I recently volunteered at an event hosted by Mossy Earth and Moray Ocean Community to search for invasive slipper limpets on the beach in Cromarty. This species of marine snail is an unwelcome arrival from North America that was only recently spotted in the Moray Firth, and MOC and Mossy Earth are trying to get a handle on their spread early by reporting sightings to NatureScot and removing as many as we can manage. It was a lovely afternoon to comb the beach with like-minded ocean lovers, and while it was disappointing that we found so many slipper limpets, there’s a level of satisfaction provided by making a positive impact on the coastal environment by working together to try to stop this spread. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have our efforts rewarded with tea and cakes (Thanks Mossy Earth!). 

In addition to removing a significant number of live slipper limpets from the beach there were also so many fun ocean finds to get excited about! I was wowed by the abundance of oyster shells on the beach, evidence of the massive oyster reefs that would have once existed in the Cromarty Firth. One shell even had a tiny nudibranch inside, my favourite find of the day! The best part was being able to share this discovery with people who are just as excited as me about spotting a tiny marine slug. At every MOC event I truly feel like I’m with my people.  

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I hope to spend even more time connecting with people and making a positive impact on our sea this summer through my seasonal role with Marine Conservation Society. My job as Dornoch Restoration Officer is all about engaging the communities around the Dornoch Firth with DEEP, or the Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Project. It’s a partnership between Glenmorangie Distillery, Heriot-Watt University, and Marine Conservation Society that aims to restore 4-million European flat oysters to the Dornoch Firth. These oysters were once abundant in the Dornoch Firth, but like many other oyster populations in the UK, were wiped out by overfishing sometime in the 1800’s. So far, we’ve released just over 100,000 oysters back into the Firth through DEEP, and we’re excited to scale up the project massively in the coming years!  

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While Heriot-Watt University leads on the oyster restoration and research, enhancing the environment in the Dornoch Firth is a massive task, and it will be so much more effective with the help of the local community. One of the best ways we can support the project is through citizen science! There’s all sorts of data that we can collect to study the ocean, whether you have a scientific background or not. This information can help piece together a better understanding of how our local seas are changing over time and what impact our restoration work is having. I’ll be organising a whole bunch of citizen science events around the Dornoch Firth this summer, from May to September, and I hope some of you will join me! We’ll be collecting data on marine litter, oyster shell distribution, seaweed diversity, and more. Our DEEP community events this year will be shared in an Eventbrite collection, check it out and come join me for some coastal connection and positive action for our seas!  

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