Marine Celebration Day held at Lihou causeway

Despite the awful weather, dozens of people donned wellingtons and waterproofs to take part.

La Societe, the DolFin project, Seasearch, the Nature Commission, the Clean Earth Trust and Bailiwick Eelgrass Exploration Project, along with the States, were all involved in the event, which included recording animals, attempting to spot dolphins and checking on the condition of eelgrass beds.

Guernsey Seasearch co-ordinator George McLellan said that more than 20 people had taken part in the first hour. There were several experts on hand to help people identify creatures and plants.

Mr McLellan said Lihou, which is a Ramsar site, was a great location to explore.

‘It’s a pretty healthy environment, but it has pressures on it,’ he said.

‘We’ve got quite a few non-native species here.’

One example was devil’s tongue weed – a slimy, reddish seaweed, which is native to the Pacific. It spreads aggressively and can out-compete native weeds.

Mr McLellan said it was quite common for plants and animals from other parts of the world to end up in local waters, often from boats. But they could cause issues with the local environment, which was why it was important to record them.

The Beep members were checking the eelgrass beds, which lie just off the Lihou causeway.

‘The eelbeds here are really interesting, because it is quite a dynamic environment,’ Mr McLellan said.

‘There are massive tides and it is in gravel. So it is a really interesting one.’