This summer term, the second group of Ocean Explorers have been having some great adventures around North Devon. They started with a beach clean at Croyde, where they learnt about plastic pollution in our oceans. They found a staggering number of nerdles (small plastic balls) in just in 2 minutes of searching along the shoreline. The second week they learnt about creatures in rockpools, using a loupe lens to get a closer look and take some cool pictures!
The third session took place at Woolacombe Visitors Centre where the Ocean Explorers refurbished and restocked the toy library. This library contains beach toys that families can borrow when they visit the beach rather than buy new (often abandoning the plastic toys on the beach at the end of their visit). They then visited Chapel Woods to learn about woodland species and took some creative photos of their hand-painted wooden figures in nature.
The following week, the Ocean Explorers headed to Morthoe where they planted a range of wetland plants to create a habitat for water volves which will soon be introduced to the area. They also discussed routes into careers in conservation with a National Trust Ranger and Earth Action North Devon staff. The final session in the programme involved a visit to The North Devon Hospice Charity Shop to learn about fast fashion and sustainable alternatives.
The summer term finished with a bike-based litter pick, open to Ocean Explorers - all students who have taken part in the Ocean Explorers' programme this year. The plan was to cycle to Braunton, picking up litter from the picnic spots along the way, before litter picking along the River Caen. The weather however was worse than forecasted and we were caught in a long and heavy shower at the start of our ride. We managed to litter pick around the Pottington section of the tarka trail (and collected an impressive amount of litter just from this one area) before retreating back to the dry of school. Whilst we were drying off and warming up, Mr Bell taught us about the creatures in his animal care classroom, we drew pictures of them and annotated these with the fun facts we found out.
