Coastwatch Autumn Survey 2025 kick's off this Monday, September 15th
- Karin Dubsky
- Sep 12
- 3 min read
Dear Coastwatchers from earlier years,
The first brent geese have arrived and our 2025 autumn survey is about to start. We would love for you to participate again!
Everyone knows that the weather isn’t that inviting but once you are on the shore it is gorgeous! There are shore changes happening we would love you to report on. So if you can go back to a survey site or area you have surveyed before then your contribution on those background questions would be particularly valuable. For example: Waste – is it cleaner or dirtier, Nitrates in inflows and green algae carpets, the animals you see, including fish in streams, invasive alien species – new ones and disappearance or spread of ones you might have seen earlier.
Please download our general survey invite poster in case you wanted to pass the survey invites to friends, school, Tidy Towns:
A special call out to anyone who found seagrass which wasn’t officially known and became part of our seagrass finders. Please see very bottom of this message for the poster invite.
All past surveyors
To book your survey site(s) by new and improved method which Kevin created please click here
To contact your regional coordinator, or the team at HQ to get materials/advice, arrange or be included in a training event please click here.
To kick off the survey, we wish to introduce you to our team, flag planned follow-up work and hold a short clinic Monday 15th Sep. 7pm – 7.30pm. Join the Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 875 9201 1187
Passcode: 265467
Finally: More zooms and some themed meetings are planned every week on specific topics with expert attendance from both our network and outside.
The following are on the theme short list at present. Please let us know if you are interested in any of these or other topics:
Nitrates and Nitrates Action Plan
Nature Restoration
Marine Litter and tackling specific sources.
Invasive Alien Species
Dunes and beach management
Who is responsible and who to contact for issues in the coastal zone
Latest Coastwatch activities to prevent and halt shore damage. (We recently halted land reclamation in a Natura 2000 site. The case is still in court regarding restoration, but we think that the super effective local Coastwatcher and community action could act as a model to others).
Very best,
Karin and the whole Coastwatch team
EXTRA NOTE FOR SEAGRASS FINDERS
If you were able to go to your seagrass site - ideally as soon as possible - and while out autumn surveying check on your seagrass health, any visible pressures and how big is the meadow or lawn now compared to last time you saw it – that would be superb. Plus a lovely photo of you and it. With your permission we would exhibit it.
We just got confirmation that Minister Timmy Dooley is happy to launch our latest seagrass map poster with past finders on Oct 9th at 10am in Ag House Dublin and all seagrass finders are invited. Afterwards we would like to meet you for a sambo, planning follow up for better seagrass information and protection in TCD. On that occasion we also want to exhibit some of your seagrass posters both in hard copy and PowerPoint.
Having recorded seagrass damage caused by hot weather and totally avoidable damage caused by human activity which can be addressed, we are lucky that more work on addressing the latter has been accepted as a case study in an EU more4nature research project. So, seagrass finders, to create a group with all of you, please respond by email to Karin or Mary Hachey maryhachey@coastwatch.org who has just started working with us on the follow up through the more4nature EU Horizon project. We can add you to the seagrass event invite list and check which seagrass beds are not being covered by finders so we get surrogates to check.
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