12:04pm Thursday 3rd July 2008
Students on marine science course at Falmouth Marine School organised a 24-hour BioBlitz at Maenporth Beach in Falmouth.
The biodiversity study was a trial run for a larger, public event to be held next year.
The BioBlitz concept was originally designed in 1996 by Sam Droege from the US Geological Survey. Commonly held in North America, Australia and New Zealand, the first BioBlitz in the UK was held in Nottinghamshire in 2006. Held to widen public awareness of biodiversity issues and the need to conserve our habitats, the Falmouth Marine School trial is thought to be the first predominantly marine BioBlitz held in this country.
The study involved over 15 students from the BTEC National Diploma Marine Biology & Ecology course and the Marine Science and Marine Environmental Management Foundation Degrees. They spent 24 hours photographing coastal and woodland plants and rocky shore animals; trapping insects; observing marine birds and mammals; seine netting for fish; collecting plankton; taking mud samples from a brackish water pool and recording bat calls and the dawn chorus.
The students also undertook underwater photography by SCUBA diving.
Megan Preece, first year student on Marine Biology and Ecology National Diploma worked the entire 24 hours. "It was great to gather so much data, a lot of which I can use for my final year project next year. It was a really exciting opportunity and good fun too. The experience has put us all in a good position when we organise and run the bigger BioBlitz 2009," she said.
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