News
2007
Sunday 9th December
The final 2007 beachclean at Kimmeridge was held today. 25 volunteers removed 134 kg of rubbish despite the onset of rough seas and wet weather. The Met Office predicted a violent southwesterly force 11 yet we still had eager participants. (The mince pies afterwards helped!) Thanks to all that attended! All dates for events and beachcleans have now been posted under events and there are downloadable formats.
Sunday 25th November
The social activity today involved a trip to Weymouth Sea Life Park after learning about commerical fishing and conservation.
The Young Marine Wardens have now chosen a name for the group and are known as The K Team. Projects have been chosen to undertake in addition to the course and will help compliment their Duke of Edinburgh's awards. Projects range from aquaria management to creative paining and survey work within the reserve.
Sunday 28th October
The Young Marine Wardens attended their second session learning about the marine centre and the role of the warden. Although the weather was wet and windy they still held good spirits out on the shore. After all, a true marine biologist can not fazed by grim weather! Good fun was had by all and experience was gained using the radios, marine life ID skills and seaweed collection.
Friday 26th October
Volunteers repeated another Chesil Beach dead seafan survey to add fuel to the Lyme Bay Reefs campaign. 18 volunteers collected 505 seafan skeletons from a 600m stretch of beach in just under two hours. There was a lot of attention from the media.
Monday 14th October
Dorset Wildlife Trust attended the annual Dive Show at the NEC, Birmingham along with Devon Wildlife Trust to run a very captivating stall with a serious campaign to save the Lyme Bay Reefs. Mermaids and a very interesting merman named 'Herman' aimed to draw in the crowds asking for help to save their home by asking the Government to close 60 square miles of the Bay; a mere 10%! Lyme Bay is home to seven types of UK coral and a number of other sponges and bryzoans which are slow growing and in many cases unable to repopulate against the damaging and unsustainable efffects of scallop dredgers. Over the two days, 2500 signatures were collected; a fantastic start to the Lyme Bay Campaign!
Wednesday 10th October
Staff and volunteers representing the Wildlife Trusts gathered together at Westminster today to deliver the 170,000 signatures gathered nationally under Petition Fish; a campaign to speed up the Marine Bill promised back in 2005. 3,500 signatures were gained though Dorset Wildlife Trust, mainly at the marine centre throughout the summer and it is hoped that the Marine Bill will be mentioned in the Queen's Speech this November.
Monday 1st October
The snorkelling trail and underwater camera have been brought in for over wintering until next season. The camera will go back out once the sea is calm and visibility is good, probably around April or May 2008.
15 Young Marine Wardens commenced their programme today and started with a short learning session on tides and zonation. This was followed by some rocky shore survey work; identifying the species found.
Monday 3rd September
 Everything came together over the August bank holiday, summer sunshine, neap tides and fantastic visibilty offering perfect diving conditions! The boat slip way was alive with an array of vessels and wardens were patrolling the reserve spreading the good word of the seashore code. All in all, a fantastic weekend was had by all and an almighty 1200 visitors entered the marine centre! SO there is a summer after all!
Monday 20th August
The national Marine Week is a celebration of the marine environment and conservation awareness raising events are hosted locally by Coastlink centres from Studland to Charmouth. Although the different centres run their own events, they meet up at the end of the week for Seafest which this year was hosted at Chesil on the 18th & 19th August. 
Despite the windy weather, many visitors turned up to view the stalls, activities and events held at the Chesil Beach visitor centre. There were opportunities to play games learning including impacts of marine litter and which fish are caught sustainably. Crafty activities included drift wood sculptures, seashell mobiles, fossils and much more! In addition there were displays on marine curios and information on the threat tourism plays upon demand for removal of rare species.
Friday 3rd August
 A number of would-be Young Marine Wardens, came along for a taster day hosted at the marine centre today. They are hoping to be one of 15 lucky individuals to gain an almost fully funded place upon a new project to commence in September 2007. The course will cover many aspects of marine biology, ecology and conservation and enable the 13-19 year olds the confidence to join the the established wardens and aid the marine awareness programme. There is a string possibility tht this programme will run every year.
Thursday 2nd August
After a number of website problems we are back in working order. Sightings will be regularly updated and we can look forward to additional pages over the coming months.
Tuesday 31st July
Our underwater camera is now LIVE and projecting images into the Marine Centre. The camera is able to rotate 360 degrees and zoom in and out on its subject; for a fantastic view from imemridge Bay. It's placement very much depends on good water visibility and calm seas as it could easily get damaged. Do contact the cente to find out whether it is working before you come down.
Saturday 28th July
Kimmeridge Wardens helped out at a Wild About Poole event in Poole Park. The theme behind the event was to bring wildlife awareness to the urban area. Stalls, demonstrations and childrens activities were on offer.
Dorset Wildlife Trust wardens asked for signatures for the Petition Fish campaign; asking Government to put the long awaited Marine Bill into the Queen's Speech this November. Fortunately, one warden was able to gain a VIP signature from the Mayor of Poole!
In addition to the petition, wardens were involving younger visitors with an educational game on catching sustainable fish, speaking awareness raising damaging fishing techniques such as scallop dredging and recommending supporting locally caught and sustainable methods of fishing such as potting and rod and line caught fish.
