Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
Our Flowing Ocean Connection
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sighting, by two anglers, of a harbour porpoise in the River Trent at Torksey, on the border between Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire last month, serves as a reminder that nature retains the capacity to surprise as well as to inspire. Whilst we live in a landlocked county, our great river and those that flow into it, provide direct links to the marine wildlife around our shores. Craig Reading and Matthew Haywood spotted the solo harbour porpoise in the river at Torksey and quite understandably Craig described the experience as a sight he’d never forget. The video captured on the day shows it frolicking in the water before it headed back towards the River Humber and presumably back out to sea. The story and accompanying video clip caused quite a stir and when asked for comment by the BBC I explained that whilst an exciting and unusual sighting, such reports are not unheard of. I first became aware of porpoises and other marine mammals occasionally venturing well inland via the Trent in the late 1990s. Looking back at the records on nottsmammals.org.uk - a great source of information - it must have been 1997. I had no clue back then that such sightings occurred, but learned that porpoises, which can be up to two metres long and weigh in at around 65 kilos, and seals had indeed been recorded on the lower reaches of the Trent in Nottinghamshire. I was also surprised to learn that the River Trent is tidal as far as Cromwell Lock, just five or so miles downstream of Newark. Bizarrely I discovered this whilst watching the ‘tide’ rise around my wellies after flood water had started to recede when I was helping rescue sheep from our conservation flock that had become stranded at our Besthorpe reserve many years ago - but that’s a whole different story! Since the construction of Cromwell Lock and its accompanying weir around 1910, these impenetrable structures have marked the
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Unexpected wildlife sighting acts as a reminder of just how connected we are to our oceans. Erin McDaid, Head of Communications & Marketing, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
tidal limit of the river, and sporadic reports of marine mammals such as porpoises and seals are all now below Cromwell, but very early records show that a porpoise did once make it as far as Kelham. This porpoise’s brief but exciting foray inland serves as a perfect reminder that we are connected to our oceans by the Trent and by all our rivers including the Meden, Maun, Idle and Ryton that feed into it and then on out into the Humber Estuary. It is equally a reminder that how we treat our rivers can directly impact the wildlife that relies on them and on the seas around our shores. The issue of plastic pollution in our oceans was brilliantly brought to public attention back in 2017 by Sir David Attenborough and the team on Blue Planet 2, but the direct connection with how we treat our rivers was really brought home to me in 2020 when flood water deposited a filthy layer of discarded and decaying plastic across large parts of our Attenborough Nature Reserve. It was hugely upsetting to see the reserve’s paths and low lying islands blanketed in everything from cotton bud stems and bottle tops to biros and cigarette lighters. It was immediately clear that much of this plastic had lain hidden for years, possibly decades, either in storm drains, silt beds or quiet backwaters - only to be flushed out by the sheer volume of flood water. As well as recognisable items, there was a layer, up to a foot deep, of twigs and woody debris mixed with millions of tiny fragments, known as micro plastics, of every colour imaginable as well as copious quantities of plastic beads, known as nurdles, used in the manufacture of items such as bottles. Realising that much of this polluting, pernicious plastic would be permanently embedded in the soils of one of our most protected wildlife sites made me angry and almost feel almost helpless. Whilst we could collect the larger materials including sizeable items such as barrels, bottles and footballs - and many volunteers came to our aid - it was clear we could never hope
