At a course held recently at Plymouth University’s Diving and Marine Centre, experts Jack Sewell and Dr John Bishop of Plymouth’s Marine Biological Association imparted the information to some 20 Devon and Cornwall diving volunteers of the Seasearch marine life survey group.
The training would, said Cornwall Seasearch coordinator Angie Gall, create a network of trained individuals who can act as “a fantastic early-warning system to alert conservation bodies and the Government to the presence of these new arrivals”.
Course dives included work in a marina, the classic place in which species first gain a foothold, having been imported on boat hulls.
Kat Brown, Seasearch’s Devon coordinator, said: “It was particularly useful for the divers to see what these species look like under water, as this is how they will most probably encounter them.”
Laboratory examinations were also carried out on the species encountered, which included Japanese kelp, orange-tipped seasquirts and Pacific oysters.
Archive | 
Win a Luxfer pony cylinder
