We are the World Blogfest # 29: Fish Scale Bioplastic …

James Dyson Awards … 2019 National Winners announced from over 1,000 young engineers, designers and entrepreneurs …

 … Lucy Hughes wins the British National Award while all 81 finalists from 27 countries and regions competing in their area will progress to the international stages.

… the University of Sussex graduate used fish waste and sustainable algae to create MarinaTex, a compostable alternative to single-use plastic …

She practiced to get the right consistency and result – by using her student accommodation kitchen!  Makes one wonder …

Common Red Algae used
for Agar

But what an amazing idea that was 'spawned' from looking into the fishing industry and its waste … she believed she could find value in the waste, and was able to discover resources that are renewable to use as the organic binder.

See an excellent summaryof her design and project approach:

What it Does

Her Inspiration

How it Works

Design Process

How it is Different

Future Plans

    and the Awards she’s won …

Medieval view of fish processing ...
by Peter Brueghel, the elder 1556

Anything that aims to utilise fish waste, use organic and sustainable products to create this bioplastic deserves to be known about and applauded.

The James Dyson Award list highlights other winners, who will be whittled down to 20 for the international prize due to be announced on 17 October.

Lucy Hughes c/o DeZeen article

Here's to more like Lucy Hughes, her mentors and Sussex University who all deserve a huge applause for thinking out of the box and realising the wealth that can be obtained from a mountain of fish waste, and then mixing it with sustainable algae from the oceans to create MarinaTex.

We are the World – in Darkness Be Light

James Dyson Award details ... 

Details of Lucy Hughes' project from DeZeen article:  

Fish Scale Bioplastic

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

We are the World Blogfest # 26: Artist’s Sculptures being Sunk to Protect the Sea …

A local fisherman’s dream to bring his stretch of Tuscan waters back to life, where commercial trawlers have been ravaging the seabed …

c/o Bowman Sculpture
see link at end - this is
'Stillness Born of History'

Bottom trawling involves dragging a large net (which cannot discriminate its catch),  across the sea floor snatching large amounts of bycatch … destroying the habitat (sea meadows), killing the unwanted fish and other marine creatures - all trapped in this method, used by commercial fishermen …

We’ve seen other structures being used in the seas to give shelter and thus life to species in decline … yet here are amazing works of art being placed along this stretch of coastline to reinvigorate the sea floor – they are already succeeding …

Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1569 - 1859)

Emily Young, the sculptress, has an interesting pedigree and thus links to artists, writers, conservationists, polar explorers … while her sculptures are completely inspiring …

She lives in London and Tuscany … but has travelled and continues to journey widely … her website highlights her work … I’d recommend you pop over and have a look at her sculptures – they are truly beautiful …

… the titles outside Tate Modern, London inspire:

                           Face of Stillness

                                   Stillness Born of History

… there is one exhibited in Siena until 20^th July 2019:

                                            Solar Disk III … just delightful …

Talamone - an important sea port in Etruscan
times, a central Italian Monarchy during the
Medici and Holy Roman Emperor times;
Nelson and Garibaldi both used the little
harbour as a re-victualing stop over.

There’s a very short video of one of her sculptures being lowered onto the sea floor, and then with the regrowth, as well as fish re-population with cuttlefish, sea bream, sea bass, squid, lobsters etc … the restaurants can again offer local seafood, rather than Asian frozen fish …

Paolo Fianciulli, a local fisherman, who started using concrete blocks to thwart the trawlermen, has been targeted by unscrupulous thugs …

Carrara Marble Quarry

… but now a team of sculptors, including Emily, are sinking their works of art to continue protecting this coastline …

Marble from the renowned Carrara (Tuscan) Quarry  has been donated to the sculptors … it is not of the finest white that Michelangelo once worked, yet exhibits the stone’s geological history …

… her other sculptures ask that the viewer broods across deep time, geography and cultures … in other words to think deeply about our world and its life – how it came into being, and how we are a microscopic part in Gaia’s existence …

Maremma Nature Reserve

So here we have artworks that have a higher purpose than being worth thousands of pounds (not dollars!) … 300 donated chunks of Carrara marble ready to be sculpted, lowered overboard, they need barges to take the ten-tonne statues out to their watery resting places …

A blogfest highlighting positive news
where people are helping the world

She maybe dumbfounding her agent, leaving her colleagues aghast, as the artist, who has been called Britain’s greatest living stone sculptor, lets her magnificent works of art disappear into the murky depths to protect a part of the Tuscan seas and coastline against unprincipled humans with no sense of responsibility …

We are the World … In Darkness, Be Light

By-catch ... fish left to die ...

