On a rare sunny day in late spring, we went out to the glistening town marina to meet Vicki Spooner, Falmouth Harbour’s environment manager, who was keen to get us out onto the water to show us
one of the harbour’s innovative new projects.
Falmouth Harbour, a trust port with responsibility for the inner harbour and a large part of Falmouth Bay, has a number of ongoing projects and initiatives to protect the harbour itself, while supporting both harbour users and marine wildlife.
On the lower section of the east wall of Church Street car park, hexagonal 'habitiles' have been placed to understand the biodiversity potential of these interventions. They may in the future have the potential to replicate rocky shore habitat that is likely to be lost due to sea level rise. The harbour is also home to a ‘sea bin’, which collects rubbish from the local marine environment.
As a trust port, Falmouth Harbour funds themselves. Any surplus made is put straight back into the harbour to benefit users and the environment, while consulting their sustainability plan.
One of their most recent projects is the advanced mooring systems (AMS) trial at Flushing, which helps the team to better understand how to reduce physical impacts on seagrass beds and the impacts of mooring and anchoring on the seabed. Seagrass boosts oxygen levels and prevents the movement of sand, while providing a home for many species.
As we headed towards Flushing, to give the water quality monitor a much-needed clean, Vicki said: “People are really starting to understand the importance of the marine environment - it has real potential to deliver nature based solutions to help with the current climate and biodiversity crises.”
As expected, there are many highlights of the job for Vicki, although this is not without consideration for what it may mean for the future. She said: “We’ve had humpback whales recently, and so many dolphins! At Gylly, I saw tuna diving in and out of the water.
“I think it’s a sign of change. The plankton has moved up, so you don’t get as many basking sharks here now, but we clearly have a lot of biodiversity and feeding patterns here. It’s definitely good for Falmouth, but also a sign of significant change within the marine environment.”
If you’d like more information about Falmouth Harbour’s work and
projects, visit
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