Thanks to Claire for this report back from the event under the pier. Ed
Ian Boyd from Arc explained, “The busy Pier and the often over-looked beach to the west of it are home to masses of weird and wonderful marine wildlife – dozens of species, many of which have made their home on the 200 year old pier struts and many, like the sponge ‘gardens’, which only come to light at extreme low tide.”
For Under the Pier, visitors followed the sea out and explored what was revealed, layer by layer… from shells to sand and eel grass out to snakelock and daisy anemones, breadcrumb sponges and seasquirts – a huge display of natural wonders all yards from Ryde’s busiest entrance, streets and arcades.
Visitors started off by creating a shell gallery and marine wildlife ‘wall of fame’, while Ian and the team from Arc were on hand to help visitors identify their finds or have a go at sand-sieving and plankton-netting.
Sand-poolers then recorded their species (and their thoughts!) on an ‘anemone board’ made especially for the day by artist Ian Whitmore; the resulting list of species will be fed back to the HIWWT’s Shoresearch team to support their research here.
Claire Hector, Natural Wight project co-ordinator adds,
“Our section of the pier itself was decorated with some fantastic artwork, sea creatures designed and painted by the Cool Time Club kids at Slade Road, Oakfield again with the help of Ian Whitmore and Barnardos. Thanks also to Wightlink for permissions. The day was announced by Ryde’s Town Crier with over 130 visitors coming from as far afield as Haylands, Southampton and Nepal! Spectrum residents from Lordshill, including some young members of the Spectrum Wildlife Club also came over to Ryde especially to join in.”
Ian Boyd summed it up,
“All in all, a fantastic day, hopefully one of many to come, and now whenever we look at Ryde Pier, we know that life under the pier is as colourful, varied and dynamic as it is on the top!”
This free Natural Wight event was funded by Spectrum who run the project, with the help of EWLP and Heritage Lottery Funding as part of the upcoming Down to the Coast programme.