This is my #WATWB – an artist who uses her talents knowing that they will mostly be sight unseen … a rock muse of the 1960s London – possibly ‘See Emily Play’ … to world renown sculptress looking to remind us … that all parts of our planet need our protection …

Her website is so well worth reading, while her sculptures are just staggeringly amazing … please, pretty please look!

About the sculptress Emily Young

Emily Young - see some of her recent sculptures, and about this project ... (as I've described above) please look to see why I was hooked!

Emily Young Wikipedia

Bowman Sculpture - who represent Emily ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher 

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Seamounts ... mountains in the seas ...

On the east side of Vancouver Island there are islands galore … with some really treacherous sea navigation conditions to work through … while on the west coast, which appears to be relatively easy for marine travel … the waters are equally perilous …

iphone photo from The Times Colonist of
some of the Seamounts off British Columbia

When is a rising land not an island, nor an islet - logical I suppose: when it does not rise above sea level.  Yet there are nearly 10,000 of these underwater mountains of varying sorts … the one you will probably be aware of … is the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain: most of which is undersea.

iphone photo from paper of A Shortspine Thornyhead -
a kind of rockfish found in Canada, Russia and the US

These underwater habitats are one of the most common marine ecosystems … the currents interact at various levels in the ocean attracting plankton, corals, fish and marine mammals … and yes we need to protect these valuable resources.

Bathymetric mapping of part of
Davidson Seamount off the coast
of central california (see Wiki for further
explanation of different sea zone levels)

A partnership of the Haida Nation (Haida Gwaii – my H in this year’s A-Z), Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Oceana Canada and Ocean Networks Canada sent the Exploration Vessel Nautilus out to explore ‘the local’ seamounts.  Some of these are 3,000 feet (1,000 metres) below sea level, others are just 75 feet (24 metres) under the surface … a danger to most shipping.

EV Nautilus

The Nautilus has been exploring these marine oases … to learn about their critical habitats and environments … how we can better protect our fishing grounds … 

... further details can be found about the research ship and its history via the Wiki page on Exploration VesselNautilus (EV Nautilus) – it is an interesting read.

Nudibranch - a group of soft-bodied,
marine, gastropod molluscs
(see Wiki article)

Long-term ocean monitoring instruments have been installed on the Dellwood Seamount (see map above for geographical location) … to record the homes and stop-over spots for the various species – flora and pisci-fauna …

This isn't the best iphone photo - but I've left the caption
which reads: Sponge in centre; tracks' white lines are the
marks of the nudibranchs eating it.  The white cirles (four
on top, one on right, one on left) are eating the sponge.
The species is a white-rimmed nudibranch.

The world beneath the waves also needs protecting – for some fascinating film about our underwater life … watch the video … made by Protect Oceans … here’s the link:

Watch the video: highlights of Expedition – Northeast Pacific Seamounts 

The August article in The Times Colonist's 'Islander' supplement spurred my interest on the Seamounts to write this post on a subject that I had not taken cognisance of before ... I will be aware in future.  (The photos in the article are much clearer than my iphone copies!).

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Salmon - for subsistence and ceremony ... and the one that stayed away ...

Native American cultures, especially the tribes of the Canadian Northwest and Columbia River, revere this fish as it continues to nourish humans and wildlife ...

Atlantic Salmon with 5 Pacific Ocean ones
c/o Pieter Folkens artwork

Who would have thought salmon could be so interesting - apart from good dinners!  The Atlantic salmon I'm used to in Britain (one commercial species) or the Pacific salmon (eight species found in the huge Pacific Ocean), which I now eat here on Vancouver Island ... that difference is obvious - yet the genera are distinct ... interestingly Atlantic salmon are more closely related to certain species of trout.

Salmon Burgers

Their life cycles are similar ... spending one to four years in the ocean before returning to spawn in the stream where they were born.  The young will stay in freshwater streams for up to three years.

Quill Creek in Kluane National Park

They are well named from the Latin verb salire: to leap - for their swimming strength and endurance ... slithering up fish ladders, scrabbling through beaver dams, swimming upstream to spawn ...

Life Cycle of Pacific Salmon
c/o Wiki

... which they've reached using their superb sense of smell - they sense the stream where they were born, ensuring their return to spawn. 

The larger Grizzly Bear

But ... Atlantic salmon are iteroparous, and may not die after spawning, though it is likely as the energies needed to reach their spawning grounds sap their strength ... some will survive.  Pacific salmon will die once they've spawned ... this term is semelparous.

