100 signatures reached
To: Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN)
TELL SSEN NO!
Save Ardmore Bay’s delicate maerl bed from high-pressure water blasting by asking SSEN to consider the alternative routes for their cable into Ardmore, Isle of Skye.
Why is this important?
Do you care about biodiversity, climate change, and Scotland’s natural beauty? Then please sign today to preserve a precious maerl bed on the Isle of Skye!
In this frightening time where biodiversity is plummeting and global warming is rocketing, you can save an organism that protects us from both: maerl – a living calcified algae with coralline branches in exquisite pink and purple hues. Maerl is a crucial keystone of marine biodiversity. The spaces between its branches provide homes for a myriad of juvenile crustaceans and molluscs, such as scallops and anemones. In allowing these marine creatures to mature, maerl supports the fish, otters, seabirds, and seals that feed upon them. Maerl is invaluable in the fight against global warming, as it absorbs carbon dioxide and stores that carbon in its hard exterior. Because of these vital characteristics, maerl is a Protected Marine Feature under Scottish law.
In this frightening time where biodiversity is plummeting and global warming is rocketing, you can save an organism that protects us from both: maerl – a living calcified algae with coralline branches in exquisite pink and purple hues. Maerl is a crucial keystone of marine biodiversity. The spaces between its branches provide homes for a myriad of juvenile crustaceans and molluscs, such as scallops and anemones. In allowing these marine creatures to mature, maerl supports the fish, otters, seabirds, and seals that feed upon them. Maerl is invaluable in the fight against global warming, as it absorbs carbon dioxide and stores that carbon in its hard exterior. Because of these vital characteristics, maerl is a Protected Marine Feature under Scottish law.
We cannot take this beautiful defender of our planet for granted - maerl is categorised as a threatened and declining habitat. Therefore, we are unbelievably fortunate to have a 6-hectare, centuries-old maerl bed (recognised by NatureScot and the Marine Directorate) here in Ardmore Bay, on the Isle of Skye.
Unfortunately, SSEN are planning on high-pressure water blasting the seabed to lay a cable through Ardmore Bay, which can destroy this maerl bed. Maerl is extremely slow growing (about 0.5 mm per year) so when damaged it is essentially forever lost, depleting the wider marine life and negatively impacting the climate.
Thankfully, this is a unique case where both maerl and new infrastructure can co-exist! There are alternative routes for the cable into Ardmore which will not impact the irreplaceable maerl bed. Therefore, we urgently need SSEN to consider the alternative routes for their cable into Ardmore, before this Protected Marine Feature is irreversibly decimated. Maerl has helped protect our home, it’s now time for us to protect it.
Video of Maerl Bed:
Video of Maerl Bed:
Video Identifying Alternative Routes:
Press Articles Referencing Ardmore Bay Maerl’s Plight:
