There is something special about breathing in the sea air as you stand on the Fylde Sand Dunes looking out across the Irish Sea.
On warm days you feel like your batteries are recharging and on wild and windy mornings you will get a blast that lifts you and prepares you for the rest of the day.
Listen to the herring gulls and black headed gulls screeching above you, watch oystercatchers dibbing in the sand with their bright red bills and sanderling flapping up and down as the tide brings seafood delights. You may also see dunlin, knot and godwit.
Morecambe Bay’s muddy banks are the best for wading birds, who feed here in summer and winter.
I have even seen little egret nesting in the marshy area close to Fairhaven Lake, a white bird which can hide really well in the green grasses.
Terns will fly by, heading to sanctuaries on the coast at our Seaforth nature reserve or inland at Brockholes and Mere Sands Wood.
Then there are more than 100 species of butterflies, bees and other assorted pollinators, buzzing around the various plants and grasses in the coastal greenery.
Further up the coast you will find crabs and other amazing sea life in the rock pools at Heysham, and our recent Irish Sea Day there helped us to unite with other Wildlife Trusts around the Irish Sea, to celebrate some of the wildlife under the waves.
Unfortunately, most of us only get to understand the diverse range of creatures in the Irish Sea, when they are washed up on the shore. We have had reports of dolphins, porpoises and turtles found dead, as well as random cases of hundreds of jellyfish on the beaches from Formby to Morecambe.
On the brighter side, we have seen school of dozens of bottle-nosed dolphins, sightings of giant basking sharks, humpback whales and the grey seals, that live and breed on Walney Island. Green and leatherback turtles have been found around the coast and, last year, a sunfish was spotted.
There have been a number of events and reports into this huge body of water and at the Wildlife Trusts we believe that a healthy and thriving Irish Sea underpins the economy, society and human well-being through the provision of essential goods and services such as food provision, climate regulation, improved water quality, flood and coastal erosion reduction, tourism, recreation and education.
Unfortunately, just like the land, the sea has been neglected by humanity for many centuries. There are protected areas in and around the Irish Sea, but active measures to conserve habitats are not being carried out. The report states: “36per cent of the Irish Sea is designated as a Marine Protected Area, however in reality only approximately 5per cent has any management in place and less than 0.01per cent is fully protected.”
As we continue to see the effects of climate change, we need to ensure that carbon stores, like many of the undersea habitats are protected – not just for us but to help wildlife to recover.
An annual Irish Sea Day will bring together the six countries that surround its waters, and it is good to know that events like this are just the start of a united campaign to turn the tide in the biodiversity crisis, where millions of species on the land and in the sea are at risk.
We can all make a difference – the next time you are walking on the beach in the sunshine or the rain, watching and listening to the wildlife, imagine a world of silence where the Irish Sea and its wildlife have been lessened by our inaction.
