Latest news with #fishermen
The Sun
4 hours ago
- General
- The Sun
One of UK's most tranquil seaside spots at risk of losing golden sands after huge blowhole emerges
A HARBOUR in a popular seaside town is facing a major issue after a huge blowhole has formed. The South Devon beach has seen the effects of erosion caused by decades of battering waves. 3 3 Now Hope Cove harbour is doing everything it can to save their breakwater afte a blowhole formed in the middle. Built 98 years ago by fisherman, the harbour wall was last repaired in 1983. Since then, there have been no funds available to refurbish it any further. Shocking discovery During construction, fishermen would work with the tide, building a section with each tide change. Between these periods, debris, rocks, and stones would be thrown in the middle and left there while the next section was built. Over the years, cracks have appeared and high water can be seen blowing the debris through the sea wall. Sean Hassall is the joint harbour master on Hope Cove Harbour and explained that the force of the waves has given the breakwater a significant battering. 'We had the breakwater X-rayed a few years ago and to our horror, there's loads of voids between our breakwater,' said Sean. This has caused a blowhole to form in the middle of the wall, which Sean says will be detrimental to the harbour and surrounding area in time. 'The kids think the blowhole is great, but it's only a matter of time before the breakwater goes," he explained. "If it goes we lose all the sand off the beach." Hope Cove relies massively on this golden sand beach for tourism, meaning the town will suffer a financial blow. Further problems On top of that as, cliffs and a mains sewage pipe also sit close by, and could potentially be affected. 'It will erode the cliff where the pathways go over to Inner Hope and Outer Hope, and along that path, there is a mains South West Water sewage pipe so that will obviously impact on the sewage system and South West Water,' the expert said. The harbour masters have considered various options for recovery of the breakwater, ranging from £1 million to £5 million. 'We're going for the just over £1 million option, it's an easier option for us,' explained Sean. And due to the carcinogenic nature of concrete, the harbour are unable to use it. Instead, they plan to bring in big boulders to reinforce the wall and repair what is already there. And since the harbour is completely independent and not funded by the South Hams District Council, all the money will have to be raised by the harbour and Friends of Hope Cove, a charity designed to protect the cove. "We have the Friends of Hope Cove Harbour, which are a brilliant group, they're the driving force to try and raise the money to rebuild our harbour wall,' said Sean. The harbour is planning a public meeting on Wednesday, August 6 to discuss their plans and when they will go ahead. 'There's lots of indications that there might be money there, but we first need to know how much it's going to cost, when we're going to do it, who's going to do it," said Sean. "Once we know that detail, we can then go out to the wider public and say look, we need the money who's going to help us'. 'Its getting the word out to people, a lot of people are very passionate about our village, it is a special place'. The Sun has reached out to the local council for comment. More on seaside towns The best and worst seaside towns in the UK have been officially named. Plus, a popular seaside town ranked among the country's best where you can spot dolphins swimming from the shore. Another seaside town is located just 90 minutes outside of London, and you can even find Banksy art there. And a Welsh seaside town that visitors say looks like it was plucked from the Italian coastline. Plus, the up-and-coming seaside town that hosts a viral Kate Bush event. 3
CBS News
5 hours ago
- General
- CBS News
Hammerhead shark sightings are increasing off Massachusetts. Here's what to know about them.
A species of shark not often seen in New England is becoming an increasingly popular sight in the waters off Massachusetts. Smooth hammerhead sharks are being reported by fishermen and recreational boaters this summer. State shark biologist John Chisholm told WBZ-TV that last weekend there were about a half-dozen sightings of hammerheads at the mouth of Buzzards Bay, west of Cuttyhunk Island. There have also been sporadic sightings off Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. "We've always been on kind of the northern limit of their range," Chisholm said. "But in the past several years with the water warming we've been seeing more and more, especially around the islands and south of the Cape where the water gets really warm during the summertime." And it's not just hammerheads that could be on the way to Massachusetts thanks to a warming ocean. "I'm expecting we'll see some more southern species like the blacktip and spinner shark and maybe eventually the bull shark," Chisholm said. Bull sharks are known to be the most aggressive toward humans. While shark attacks are rare, a 9-year-old girl in southwest Florida was seriously injured after being attacked in June by what's believed to have been a bull shark. Smooth hammerheads, on the other hand, are nowhere near as dangerous to swimmers as bull sharks or the great white sharks that are already visiting Massachusetts for the summer. "They're not really a threat to humans. they're a fish-eating shark," Chisholm said about hammerheads. "They're not really interested in people." According to the ocean conservation organization Oceana, smooth hammerheads are on the larger end of the hammerhead species, with an average length of 8 to 11.5 feet. They can live up to 20 years or longer and can birth up to 53 pups at a time. Chisholm said he doesn't believe there's been a fatal attack on a human by smooth hammerheads, but noted that they do have sharp teeth so people should still keep their distance. He encourages anyone who sees a shark to report the sighting. "They're very distinct. It's easy once you get a good picture, you know you're not going to mistake a hammerhead compared to some other species that look very similar," he said.
CBC
10 hours ago
- General
- CBC
‘Always in the back of my mind': Looking back at the rescue of the Lucky 7, one year later
One year ago, the community of New-Wes-Valley was celebrating an incredible survival story. A crew of fishermen, now known as the Lucky Seven, spent 50 hours adrift in a life raft over 200 kilometres from land, and were rescued in a rare positive outcome in a province with a history of tragedies at sea. Eugene Carter was captain of the Elite Navigator vessel, and spoke about it all with Here and Now's Carolyn Stokes.
