At the event, we would be hosting our own engagement stall along with a number of other marine and wildlife organisations. We gratefully (and excitingly) accepted the invitation! Fast forward to January 27th and we were saying a brief farewell to Alderney and hello to the largest of the Channel Islands (which is fifteen times bigger than our little island!)
Rowie and Alex's Trip to Jersey for the Marine Mission 2023
At the end of 2022, Alex (the AWT Ramsar Officer) and I were offered the chance by the Jersey Marine Conversation to travel to Jersey and attend their Marine Mission Event!
Friday 27th
Morning
We set off (very) early to grab the first flight from Alderney to Guernsey. Prior to this, Alex had created a display puffin out of litter we had found on the island’s beaches and chicken wire to keep it all together. The aim was to get the puffin from Alderney to Jersey and back again for the event as hold luggage. Standing at one metre tall, weighing twenty kilograms and full of litter, I couldn’t help but look at the sculpture and think there might be a few…inconveniences on the way.
I was proven to be mostly wrong though and we landed in Guernsey and got our connection to Jersey with little problems (but also a little running across the airport).
Afternoon
We landed at Jersey airport at 3:00 PM where we were given a warm welcome by Kevin McIlwee, the Chairman of Jersey Marine Conservation (JMC) and taken to where we would be staying over the next few days. Afterwards, Alex and I decided to investigate the local area before going out for dinner with Kevin, the JMC team and associates.
The weather was mild and the late afternoon sun was gorgeous, so we headed down to the picturesque St. Aubin’s Bay and did some rock pooling. This 5km beach stretches along the south coast of the island and it felt like the sand went on forever. With the low tide, we could walk right up to and around Elizabeth Castle, built from the 16th century onwards on a tidal island. Along the way, we spotted Lesser Pipefish, Daisy Anemones, a Rockling and lots and lots of oysters! I adore Alderney’s beaches (with a particular soft spot for Longis Bay), but it was refreshing to walk along a shore I’d never seen before.
Saturday 28th
Morning
We spent our first morning driving around the island with Kevin, stopping off at a few places to view one of Jersey’s Ramsar sites (areas designated as being internationally important under the Ramsar Convention).
On Alderney, we have one Ramsar site which was created in 2005 by the States of Alderney and covers the west coast and Burhou island. It was the first in the Bailiwick of Guernsey and is now one of eight in the Channel Islands, four of which are located in Jersey’s waters. On Jersey, we were looking at the South East Coast Ramsar Site, which includes one of the largest intertidal reefs in Europe as well as notable seagrass beds.
We then headed north and got to see Alderney from Jersey’s viewpoint! This was followed by a quick stop off at the scenic Bouley Bay, a small harbour with a pebbly beach. It’s surrounded by lush green cliffs, which are some of the tallest on the island and make it feel like the bay appeared out of nowhere.
Afternoon
Later on, we continued our tour of Jersey, but this time we were joined by Lauren Rose (a Jersey-based ecological consultant) and we started off with a walk along Portelet Common in the southwest. The coastal heathland stroll was particularly refreshing, especially with the fantastic view of the sea and down to St. Brelade’s Bay. We took this opportunity, with the picturesque surroundings, to make comparisons between our two islands and one similarity that shone the most was the sense of community we felt.
From there, we were taken to a known location for Long-eared Owl owlets which historically bred in Alderney, but are now fairly rare (the last confirmed breeding was in 2012). We were told to (very quietly) look for “fluffy pinecones that are giving you a funny look”. It didn’t take long before we spotted one…two…three…and finally four fluffy pinecones high up in the tree that were definitely giving us an odd look! Both Alex and I have agreed this is one of the highlights of the trip!
Finally, we took our time walking along the causeway up to La Corbière lighthouse (located on the southern-western tip of Jersey) as we looked at various seaweed species in the numerous rock pools. We visited on a calm day, but it isn’t hard to imagine wild waves crashing over the outcrop and I’ve since found out that Victor Hugo perfectly described it as ‘the herdsman of the waves’.
Sunday 29th
Today was the day – it was the Marine Mission!
We got up early, grabbed a quick breakfast and ran to help set up the event, including carrying the puffin statue around the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel (which was hosting the event). Our stall was mainly focused on Alderney’s incredible Ramsar site, with literature and streaming of our PuffinCam recordings from June last year. Alderney is home to between 150 – 180 breeding pairs of Puffins and compared to Jersey’s four individual Puffins, we found that this resource was especially engaging. Of course, the Puffin got a few looks and mentions and we even invited the children to pick a name for it…which still hasn’t been decided!
We also took along some shark and ray eggs (also known as ‘mermaid purses’) and seabird eggs from Alderney. With these, we played a ‘Guess the Egg’ game with Ringed Plover, Gannet, Razorbill and Puffin identification cards which was well-liked by all ages and often surprising to everyone. For the creative types, we had a necklace-making station with pieces of sea glass I had found throughout the previous year on Alderney (mostly on Longis Bay) and also using colourful crafting wire. Having learnt how to make this type of jewellery myself as part of a fundraiser for a previous job, I loved passing on the skill to others while discussing the differences and similarities between our two islands.
Hundreds of members of the public showed up at the Marine Mission to celebrate and learn all about the Channel Islands’ incredible underwater world! Along with the JMC, we were joined by a number of other organisations including: the Jersey Ramsar Management Authority, the Jersey Biodiversity Centre, the Environmental Department (Invasives Team), RNLI and Action for Wildlife. During some brief interludes, we took turns looking around the different stalls and talking to the other groups. I think for us, like most, one of the spotlights of the event was the JMC’s Touch Tank, which had Asian Shore Crabs, Cup Corals and Clingfish! Another memorable display was the interactive nurdle (small pellets of plastic) sifter presented by Plastic Free Jersey.
Being one of the few organisations and stalls at the Marine Mission that wasn’t from Jersey, we definitely drew the public’s attention and I hope we did Alderney proud in representing its fascinating wildlife. Overall, the event was a huge success and it was incredible to see such a high number of adults and children engaged in the topic and we left feeling very positive for the future!
Monday 30th
Morning
Another early rise…but this time we were saying goodbye to Jersey and heading to the airport. Absolutely exhausted, we checked the Puffin in on the flight, I forgot to take all of the liquids out of my hand luggage and Alex almost fell off his chair (taking the table with him). But – we managed to get on our flight in one piece.
Afternoon
Having a brief stopover in Guernsey, we decided to make the most of it and walk down to Petit Bot Bay on the south coast. The forested downhill walk was lovely and we managed to blow out the cobwebs from our journey so far. Once there, we settled on the beach, Alex attended a conference virtually and I did a bit of paddling before travelling back to the airport to continue our journey home.
Alex and I would like to thank everyone who we met in Jersey and who took the time to make us feel welcome, especially the Jersey Marine Conservation. We arrived back in Alderney, feeling positive and confident that the relationships we made will benefit both our islands' environments in the future!
