World Oceans Day 2021: Take a guided walk with Green Sefton 8th June in Crosby, Ainsdale & Hightown

The United Nations mark World Oceans Day on Tuesday 8th June, with a virtual celebration of the wonder of the seas and how they support humanity and the natural world.

Here in Sefton, John Dempsey from the Council’s Green Sefton Service will be marking the day with guided walks along the tideline at Crosby, Hightown and Ainsdale to allow people to enjoy the incredible flora and fauna that lies between the waves and the dunes on the Sefton coast.

The walks will take place as follows:

• Crosby at 9.30am, meeting at the coast end of South Road, Waterloo;

• Hightown at 12.30pm, meeting at the end of Lower Alt Road;

• Ainsdale at 3pm, meeting at Ainsdale Discovery Centre (PR8 2QB).

John will be leading the three walks with an eye on the tideline (but also what lies around it and above it). Each walk will last approximately two hours.

With some Covid-19 restrictions still in place, and social distancing a must, booking is essential, so to reserve a place on one of these walks, please email john.dempsey@sefton.gov.uk

A note from John for Word Oceans Day

The oceans cover over 70 per cent of the planet and provide 50 per cent of our oxygen, and we all have a responsibility to look after them as best we can.

Most of our biodiversity lurks below, on or above the waves.

It is one of the reasons why Green Sefton works closely with our great community groups, volunteers, ambassadors, landowners, conservation groups and emergency services to keep our coastline as clean as possible.

The reptiles, amphibians, birds, wild flowers, mammals and invertebrates that can be found along the Sefton coast can all be destroyed by pollution.

Even if the spectacular biodiversity we can enjoy on our doorstep doesn’t interest you, managing pollution, whether it be plastics or balloon releases, should be common sense to all – plastics once broken-down end up in our food chain.

So, the litter we as a species dump, we as a species end up eating.

If that’s not a good enough reason to behave responsibly and dispose of litter properly, I don’t know what is.

We are lucky to live so close to such a long stretch of coastline, especially one with such specialised diversity, from the rarest of plants to unusual insects, including the Sandhill Rustic, a stunning moth that spends most of its life under the sand, emerging for a few short nights in August, and Armadilidium album, a remarkable species of woodlouse that occurs along just a handful of coastlines and is adapted to living on and amongst tidal debris. Huge Atlantic Grey Seals bob about in the shallows over summer. Migrating and nesting birds take advantage of the coast too, from the smallest wader to the biggest gull.

So why not join me for a walk on June 8th and make the most of our incredible coastline – I look forward to seeing you!

For more information on the World Oceans Day, go to: https://www.un.org/en/observances/oceans-day