Sockeye Salmon
jumping over beaver
dam

Another two terms ... anadromous fish, such as the salmon, striped bass, and sea lamprey: migrate from the sea up rivers  ... or catadromous fish like eels: go from fresh water to the oceans ... seean earlier post: slippery eels.

Two glaciers in Kluane National Park

The one that got away is the Kokanee: a unique fish ... it has become, over millennia, a landlocked species of the sockeye salmon - an ocean-running fish that has been trapped high in the Yukon mountains ... in the Kluane National Park and reserve ... blocked off from its ocean route by shifting glaciers and plate tectonics ... the native peoples believe their sacred fish will one day return to the ocean, which seems very likely ...

Kwagulth Salmon:
Art work by Tony Hunt at Alert Bay,
BC 1942 (seen in Victoria Art Gallery)

These Pacific Northwest salmon are revered by the indigenous peoples of the inland waterways and coastal areas - having been a significant part of the First Nations economies, religions and cultures - recorded orally, as well as in the living history of their totems and art endorsing this cultural and spiritual identity.

Spawning Salmon building redds on a riffle
see Wiki

Salmon are a key species ... meaning if they disappear, their ecosystems would disproportionately change.  Rotting salmon carcasses transfer valuable nutrients from the ocean to the land: scientists have traced these substances found in mosses, herbs, shrubs, trees, insects, song birds, bears and wolves ... makes you think doesn't it ... that cycle of life - and how we are such a miniscule part.

Black Bear Cub

That wonderful leaping silvery-pink salmon, which play such an important role in life, will return to spawn later in the year ... the bears, bald eagles, sport fisherman and the hungry human will be a-waiting.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bucket List - part 8 of 9: The River Thames its history and health ...

The River Thames rises near Cirencester, Gloucestershire and flows roughly eastwards for 215 miles (346 km) out to the North Sea.  It is our longest English river and the second longest, after the Severn, in the UK.

Course of River Thames across England

It drains the whole of Greater London and is tidal up to Teddington Lock … 68 miles from the sea … the rise and fall of the tidal section is 7 metres (24 feet).

It now has 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs; there are over 80 islands; its waters vary from fresh to almost salt water as it reaches the North Sea.

River Thames flowing into Rhine

Surprisingly the River Thames can be identified as a discrete drainage line – as early as 58 million years ago.  Until about half a million years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through Oxfordshire, before turning to the north-east, reaching the North Sea near Ipswich, East Anglia … and was a tributary of the Rhine.

In those early days its course changed, the last ice age came and altered the landscape dramatically – creating the English Channel from the melt waters, leaving Britain as an island.  The river became more as we know it today … flowing ‘happily’ through our capital  - providing, over time, London with a great deal of history.

Our major rivers

It was a place of pilgrimage and devotion, a sacred river but also now a frontier between warring factions – those from the south could not cross, nor could those from the north – never the twain shall meet?  Well we know they did …

Heathrow – interestingly – has connections with Caesar following his expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC.  There is a ‘shrine’ at Caesar’s Camp to the north of Heathrow airport – they are doing a more thorough investigation now.

It is likely the Romans chose Londonium as the Thames, wider before it was tamed and contained, could be bridged, yet was still tidal … we are now at Cornhill, near Bank tube station. 

River Thames, with St Paul's in background ..
by Canaletto (1746)

There were two other ‘hills’ that of Tower Hill, site of the Tower of London, and of Ludgate Hill, crowned by St Paul’s Cathedral.  The highest point of Cornhill is 58 feet (17.7 m) above sea level.

As our knowledge and abilities increased the river and its tributaries was used for trade and transport – more movement up and down the river occurred … so when the Romans ‘bridged’ London at Cornhill in about 43 AD – London was in place to be the capital.

Old St Paul's with its spire before the
Great Fire of London 

Trade was very important to London and great use was made of the Thames’ tributaries into the city – bringing in coal, wood, silver, cloth, food stuffs for animals and peoples … while watermen acted like taxis.

However by the Middle Ages the trade routes around the world were expanding … we had tea, silk, spices coming in from the east; sugar from the Caribbean, timber from Norway and iron ore from Sweden.

London Bridge (1616)
by Claes van Visscher

The river became clogged up – but ships were getting larger and went from sail to steam … new docks were demanded.  As we’ve all seen in our lifetimes – so much change has gone on.

It’s interesting to remember the Little Ice Age which occurred from about 1540 – 1750 when occasionally the Thames froze over – some times for three months.

The frozen Thames (1677)

Frost Fairs were held and Henry VIII is said to have travelled to Greenwich by sleigh along the river, even Elizabeth I took walks on the ice in the winter of 1564.

The last frost fair was held in 1814 lasting just four days … but during that time they managed to lead an elephant across the river below Blackfriars Bridge.

