Beach Cleans
Wed 20th Sept 2023
We yet again put on our gloves, grabbed out litter pickers and headed to the local beaches in Scalloway to collect and record beach litter for the Marine Conservation Society’s Great British Beach Clean.
This year we were also working with the Scottish Island’s Federation who are collecting data to further investigate marine litter impacts on Scottish Islands.
You guys helped us remove 890 items of litter on our two 100m beach clean stretches. Well done everyone!
Cunningsburgh Agricultural Show
Wed 9th Aug 2023
A slightly (bit of an understatement) breezy day at the annual Cunningsburgh Show today. Still lots of you braved the weather and came along to say hello and learn more about porpoises, seagrasses and Flapper Skate.
By the end of the day our porpoise pod was looking fantastic!
Shetland’s Climate Festival
9th-10th June 2023
Along with UHI Shetland, we attended the first Shetland Climate Festival at Clickimin Leisure Complex organised as part of Climate Week.
There was a full programme of events to raise awareness of climate change, and to explore solutions that mitigate and adapt to its impacts!
The SCWG promoted Shetland’s blue carbon habitats and what we are doing to map and monitor them. These habitats are important for a number of reasons (nursery areas, sediment stabilization) but especially for capturing and storing carbon and could be key in helping Scotland reach their net zero targets.
Shetland Volunteer Event
Thurs 4th May 2023
We spent a lovely afternoon and evening with RSPB Shetland, the Species on the Edge team, and Whale and Dolphin Conservation chatting to folk about some of the different nature volunteering opportunities in Shetland.
It was also a chance to find out more about the national Species on the Edge project and the work being done here in Shetland.
Discover the Deep with Dynamic Earth and UHI Shetland
Sat 18th Feb 2023
We were delighted to be involved in this joint event with Dynamic Earth on tour with a Discover the Deep roadshow and UHI Shetland’s Marine Science team.
It was great to see so many people come along to UHI Shetland’s Scalloway Campus to get hands on and learn about all things deep sea and how to become a marine scientist.
We promoted our citizen science projects including our porpoise surveys, marine invasive species monitoring and protected species mapping.
Watching from afar
Fri 10th Feb 2023
What a great evening we had at UHI Shetland Scalloway Campus full of informative science and beautiful images and videos.
Drone photographer Nick McCaffrey shared some of his amazing wildlife experiences and footage and how he has collaborated with scientists and filmmakers.
We then had some short talks on the use of aerial and high-res imagery in understanding animal behaviour and population dynamics. Many thanks go to:
- Emma Steel- Whale and Dolphin Conservation Establishing a Risso’s dolphin catalogue for Shetland
- Sophie Smith- UHI Shetland Understanding the use of Shetland’s inshore waters by harbour porpoises
- Natalie Isaksson- Environmental Research Institute Using camera trap imagery to monitor European shags at Bluemull Sound
Shetland Community Wildlife Group 