Trust wants volunteers to collect marine data

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust are hosting a Marine Citizen Science Day to encourage the public to take part in collecting data to allow organisations like the Wildlife Trust to gather more diverse data to inform conservation work and support more extensive legal protections for sensitive marine areas.

The event forms part of four-year project Secrets of the Solent.

Project manager Rachel Bryan said: ‘The data collected by our brilliant volunteers helps us to better protect the amazing species we have in the Solent, such as cuttlefish, seahorses, and native oysters.

‘Taking part in citizen science is not only easy but also fun and rewarding, so it’s a great choice for anyone looking to make a difference to our marine environment. We are very excited to welcome so many great initiatives to this event, and hope lots of people will come along on the day.’

Bird Aware Solent, Blue Marine Foundation and Just One Ocean are some of the organisations supporting the event which will take place in the Empire Room at Royal Victoria Country Park from 10.30am until 3pm on Saturday, June 8.