As the river passed through ever increasing urbanised areas it became more polluted and by the Victorian era was in a sorry state.  It had until the early 1800s been a thriving salmon river.

Michael Faraday giving his card to
Father Thames - caricature commenting
on a letter of Faraday's on the
state of the River in 1855

The heatwave of 1857 sent the putrid stench of the Thames wafting into the House of Parliament – they tried to keep ‘the stench’ out … to no avail – they closed down … but a plan in 1865 for new sewers would be agreed.

The system worked in central London, but seriously fouled the water system downstream until a sewage treatment system was introduced in the late 1800s.

Bazalgette’s sewers (I just love that name!) were pretty mammoth … so large that they’re still effective today – just – London is a-growing and we’re not terribly responsible with our waste etc.

World War II’s bombing damaged the sewers and treatment plants, which together with the increasing use of detergents after the war, added to the river’s pollution.  A clean-up operation was begun in 1960.

Satirical cartoon by William Heath
showing a woman observing monsters
in a drop of London water in 1828

The natural flow of the river will break down sewage … but the bacteria use up oxygen in the process – leaving little for other life forms … so by 1957 the Natural History Museum declared the Thames biologically dead – that clean-up operation had not come too soon.

The river began to breathe again … and we became more environmentally aware of the damage caused by pesticides, fertilisers etc … there are stricter industry regulations … however occasionally another spin-off occurs – silver was a pollutant - but with people switching to digital photography this has helped nearly eliminate that polluting substance.

Oxygenating Barge

Now there are ‘bubblers’ in the Thames … these are oxygenation craft to be deployed during or after periods of heavy rain, when sudden storm water surges decreased the dissolved oxygen levels in the river.  These are still needed and provide reactive systems to ensure the continued improvement of the river Thames.

Perch

Simply by cleaning the river – the fish came back (naturally) and there are now 125 species of fish in the Thames, up from almost none in the 1950s.  The fish in turn feed marine mammals, including seals, birds and so the cycle of life goes on …

Sea Lamprey - ugly aren't they?!

We now get seals and porpoises in the Thames and on occasions a whale – which is not good news – they rarely survive, unless they can be turned around to head out to sea once again.

Short-snouted Seahorse

There are other exciting species that have returned – salmon have been seen, eels, the really ugly! lampreys and out in the reeds of the Kent marshes delightful sea-horses – all are very sensitive to pollution … another plus in the life of the Thames.

Yet, as we know plastic is now a serious threat to wildlife as a whole … it affects smaller creatures that are prey for the larger ones.

Trap on Thames to catch some of the
rubbish as it floats down stream

A Cleaner Thames campaign was launched in September 2015 to combat plastic waste … it’s a difficult battle, because there are so many sources.

There are other things … as more river taxi boats/cruisers use the river to transport people which disturb the river bed … also making the river noisy and crowded – while it is fast flowing (because of the high walls to contain the river) that makes another challenge for the wildlife …

London City Airport in a dock
alongside the Thames

But we go on looking after the Thames as best we can from its early origins as the Tamesas (from tamessa) recorded in Latin flowing out further north into the Wash, Lincolnshire/Norfolk.

Father Thames - a Coade stone sculpture
by John Bacon in the grounds of
Ham House, Richmond

Father Thames has called time on me and this post! … wild life is in a better position, the banks of the Thames flourish with birds, insects, plants … giving everyone who lives or visits the river and its environs a feast for the senses – 40% of London is green space … so let’s get out feel the wind in our hair and enjoy the great outdoors.

There will be one more of these Bucket List posts … as I have booked (later in October) to climb 60 feet into the scaffolding to check out the art work in the Painted Hall  (part 5) - as they make their restoration work – should be fascinating … my goddaughter’s mother is coming to join me… a good meet up ...

Once this series got going ... it became more about Greenwich than anything else - so perhaps I should end tidying up that side of harbourage (if that's a word) ... but I'll leave it to you to look at this brilliant site on the History of the Port of London - whose link is below: so I shall now retire.  

An adapted quote at the beginning of their site: "A plot of firm soil by the river's bank made a landing place, which became a port and city of the world - that is London."

Here are some links:

11th century delicacy - Lampreys - one of my very early posts in 2009

A Judge, Gardens and the Great Stink - another of my early posts 

St Alfege Church, Greenwich - Henry VIII was baptised here ...but there's a lot more history?!

Plume of Feathers pub in Greenwich Park

History of the Port of London pre 1908 ... 

The Londonist - gives us more details on Father Thames ... and the song 'Old Father Thames...' which you may find interesting ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories