“New Website Here . We decided to set up Brixham Seawatch about 11 years ago in an effort to produce positive and useful information about cetaceans via the fishing industry. It began as a very personal thing. My husband and I had just bought our first trawler together, although John had been a fisherman and skipper for many years. We had always taken a great interest in the marine world around us and had compiled over the years a marine life diary and photographed many things of interest. However what prompted us to start the scheme that went on to become Brixham Seawatch was our own personal need to ‘put back’ just a small part of what we had ‘taken out’.
“Being part of the fishing industry had provided us with a wonderful freedom and way of life but we have always been aware of taking from a natural resource and we therefore wanted to be allowed to redress the balance if possible – albeit ever so slightly! That winter in particular fishermen had spoken about dead pilot whales which they had spotted floating well out to sea. It was interesting because the bodies never seemed to come ashore and were therefore not recorded.
“I felt this information was important and was being wasted, so we initially started with a handful of beam trawlers recording mainly sightings of live cetaceans. We needed concise but user-friendly recording forms that would contain enough information to be of scientific value but would also be fairly quick and inviting to fill in! As the scheme was purely voluntary, we could not get away from the idea that fishermen were not exactly looking for whales and dolphins and they did have better things to do with their time!
“It was important that different species were correctly identified and while the fishermen were wonderfully knowledgeable about what they were used to seeing they could not necessarily tell a dolphin from a porpoise. Nick Tregenza of the Cornish Wildlife Trust came to the rescue and helped me produce the sightings forms that we use today and also provided a great deal of cetacean species information. His help has been invaluable.
“Since that time we have learned a great deal. The scheme has gone from strength to strength as more and more fishing vessels have become involved from all areas of the industry. Because we have fishing boats inshore and offshore covering so many areas I feel our information is now fairly comprehensive and of great value. Certainly over the years we have received some truly wonderful and memorable sightings, from regular accounts of bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins and pilot whales to heart-stoppingly exciting sightings of minke whales, orcas and fin whales. What a time we have had! The fishermen do really seem to have taken the scheme “on board” and their enthusiasm and support has been tremendous, with more boats becoming involved each year. I feel that I can see these magnificent creatures through their eyes – and nothing is more rewarding than receiving new sightings forms full of wonderful cetacean information, or taking a telephone call from a fisherman at sea telling me that he is surrounded by dolphins leaping and bow-riding, or that he can see common dolphins in their hundreds as far as the eye can see! That’s really living!
“On a more serious note, my hope for the future is that we can take the scheme one step further and provide a more detailed and comprehensive information service in other areas. Perhaps we can provide information on other kinds of marine life such as seabirds, basking sharks, seals, turtles and the unusual fish that we see, while also reporting oil pollution and environmental problems at sea. Whilst always continuing to maintain the enthusiasm and impetus for the cetacean sightings scheme in order, first and foremost, to monitor and protect.
“One of the most interesting things about fishermen participating in a recording scheme, something important and in fact essential, is that there is no harassment involved as might perhaps take place if people are actively looking for the cetaceans they are seeking to monitor. Cetaceans are simply noted in the course of the days work, there is just no time for anything else!
“I wish I could wave a magic wand for the British fishing industry too. I wish they could return to the heady days of being allowed to fish when and where they want, at all times and in their own waters, without fear of prosecution. But the European Union and the Common Fisheries policy preclude all of that. Therefore with all the pressures involved in the modern-day fishing industry there is all the more reason to thank them all for the wonderful cetacean observations and records that they produce, voluntarily and with very little thanks, that would otherwise be completely lost and not available from any other source. Without the fishermen Brixham Seawatch would be lost and probably would never have started! As it is, fishermen from all around the southwest continue to participate in producing information about, while at the same time enjoying, some of the most wonderful creatures on Earth”.
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Photo by Sean Hernon of Digital Pictures
Lindy Hingley