Sandwich & Pegwell Bay restoration project (KWT)
Last week Exo Environmental were back out on the water conducting surveys off the coast of Kent. The work undertaken was part of the Interreg H2O Source2sea project which focuses on delivering Nature-Based solutions (NBS) along the Channel coast to improve water quality and protect against coastal erosion.
Exo, alongside the Kent Wildlife Trust Consultancy Services (KWTCS) and the University of Essex (UoE) were appointed by the Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) to conduct a feasibility study of Sandwich and Pegwell Bay to determine the presence of saltmarsh, native oyster beds and eelgrass habitats and to assess the potential for their restoration as part of NBS.
Sandwich and Pegwell Bay is KWT’s largest reserve. The site is a National Nature Reserve (NNR) and is internationally important for birds and is designated a RAMSAR site, Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA). These designations makes surveying in the area particularly challenging, with awareness and prevention of potential impacts from our activities being essential. The use of robust and updated risk assessments as well as the vast experience of working in designated sites allowed us to reduce our impact to a negligible level.
As part of the feasibility study, Exo conducted Multibeam Bathymetry surveys and benthic grab sampling within Pegwell Bay. With the help and support of Geoacoustics, we set up the bathymetry equipment on the Exo surveyor in Ramsgate marina, before setting out to survey along preselected transect lines. This area of the Kent coast is notorious for shallow waters and shifting sandbanks which makes the surveying conditions challenging. However, with our expert boatmanship and experience of inshore and shallow water surveys we were able to complete the survey in a day and a half, achieving great coverage along our transect lines.
Later in the week we returned to the same transects, taking benthic grab samples along preselected locations. Using our Van Venn grab we were able to collect a 0.1m2 or 1.67l sample, which was photographed and then stored in a cooler box before transport to UoE for benthic fauna and Particle Size Distribution (PSD) analysis. These analyses will help to determine the predominant habitat type available and thus presence/absence of the three target habitats of this project and the nascent conditions for their potential restoration.
As well as benthic sampling at these locations, we also deployed our custom made GoPro camera frame for the first time. This was lowered onto the seabed to digitally capture the basal conditions, for the purpose of reaffirming our benthic sample observations. This work is being conducted in conjunction with aerial drone surveys of the intertidal and foreshore areas, where it was too shallow to survey in the boat. A vegetation walkover and additional surveys of the saltmarsh and sand dunes were also conducted.
Once all the data has been collected it will be collated into a final report to be submitted to the KWT with our recommendations for restoration and NBS possibilities.
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