Maerl discovery

Volunteers from Cornwall Wildlife Trust were recently treated to some incredible finds during a county-wide survey of life on some of our most important rocky shores. The ‘shore search’ survey was carried out at St Agnes, Polzeath, Looe, Fowey and Helford over four days, which saw some of the lowest spring tides of the year.

Helford VMCA’s Elizabeth West was at the Falmouth Marine School’s Fresher’s Fair on Friday 28th September armed with banners, leaflets and lots of enthusiasm! Elizabeth was representing the Helford VMCA and ensuring new students at Cornwall’s ‘College of the Ocean’ were informed about the work of the VMCG, our events program, marine surveys and volunteering…

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Helford Voluntary Marine Conservation Area in 2013 we are replacing the old HMVCA boards around the river.  There are currently 11 of these boards at key access points on both sides of the river.  This is the new style of board, designed by Sarah McCartney  at the Cornwall…

An underwater survey of the Helford in mid April was made possible thanks to the use of Plymouth University’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and a small team of enthusiastic volunteers. Coordinated by Angie Gall, Richard Ticehurst from Plymouth University brought the ROV down for the day to survey some of the fascinating underwater habitats along…

Shoresearch is a citizen science project run by Cornwall Wildlife Trust that aims to improve our understanding of marine life within and around Cornwall’s Marine Protected Areas. Volunteers are provided training on shore identification and are encouraged to take part in organised events and to run their own surveys.

See what we found in rook-pooling on Helford Passage beach at Christmas:

Sunday 16th March saw a group of us down on the beach at Prisk, with scientific adviser Angie Gall to have our first ‘teach on the beach’ session to improve our identification skills ready for the summer season.  We concentrated on Seaweeds this time, gathering a good selection of species to take back with us…