Flemish coast (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A total of 10 seaside resorts participated in the Great Shell Counting Day, which took place today. During the Shell Counting Day, hundreds of volunteers participate in surveys similar to bird count activities.
Across 10 Flemish seaside resorts, volunteers participated in the Great Shell Counting Day, which involved hundreds of citizens documenting species of shells found in the North Sea.
Like bird count days gathering data, people participated in this event to build an inclusive view of shell diversity so scientists could track marine ecology changes from climate factors. Each participant followed a standardised scientific approach to collect 100 shells after identifying and counting them properly. Experts operated as station points in multiple locations to offer participants support, which secured the precision and consistency of data collection.
We will look at each city to see if there is a difference,
says Emily Maenhout of Natuurcentrum Beisbroek.
We are concentrating on all shells. There have been a number of special finds. For example, we have seen flat oysters, which we had not seen in previous years. Milky white ark shells and an elephant tooth have also been found. Not a tooth from a real elephant, but a shell that is very rare.
We notice that people are more and more concerned with how the sea lives and what lives in the sea. We can only encourage that,
Maenhout adds.
What is the background and significance of the Great Shell Counting Day?
Every year, the Great Shell Counting Day promotes citizen science to monitor and document shell biodiversity throughout the North Sea coastline since its initiation. Awareness ratings during the event serve as part of extensive studies which track environmental changes such as climate change in marine ecosystems. The North Sea region extends to 570,000 square kilometres, where researchers have discovered over 200 mollusc species, thereby establishing this area’s importance for marine biodiversity study.
Recent research shows that sea temperature increases and modified ocean currents have led to transformed species ranges, causing some shell types to expand and other shell types to decrease in number. Flat oysters, which had almost vanished from the North Sea because of overfishing and disease, are returning because of scientific findings that were captured during this year’s event.
Scientists view molluscs as bioindicators because they serve as key indicators for evaluating marine health conditions, which makes the initiative a part of global marine health monitoring initiatives. The environmental equilibrium of the North Sea demands the collective attention of Belgium, the Netherlands, Northern France and Scotland due to their transnational status.
The coastline research effort completed this year reached 400 kilometres due to the participation of hundreds of volunteers who contributed data collection information. As part of the Week of Water, the event will become more effective in expanding public understanding of marine environmental protection and water ecosystem dependencies.
