MCZ DOC 2017 | hydromotionmedia

Newquay & the gannel marine conservation zone 2017 documentary

Hello to all backers of Hydro Motion Media Crowdfunder for Newquay and the Gannel MCZ Documentary. As 2017 starts so does our work on our most ambitious project to date our 2017 documentary "Newquay and the Gannel Marine Conservation Zone" In fantastic news our grant application to Sea Changers was successful and we were awarded a further £500 to help fund our 2017 documentary. We are extremely grateful for Sea Changers support, as an organisation they support many marine conservation and education initiatives around the UK and have been instrumental in helping many smaller groups and projects to contribute to marine conservation at a grass roots, local level. Organisations like this are fundamental in ensuring that efforts to conserve the marine environment have enough money to take place so we extend a huge thank you to Sea Changers for their contribution to our 2017 documentary project and belief in our goal to produce a not for profit educational film to highlight the importance of MCZ's and illustrate marine life from this incredible area.

The documentary has undergone project planning sessions with the Cornwall wildlife trust, Seasearch and camera crew. So far things are looking good with a number of locations within the MCZ selected to film in. Looking back at Seasearch data we are able to know what has already been found and where with the aim to film specific species. Also a selection of previously unexplored habitats and sites have been selected as potential areas of discovery for new species.

Sites selected so far include:

The Gannel Estuary. 3 or 4 points of interest in this diverse habitat including Salt marsh, Estuary source, the top end (a nursery habitat for small fish) and river mouth. Filming in this area will begin this month, with reckies to assess the logistics of filming in a heavily tidal, muddy and

challenging environment.

Cribbar Reef. This well know reef is mostly know for big wave surfing however as a potential dive site it may well harbor some very interesting species upon it.

Porth Island. Known for the extreme numbers of spider crabs that can be found here during their summer exodus as well as much more.

The Goose. The famous rock in Crantock bay, diving here will no doubt reveal some incredible findings.

Poly Joke. Many seals use this area as a haul out and it will be one of the objectives of the project to capture this amazing animals natural behavior. With Kelsey and Chick Rock Being in the vicinity.

The Gazzle (Newquay Headland) A popular spot for divers, reports of sea horses have been word of mouth for a few years here, it harbors many interesting and unique species including multiple species of jellyfish, leopard spot gobies, devonshire cup coral, pipefish, cuttlefish and many more.

Zorbons Reef. Relying on local knowledge and a good skipper we are hoping to find Zorbons reef. The stuff of legends this reef hosts mysterious species of the deep.

The boundary of the MCZ. We are hoping to be able to find a number of previously unexplored reefs on the boundary of the MCZ with the aim of exploring and mapping them in the hope of finding the protected pink sea fan's that have been recorded just outside but not inside the MCZ.

Pentire Headland. This highly exposed area will be explored with the aim of finding some undiscovered sites.

Fistral beach. This important area is home to protected species and will feature in the documentary due to its thousands of visitors each year illustrating the balance of life within the area.

This is only a preliminary list and we will be adding to it at the project evolves and takes shape over the coming months. The focus over the next month will be the Gannel Estuary and we are excited to film in this environment in the depths of winter.

The project crew now consists of underwater cameramen and women, Dominique Gorton, Matthew Brown, David Beal and Andy Jackson and Thomas Daguerre. Matt Slater, marine awareness officer for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Seasearch co-ordinator for Cornwall is playing a key role in helping co-ordinate scientific data and film work as well as dive logistics. The Atlantic diver have expressed a willingness to work with us as they are very conservation focused as a dive charter and for this we are very grateful. We have had many individuals express interest in giving up their time and resources to help in this project be it in offering of boats, drones, health and safety, dive buddies or logistics and planning. This is fantastic and we will contact you when things really take off!

The project is underway and soon we will take our first shots of 2017, thank you all for your support we could not of done it without you.