butterfly Conservation MarinePhoto Tompot Publications Canterbury Christ Church National Lottery Community University of Exeter University Fund DASSH National Trust University of Plymouth University of Plymouth Marine Devon and Cornwall Police Natural England Biological Society Devon Biodiversity Records Nature Friendly Farming University of Plymouth Marine Centre Network Institute Devon Birds NHBS Wembury Marine Centre Devon Branch Butterfly Ocean Conservation Trust Wembury MCA Advisory Group Conservation Devon County Council Plymouth Sound BSAC Wembury Parish Council Devon Moth Group Shark Trust Working for Wildlife DWT South Devon AONB WSP

Special Mentions From The Organisers

A big thank you to Jon Andrews (Nature Friendly Farming Network), Churchwood Valley and the National Trust for allowing us to survey your land during the BioBlitz. Thanks also to Marldon Marquees for assembling a fabulous marquee for our basecamp and for making sure we didn’t blow away in the gale force winds!

Thank you to all of the experts and naturalists, both amateur and professional, for giving up your time and for sharing your wonderful expertise with all who took part. A big thank you to all of our activity leaders and volunteer schools’ chaperones. Thank you to all of the enthusiastic providers who delivered interactive activities and displays in and around basecamp. Thanks also to the leaders of the Defra-funded Distributed Dialogues Training, who produced some fun and useful evaluative activities for families and other participants to enjoy.

Thank you to all of the amazing volunteers who helped on the information and data entry desks, as well as Marilyn Nicholson of the MBA, Wembury’s Pasty Maid Janet Jinman and Liz Wood for providing food for our volunteers and keeping us all going during the event.

Thank you to Susie Evans and all the staff and pupils at Wembury Primary School for wholly embracing our Wembury BioBlitz and the subsequent filming opportunities.

A big thank you to BBC Countryfile and its wonderful presenters, as well as BBC Spotlight and ITV Westcountry News, for providing such excellent coverage and support for our event!

Finally, a big thank you to the local community of Wembury, for sharing your amazing environment and wildlife with us all! A gem we must all protect…

“It was fantastic to see members of the public interacting with experts and learning about the unique wildlife here at Wembury”