Orkney Otters……. Save Windermere…..Holy Moly….
by Bernie Bell - 07:59 on 12 November 2022
Orkney Otters…..
Orkney Otter skull - 2016…..
Pic. by Ross Flett – Thank you Ross!..... https://en-gb.facebook.com/groups/133013273445588/?mibextid=HsNCOg
Orkney Otter skull - Iron Age…..
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=15972
And closer to home…..here’s a story ……..
A few years ago we made a pond in our garden. We filled it with water and started to plant it up.
I had a nicely rounded white quartz pebble which I’d picked up on a beach here in Orkney. So, as a kind of offering/dedication, Mike and I stood by the pond and dropped the white quartz pebble into the deepest bit.
Next day I went down to the pond and found the white quartz pebble lying by the side, between the pond and a mound we made from the soil which came from the hole we’d dug for the pond. This puzzled me, greatly. I don’t discount fairy goings-on but when it’s right there in front of you, it’s a bit …….puzzling.
Then I remembered that our neighbour told us that there are otters around here. We’ve found sections of Sea-urchin shell on the beach, neatly broken, and thought that they had probably been eaten by otters.
We thought they lived down by the shore and didn’t realize that they came up to the houses. We decided that the puzzle of the pebble was probably……….otters playing with the stone.
Imagine an otter coming across our garden, finding the newly made pond with something white glimmering at the bottom of the deep bit - dived in, picked up the stone, brought it ashore to see what it was, found it wasn’t edible, and left it there.
Mike and I stood by the pond and solemnly dropped the white quartz pebble back into the deep bit. And…….
A couple of days later it was back on the side again! So I placed it on the Howe, and left it there.
We love the pond – here’s what I wrote to someone when we first filled it.
“Did I tell you about our pond?
We’ve made a pond in the middle of our meadow. It’s an oval shape. The day that we filled it with water Mike was just finishing off the edges, when the moon rose. So we had an oval of still water, in the meadow, reflecting the moon. I called it ‘Moony Pond’. It also reflects the sun and the sky, so sometimes we have an oval of sky, in the meadow. When the wind blows, it ripples, which is also pleasing. When it’s planted up it’ll change but, for now, we have an oval of water doing things in the middle of the grass. It also balances the spiral, beautifully.
I believe this to be the kind of thing which would have delighted the ancient folk. The land, connecting with the sky, through the water. The water, pulling down the sky, into the land. The planets, shimmering in the water. We’re very pleased with it. In my world, this all means something!”
And, we watched the eclipse of the sun in the water in the pond so’s not to damage our eyes – now that was something to see!
Life is brim-full of wonders and they do, truly, balance the ……..other stuff.
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Otters do like to play with stones – not an Orkney Otter – but can’t resist it….
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10217497105118607&id=1205640987
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Save Windermere….
The latest from Matt Staniek ….. @mattstaniek
“Before you read the blog, the campaign’s film is worth a watch (over 100k views already and rising!)
Over the summer, we witnessed one of the largest algal bloom outbreaks ever recorded on Lake Windermere, one that encompassed the entire northern basin. This is a warning of what is to come. Not enough is being done to address the fundamental issue in Windemere: excessive phosphate input. The organisation responsible for the majority of phosphate entering into Lake Windemere?
United Utilities.
Lake Windemere is struggling to adapt to the climate crisis. A steady increase in water temperature, flooding, tourism and inadequate wastewater infrastructure is having a visible impact. I fear these amalgamating pressures will trigger an algal bloom event, big enough, that thousands of fish will wash up dead on the shores of the lake. We had just enough water flowing through our rivers this summer. If the past six months is anything to go by, I truly believe Lake Windermere is doomed.
United Utilities are failing to take the necessary actions required to adequately address the excessive phosphate that is being discharged from their assets.
The Windermere situation is the epitome of the water industry failing our watery environments. United Utilities’ most recent investment, into the catchment, was £40 million between 2015-20. Over that same time period, the company paid out £1.6 billion in profits to their shareholders. Clearly, we are not seeing proportional investment. United Utilities’ infrastructure is seemingly unable to cope with the booming tourism industry, here in the Lake District, as well as the growing resident population. I am convinced, that at the height of summer, United Utilities’ assets are being overrun
Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) has been able to assist me with identifying the extent of United Utilities’ illegal spilling. Frustratingly, a considerable proportion of the necessary data has been withheld. United Utilities’ transparency around data has been really concerning. From the available data, WASP were able to identify at least one wastewater treatment works (WwTW), at Ambleside, that was consistently spilling illegally. Building on these findings, WildFish were able to help me identify the impact Ambleside WwTW was having on the freshwater ecology. Invertebrate sampling found a 44% reduction in species present downstream of the WwTW compared with upstream.
With all of this mounting evidence, I couldn’t just sit back and watch. I was tired of seeing the organisations, put in place to protect the lake, blindly failing to hold United Utilities to account. So I have kick-started a campaign: Save Windemere. The aims of the campaign are simple:
- To collect all evidence of damage and illegality caused by United Utilities - riverbed pollution, invertebrate deterioration and breaches of discharge permit(s).
- To compel the regulator to act to stop United Utilities’ illegal sewage discharges.
- To pressure United Utilities - at its own expense and not the bill payers' - to adequately invest, to provide the capacity in its sewage works and stop using Windermere and its rivers as a sewer.
- To lobby United Utilities into taking ownership of the 1,900 private discharge points that flow into Lake Windermere.
To finance the campaign, I am actively fundraising. My Crowdfunder made £10,000 within a week of opening. The first instalment is being invested into a collaboration between WildFish, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and I. We are setting up a Windemere invertebrate monitoring hub. This will start collecting the evidence no-one, independent of United Utilities, is willing to collect. This will show us exactly how these sites are damaging the freshwater ecology of the rivers and generate vital data to give to the Environment Agency. The data from invertebrate sampling is more robust than spot water sampling as it can give us an indication of pollution over the years and not just a single point in time.
Further funding will help support the production of new films and media, just like the one at the start of the blog! For me, it is paramount that I am able to reach those who are currently unaware of the degradation occurring in the Windermere catchment. It is Windermere’s natural beauty that attracts millions of visitors each year. All deserve to be informed of the strain wastewater is placing it under.
Put simply. I am a local lad trying his best to protect his patch from the devastating operations of a billion-pound-serial-polluting-mega-corporation. This campaign is an opportunity for me to gain some support and spread my message. It is my hope, that together, we can bring about change in Windermere and hold United Utilities to account for their actions.”
You can find more information about the campaign here, and the crowdfunder here.
Matt Staniek is a Zoologist, Conservationist and Campaigner in the Lake District.
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=15991
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Holy Moly…
What a place to live!!!! BBC pics of Scotland 4th – 11th of November 2022…. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-63515940
‘Brocken Spectres’ by Willie Matheson and Peter Murdie…. !!!!!
Bryan Wark’s image of the ferry to Cumbrae brought back good memories… https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/03/30/cumbrae-memories/
And yes, we really do get those kind of sunrises and sunsets - there’s one happening right now. Holy Moly.
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Here’s one I made earlier…. https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/05/02/a-couple-of-orkney-doocots/
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