BBC News
13 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Photographer celebrates North Shields fishermen
A photographer who spent more than 10 years taking pictures of a town's fishermen has shared some of his favourite Robinson took more than 10,000 images during his time with the fishing fleet of North said his aim was to highlight the hardship of life at sea as well as celebrate the workers who are part of the town's dwindling fleet of photographs will be displayed during an exhibition, Harvest from the Deep, from 22 July to 30 August at the Old Low Light Heritage Centre. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas here.
ABC News
16 hours ago
- General
- ABC News
Where should the funding to deal with SA's toxic algal bloom be spent?
The federal government has pledged $14 million to assist South Australia as it grapples with a toxic algal bloom outbreak. But just how far will that funding go and where should it be allocated? Well that depends on who you speak to. The bloom was first spotted in March and has resulted in dead marine life washing up on the state's shores, while also disrupting a number of industries, including fishing, aquaculture and tourism operators. The South Australian government is expected to announce further funding today, but one mayor says what's already been pledged is just "a drop in the ocean". Scientists and local and state governments all agree that some of the funding will need to be spend on relief measures for those in industries affected by the bloom. Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly said businesses along Kangaroo Island's coastline have been severely impacted by the bloom. "Some of the things that we have to look at here are stabilising the impact on those affected, whether they be fishermen or work in the abalone industry, the tourism industry, the charter industry," Mr Pengilly told ABC Radio Adelaide. "We may have to look at job creation projects, also mental health support. A lot of these thing happened after the [2019] fires and we've got a bit of a history of dealing with disasters. "Our major employer at the abalone farm has about 30 people, which doesn't seem like many people in the city, but it's a big employer over here. "They're shut down at the moment, the oyster industry is shut down here, Yorke Peninsula, Port Lincoln. Now we have the Port Wakefield area is now being impacted, the fishery out there." Mr Pengilly said he would be meeting with state Environment Minister Susan Close today. While he applauded her for her efforts at supporting those affected by the bloom, he said the government overall has been slow to respond. "The state government holistically has been slow to do anything," he said. Mike Bossley is an experienced marine scientist and researcher who has worked closely with Port Adelaide's dolphin sanctuary. He is currently working with a group of colleagues to determine how many recent dolphin deaths may be linked to the algal bloom and hopes to have findings into that research within the next week. While he agreed some of the federal funding should be spent on relief measures, he wants more of the money to go towards research. "Equally, and more importantly, we have to put money into research into mitigating these blooms," he told ABC Radio Adelaide. "We need to find ways to recover from them because they are going to keep coming." He said being able to predict the blooms would be "only so helpful" and instead wants the focus to be around mitigating the impacts of the bloom with a look at current marine parks systems just one idea. He said South Australia's toxic algal outbreak had "international implications" as there were marine heatwaves occurring around the world at the moment. He pointed to an algal bloom in California killing dolphins and seals. "The reality is this is the first time we have experienced something like this in our state, a bloom as extensive as this, and we just don't understand it well enough to make any really telling predictions," he said. "It does seem to most of us working in science that climate change and marine heatwaves, which are a consequence of that, are just going to get worse and that's going to make these constant blooms and other issues to do with warming water." When asked if the issue had been taken seriously enough he said: "I'm sure we will be taking it more seriously in the future, but it's easy with hindsight to say we should have known what's going to happen". "This thing just started gradually getting worse and worse and we haven't had that before and nobody quite knew what was going to happen and what to expect." State Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia was also critical of the state government's response. After relief measures to affected industries, he wants the government to commit some funding towards a royal commission. "The premier and the government have been far too slow to respond, given the significant scale of the environmental damage that has been caused by this algal bloom," Mr Tarzia said. "We want to understand exactly what is driving this ... there's a whole range of theories, some people are saying it's got something to do with the desal plant, others are saying it's marine heatwaves, others are saying nutrient runoffs. "The government is spending millions and millions of dollars in bringing a climate conference here to South Australia, now we think $1 million or $2 million for a royal commission after the initial funding has gone out the door to affected people and businesses, we think that is a worthwhile investment. "A royal commission is one of the highest levels of parliamentary scrutiny that we can apply because we don't want to see any cover-ups here." The state government has pushed back on that demand, and has said it would prefer to spend the money supporting scientists. Holdfast Bay Mayor Amanda Wilson, which encompasses the popular beach suburbs of Glenelg and Brighton, said the council had been forced to redirect staff away from their usual duties of fixing roads and footpaths, to clean up dead marine sea life washing up on the beaches. She said someone has to help pay for that and hopes some of the funding might be directed that way. "Obviously it's been a big drain on our resources and it's imperative for us to keep our beaches clean," she said. "But we'd also be very concerned about tourism going into the summer months and how that's going to affect our tourism precincts." While making the $14 million announcement yesterday, Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt stopped short of declaring the algal bloom a national disaster. Premier Peter Malinauskas said while he welcomed the funding, a sum he said his government asked for, he had also hoped for a national disaster declaration. "We've asked for $14 million which is a line to a suite of measures that we have formulated as a state government and we believe will make a difference on the ground," he said. "We are saying as a state government, and this is where I guess there is a point of difference between us and our federal colleagues, that we believe this should be declared as a natural disaster formally. That would unlock federal funding. "This is a natural disaster, I think it needs to be treated as a natural disaster." Holdfast Bay Mayor Amanda Wilson said the council had also called on the government to declare a national disaster and was critical of the government's visit yesterday. She said she had written to both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Environment Minister, but was yet to formally hear back. "The community really wants to hear from the Prime Minister and the Environment Minister what is happening. I think yesterday didn't really cover off what we wanted," she said. "We want to have more answers about what's happening, what's caused this because in the vacuum of information conspiracy theories are taking root and I think we really need to address what the causes are and how we are going to solve this."
