Cayman Island Divers
Peninsula SAC
Marine Champions
– First Steps
BSAC’ S NEW MARINE CHAMPIONS ARE making their mark, with many already organising litter picks and sea surveys.
Launched in August, the Marine Champions initiative aims to create a community of marine environment advocates across the BSAC club network. Each Marine Champion has been tasked with coordinating their club’ s environmental activities, including beach cleans, underwater litter picks, surveys and conservation campaigns.
BSAC’ s Marine Champions are now starting to report back on how their new roles are going. BSAC’ s Environment Committee Chair Katherine Knight said she was delighted by how well the project has been received.
“ It is still early days for the Marine Champions project but it couldn’ t have got off to a better start. We’ ve had a steady stream of applications from enthusiastic and action-oriented members wanting to take up the Marine Champion mantle for their club. I am excited for what this initiative and our Marine Champions will achieve!”
To apply to become the BSAC Marine Champion for your club you need to be aged
18 + and have your application endorsed by a member of your club’ s committee. BSAC is looking for one Marine Champion per club.
For more information on the Marine Champions initiative and to apply online, go to bsac. com / marinechampions
Gibraltar SAC
Milton Keynes SAC
BSAC Marine Champions in action
Gibraltar SAC A group of volunteers led by Marine Champion Mark McKay took part in a joint clean-up to tackle litter around Rosia Bay, Gibraltar. As a result of a twice-yearly clean-up, Mark said that seahorses are now starting to breed in the area.
Peninsula SAC Marine Champion Luke Bullus and fellow club members teamed up with ghost gear recovery charity, Fathoms Free to clean up the beach at Cornwall’ s Sennen Cove. Despite the weather, the team collected an impressive amount of beach litter, including polystyrene food containers, fishing industry waste and large quantities of plastic fragments.
Cayman Island Divers Marine Champion Samantha Cooper organised her first official conservation dive for her club, to assess marine life around some tyres in the area of Eden Rock as well as complete a fish survey. All data collected was reported to Reef. org
Milton Keynes SAC Armed with BSAC ocean clean-up bags, six volunteer snorkellers from Milton Keynes removed two loads of rubbish weighing almost 10kg from their open water training site, the Blue Lagoon, near Bletchley. This included beer bottles and cans, plastic bags, left over BBQs and even a football. Do you have a Marine Champion success story? Email the team at marinechampions @ bsac. com
MyBSAC training sessions
FOLLOWING THE LAUNCH OF THE upgraded MyBSAC platform, BSAC HQ will be running a series of training and support opportunities to help clubs and members get the most out of the new membership system.
Throughout October and November, the
BSAC team will be facilitating a range of MyBSAC training sessions for clubs, Branch Officers and members, including requested club visits where possible. There will also be a schedule of online Teams meetings, which can be held during the day or evening and can be tailored to the areas clubs and members need support with.
As well as online support, BSAC HQ is also offering a‘ drop-in’ facility for members to meet the team and have the chance to be guided through MyBSAC.
To book your one-to-one session, club session or if you would like to call into BSAC HQ please email support @ bsac. com confirming what you would like to cover and the team can confirm a date.
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