Other organisations in attendance included; RSPB, Greenpeace and Urban Heath Partnership.
Sunday 24th June
The Divers Weekend was sadly hindered by poor visibility and weather predictions. Our FishWatch Survey did gain some attention and a number of registered dive clubs still managed to collect some good data. Requested species sightings were john dorys, rays, cuckoo wrasse, seahorses, triggerfish and the rare black-face blenny. Out of these, a number of cuckoo wrasse were spotted and a few ray species. In addition, many other species were spotted including large numbers of spider crabs.
This will be an annual event and we hope for better diving conditions next year.
Monday 25th June
 Project Plankton weekend was well received and a number of un-expecting visitors came away with interesting plankton facts. Plankton is the name given to free floating, tiny sometimes microscopic plants and animals living in the sea which either life their complete life this way or turn into marine species such as crab, starfish and barnacles to name a few. Did you know that Basking Sharks, the second largest fish in the world feed on plankton and sieve the same amount of water as an Olympic sized swimming pool an hour? You’ll certainly think again about swimming with your mouth open!
Sunday 28th April
The snorkelling trail was installed in the bay, early May and all we need now is calm seas and good visibility! Don’t forget; waterproof guides, underwater cameras, masks and snorkels are available to hire (or buy in most cases too) from the marine centre. For tides, water visibility and safety information and other details contact the marine centre.
Sunday 15th April
The Great Dorset Beach Clean went with great success! Although calm seas
running up to the event minimised the usual amounts of rubbish upon the
shores, there was still plenty of small bits to collect. Both Kimmeridge
Bay and Worbarrow Bay were cleaned by a whopping 155 volunteers in total
collecting almost two tonnes in weight. Fabulous weather did not deter
the dedicated volunteers as they struggled through the soaring temperatures.
A BIG THANKS TO ALL THAT ATTENDED!!
Tuesday 10th
April
Bank holiday weekend went well, in total 1266 visitors came into the
centre! Our Easter events were well attended especially the Great Eggcase
hunt where 143 mermaids purses were found in the bay; our best record
yet!
Fastastic weather and calm seas beckoned divers, rockpoolers, crabbers
and even one or two brave swimmers! With sea temperature recorded in the
Reserve as 10 degrees centigrade I think most will wait for the warmer
water before going in.
Sunday 1st April
The centre is now opened Tuesday - Sunday from 09.00 - 17.00 (plus Bank
Holiday Mondays) for the rest of the season. Wardens will be onsite almost
every day.
Wednesday 28th
March
Both of the large tanks in the
'Beneath the Waves' room have been re-themed and re-stocked with native
inhabitants. Beautifully encrusted rocks were gathered during the
lowest tides of the year and new species include a Brill, Blue-Striped Squat
Lobster, Common Whelks, Shrimps, Pisa Crabs, Greater Pipefish and Hermit
Crabs. These will be returned to the wild in a short while.
Wednesday 21st
March
Our adult education course Wildlife
on a Rocky Shore was held today at the marine centre. Eight individuals
learnt all about rocky shore identification and lifesyles and had the opportunity
to put their theoretical understanding into practice with the Reserve Manager
Julie Hatcher out on the shore thereafter.
Saturday 24th
February
 Napoli debris is continuing to arrive in biggger amounts!
Hundreds of shampoo bottles, kinder eggs and their contents, cosmetics
and BMW parts are being reported, sadly accompanied by no doubt millions
of nurdles; tiny plastic pellets. All of these items add to the ever increasing
problem of marine litter - not just unsightly but dangerous to marine
life.
Saturday 17th
February
Our Wildlife Watch event Explore the Shore went very well
today. Ten individuals attended the Dorset Wildlife Trust members event
and were busied doing Strandline scavenger, shell and mermaid purse hunts
throughout the morning. After lunch they undertook a Rockpool Ramble and
discovered a number of native species uncovered during one of the lowest
tides of the year!
Wednesday 14th
February
We now have a group of 16 new wardens ready and willing to commence their
training on 18th February. They are from a wide variety of backgrounds
and we look forward to welcoming them aboard ready for the busy season!
Monday 5th February
There are now two full time wardens based at the marine centre at Kimmeridge.
This is the first in 30 years of the Reserve's designation. A step forward
for marine censervation!
Friday
26th January 
Individuals from Dorset WIldlife Trust and British
Divers Marine Life Rescue spent most of the week rescuing
oiled birds from Portland after the Napoli disaster. Hundreds of birds
found on the shore huddling together unable to fly or even float on the
water. Guillemots were largely affected yet there were a small number
of razor bills and gulls. Sadly, we were too late for many of the birds
yet in total around 1000 were found dead and alive!
Once covered in oil, the birds preen themselves unaware
that ingesting the toxic fluid burns their insides.
 The collected birds were safely carried to minimise stress
to the R.S.P.C.A who immediately weighed and hydrated them before sending
them off for cleaning and rehabilitation. It is hoped that these birds
will be fit for release within 3-6 weeks ready for the breeding season.
Organised searches may continue over the next few weeks.
If you would like to help, please contact us at the marine centre on 01929
481044 or Kimmeridge@dorsetwildlife.co.uk.
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