Ship to Shore
How can we engage people and share the secrets of the sea? Sarah Welton looks at
interpretation techniques for engaging the public in coastal and marine issues.
Glass bottom boat, The Fleet
Observer runs trips on the Fleet
Lagoon in Dorset, the largest
saline lagoon in the UK, giving
people an ‘up close and personal’
experience of the lagoon’s many
marine and animal species. It is
managed by the Fleet and
Swannery Trust, and is operated
on a not-for-profit basis.
10 The edge Autumn 2006
L
ots of people visit the coast in
holiday mood with time to
explore an environment that is
‘different’ from home. To most of us,
the nearest we can get to ‘hands-on’
with the marine environment is rock-
pooling or visiting an aquarium – we
cannot see or get to grips with what is
below low water mark. How many
people realise that the underwater
‘seascape’ is like the landscape we are
familiar with? Reefs and gullies are like
ridges and valleys, seagrass beds and
kelp forests like grassy plains and
woodland and the wildlife doesn’t stop
at low water mark. The coast is a
valuable link between our terrestrial
world and the sea.
Most of us are aware of the need for
conservation on land, but marine
conservation is lagging far behind –
out of sight, out of mind, perhaps.
Interpreting this unfamiliar world and
human impacts on it is a challenge
but the plus side is that the sea is full
of mystery. Who isn’t excited by the
fact that we still know so little about
what is under the sea?
If we want people to appreciate and
understand coastal and marine
wildlife, be concerned about its
conservation and take some
individual responsibility, it is
important to select the best
mechanisms to get our messages
across. Whatever our age, we learn
when there is active involvement –
people retain about 10 per cent of
what they hear, 30 per cent of what
they read, 50 per cent of what they see
and 90 per cent of what they do, so we
need to get people involved.
With modern technology and more
traditional methods at our disposal,
how can we engage people and share
 Purbeck Marine Wildlife Rescue
Snorkelling for softies

the secrets of the sea? Printed
interpretive materials might sound ‘old
hat’ but as marine life is so colourful
and eye-catching, they can be a good
way of getting messages across to a large
audience, if resources are limited. A bottomed boat will only work in the
trick worth remembering is that if you
want people to be attracted to a picture
of the natural world, however stunning,
include a person somewhere in the
challenge. Boat trips, plankton trawls,
lifting submerged objects, eg a lobster
pot, lifted from the seabed all help to
understand what lies beneath the
waves. It is often assumed that a glass-
tropics but ‘The Fleet Observer’ in
Dorset is proof that it can work here,
too.
The sea is mysterious, exciting and fun,
however, too often ‘out of sight…out of
mind’. We can all share the secrets of
the sea.
Sarah Welton, Marine and Coastal Education,
Interpretation and Training
Email: sarahwelton@oceans.f9.co.uk

picture – subliminal but it really works!
In such a watery place, water-proof
guides are a good idea – laminated for
the beach or printed on plastic for sea
use!
Helping people to explore marine and
coastal environments and see the
plants and animals for themselves has
got to be a priority at an accessible
coastal site. There are ways to do this to
suit all budgets. Again guided walks
and trails might seem old-fashioned but
they are still as popular as ever, raise
funds and provide the opportunity to
get your messages across. Tools to help
people look more closely when
exploring rockpools and shallow water
are a reverse periscope (easily made
from drain pipe, Perspex and a small
mirror), with which to peep under over-
hangs and masks so that participants
can lie on rocks or ledges and see what
snorkellers see without getting their
feet wet – ‘Snorkelling for Softies’.
When it comes to the offshore
perspective, it is a bit more of a
Victoria Copley
Access to the beach a problem?
Remote techniques at coastal centres
are the next best thing. Aquaria,
touch tanks, touch tables, video
(recorded or real-time), digital inter-
actives, hydrophones – the scope is as
endless as your budget and they bring
the environment to the visitor.
Events with a marine and coastal
theme – SeaFest, Fish Festivals, Marine
Week are an opportunity to
communicate to a huge audience.
Real-time underwater video, games and
activities, displays and demonstrations
don’t just interpret the natural world
but also conservation issues.
There are lots of good examples of
coastal interpretation. What they have
in common is they tell stories, are
relevant to everyday experience, arouse
curiosity and above all are enjoyable
and don’t have to be ‘hi-tech’. The best Fisherman making traditional
way to convey messages is one person lobster pots at Weymouth
talking to another and if you can Fish Festival
involve the public in on-going
projects, they are ‘hooked’.
The edge Autumn 2006 11