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Coastal Week '09
Explore Kent's 350 miles of coastline during October half-term with 70 events taking place to celebrate our shores. Coastal Week is an annual event, this year celebrating our fishing industry. More Details View Transcript
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Coastal Week '09 runs from 24th October to 1st November.
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TOM CHOWN reports.
A celebration of the county's diverse and wonderful coastline takes place this October half term, with lots of activities taking place around our shoreline for Kent's Coastal Week. The sea surrounds almost 350 miles of Kent, the second longest coastline in the country.
CHRIS DRAKE, Coastal Officer, Kent County Council: 'It's a celebration of the Kent coastline, so we've got 70 events run by 20 different partner organisations all the way around the 350 miles of Kent coastline and it's an opportunity to do sort of guided walks, to go out on boat trips like this, also exhibitions, market stalls, art events, family events, so there's something for everyone. This year we've given it a theme which is fishing and eating for a healthy sea, so we're celebrating the Kent fishing industry, seafood that's landed and available in Kent and also the richness of marine wildlife, such as these common seals here today.'
JON BROOKS, Skipper, Horizon Sea Safaris: 'It's amazing the number of people we take out that live in Kent who've never ever seen their coastline from the outside looking in. We've got probably about just under a third of the UK's population of seals here on the Kent coast. The common seals here will get up to about a metre and a half in length and weigh anything up to about 150 kilos. In comparison, out on the Goodwin Sands where we have our grey seals; the grey seals will get up to two and half metres in length and weigh anything up to about 300 kilos. You'll also see there's a very mixed colouration in the seals here and that's very natural. When they're in the water and they first come out they're very dark grey, almost black, and as they've been out the water for a while they start to dry out and their fur gets lighter and lighter. Our common seals here pup June/July time and our grey seals will pup October/November through to December.'
The theme of protecting and looking after the fishing industry is ably demonstrated by the Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries Committee who patrol the Kent coastline, supporting, but also inspecting fishing fleets and checking their catch.
WILL WRIGHT, Acting Senior Fisheries Officer, Kent & Essex Sea Fisheries Committee: 'People would be amazed with what is landed along the Kent coast, we've got a whole range of fisheries from down in Dungeness and Folkestone, we've got scallops being landed in somewhere like Whitstable, we've got cockles being landed, we've got lobsters, we've got seabass, cod, we've got thorn-backed rays, we've got a whole diversity of things which are being landed in our district and I think people would be amazed with actually the diversity and what you can then do with the food, it's brilliant.
'I think you can see it in places like Whitstable but all around the Kent coast that people really value the fishing community. People have gone a long way to make sure that we still have boats coming into harbours and making sure there really is something there. I think a lot of people are really passionate about it, that we've got a whole lot of sea out here and we've got fresh fish which we can land locally and why not? If you go over to France that happens all the time.'
TOM CHOWN, Kent TV: 'Why should we appreciate our coastlines?'
WILL WRIGHT: 'I'd say with Kent, it's a huge variety of different habitats; you've got your wonderful famous chalk cliffs down at Dover, you've got the North Kent Marshes with their fantastic birdlife, Dungeness with it's unique shingle habitats, so it's not just a place for the summertime with buckets and spades, there's something to explore and see throughout the year.'
For full listings of the events taking place near you log on to kent.gov.uk/explorekent.
A celebration of the county's diverse and wonderful coastline takes place this October half term, with lots of activities taking place around our shoreline for Kent's Coastal Week. The sea surrounds almost 350 miles of Kent, the second longest coastline in the country.
CHRIS DRAKE, Coastal Officer, Kent County Council: 'It's a celebration of the Kent coastline, so we've got 70 events run by 20 different partner organisations all the way around the 350 miles of Kent coastline and it's an opportunity to do sort of guided walks, to go out on boat trips like this, also exhibitions, market stalls, art events, family events, so there's something for everyone. This year we've given it a theme which is fishing and eating for a healthy sea, so we're celebrating the Kent fishing industry, seafood that's landed and available in Kent and also the richness of marine wildlife, such as these common seals here today.'
JON BROOKS, Skipper, Horizon Sea Safaris: 'It's amazing the number of people we take out that live in Kent who've never ever seen their coastline from the outside looking in. We've got probably about just under a third of the UK's population of seals here on the Kent coast. The common seals here will get up to about a metre and a half in length and weigh anything up to about 150 kilos. In comparison, out on the Goodwin Sands where we have our grey seals; the grey seals will get up to two and half metres in length and weigh anything up to about 300 kilos. You'll also see there's a very mixed colouration in the seals here and that's very natural. When they're in the water and they first come out they're very dark grey, almost black, and as they've been out the water for a while they start to dry out and their fur gets lighter and lighter. Our common seals here pup June/July time and our grey seals will pup October/November through to December.'
The theme of protecting and looking after the fishing industry is ably demonstrated by the Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries Committee who patrol the Kent coastline, supporting, but also inspecting fishing fleets and checking their catch.
WILL WRIGHT, Acting Senior Fisheries Officer, Kent & Essex Sea Fisheries Committee: 'People would be amazed with what is landed along the Kent coast, we've got a whole range of fisheries from down in Dungeness and Folkestone, we've got scallops being landed in somewhere like Whitstable, we've got cockles being landed, we've got lobsters, we've got seabass, cod, we've got thorn-backed rays, we've got a whole diversity of things which are being landed in our district and I think people would be amazed with actually the diversity and what you can then do with the food, it's brilliant.
'I think you can see it in places like Whitstable but all around the Kent coast that people really value the fishing community. People have gone a long way to make sure that we still have boats coming into harbours and making sure there really is something there. I think a lot of people are really passionate about it, that we've got a whole lot of sea out here and we've got fresh fish which we can land locally and why not? If you go over to France that happens all the time.'
TOM CHOWN, Kent TV: 'Why should we appreciate our coastlines?'
WILL WRIGHT: 'I'd say with Kent, it's a huge variety of different habitats; you've got your wonderful famous chalk cliffs down at Dover, you've got the North Kent Marshes with their fantastic birdlife, Dungeness with it's unique shingle habitats, so it's not just a place for the summertime with buckets and spades, there's something to explore and see throughout the year.'
For full listings of the events taking place near you log on to kent.gov.uk/explorekent.
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