Pfin, net and rake: games on the beach of a child can do a lot of damage to sea animals. Trivially, the water inside the bucket into which crabs and limpets are slid quickly reaches very high temperatures, and without the children being aware of it. Which can be fatal to those who, unfortunately, ended up being better observed.
Crab hunting with a net? Better not (Getty Images)
From this evidence, Lav’s campaign to protect the sea animals kicks off. As explained by Giacomo Bottinelli, Office manager At school with LAV «Our aim is to make people think, explaining in a fun and engaging way that crabs, molluscs, fish, jellyfish, beetles, insects and all other animals are living beings capable of feeling sensations and that the correct behavior to have towards them is observe them without touching them or take them from their environment.
Do you play on the beach? Respecting the animals of the sea
The first stage of the awareness campaign The sea is their home of Lav is Thursday 8 June in Genoa, the Oceans Day. In all there will be 21 appointments in 8 Italian regions, until 14 July in Formia (LT), also passing through symbolic cities of tourism such as Tropea and Venice.
LAV volunteers will be present on the beaches in a number of Italian seaside resorts with their stands and information materials aimed precisely at children and families.
Look but don’t touch
«Beaches are often considered as places devoid of life, to the point of making them theaters for concerts and major events. If we stop to look at them we can instead discover how many wonderful animals inhabit them. This, for us, is the real show to watch and admire…and not touch» concludes Bottinelli.
10 rules to explain to children for sea-friendly holidays
1) Be a detective: have fun finding out who left traces of one’s passage on the sand (footprints, peck marks, leftover food…).
2) When the tide goes out, they stay on the sand and rocks of the puddles of water. In these a particular is created habitat for many small animals… ideal for beach games of exploration.
3) If you come across a pet, take a close look at it… there’s nothing more beautiful than that study an animal in the wild. You can also take a picture or portrait of him, but leave him where he is. It’s the first rule of respectful beach games.
Better than net and bucket, mask and snorkel
4) Put mask and snorkel and throw yourself in the water: what could be better to meet marine animals up close? Always without disturbing them…
5) The sea has always brought us fascinating discoveries. How about doing a quick internet search for learn more about animals what do you meet? It will help you understand and respect them better.
For example? It can be found that jellyfish are among the oldest animals in the world, appeared on earth about 600 million years ago, in the Cambrian period, the oldest of the Paleozoic Era. Or what octopuses have blue blood and three heartsone of which stops beating when they swim (that’s why the prefers to crawl on the bottom rather than swim: the activity leaves him exhausted).
Games on the beach with crabs and molluscs: no catching
6) If you want to get a close look at a small fish or other creature, don’t catch him.
Even if you do it right, putting it in the bucket for a few minutes will scare it unnecessarily. And this treatment, by the way, can seriously harm our friend.
7) Do not pick up or move animals: In addition to scaring them, you will push them away from their path. Don’t harvest either starfish, molluscs… And do not remove the limpets attached to the rocks. When the tide goes out, the latter protect themselves from predators by sealing themselves inside their shell.
Rubbish, stones & Co. The rules to protect the beach
8) Human waste, in addition to polluting the sea and the beach, can present many dangerous pitfalls for animals: never get dirty. Did you know that to biodegrade a simple chewing gum (which can also be easily mistaken for food by a fish), does it take five years?
9) Do not move stones to the bottom of the sea: in addition to risking causing victims, you will destroy the homes of many small animals. Using sticks to loosen the bottom, or throwing stones into the water, could also be dangerous.
10) Always think about what you are doing: is it harmful to animals?
Initiatives to make children aware of the protection of the sea
Environmental protection, first and foremost the sea, is learned as a child to continue to implement it as an adult. Hence the importance of awareness-raising initiatives aimed at primary school pupils from various realities.
From Sant’Antioco, pin the ruin of the South Sardinia, where 250 children approached the protection of the environment with the simulation of waste collection on the beach thanks to the association of boaters of the sulcis (in collaboration with the Coast Guard). atBergeggi Island Marine Protected Area where the pupils of two elementary schools, of Spotorno and Noli, were involved in the awareness project dedicated to Marine Protected Areas (MPA), “AMPLification”.
Thanks to educational lessons on the beach taught by the biologist of Worldrise, non-profit association for the sea protection, in collaboration with Ariston, the children discovered the rich biodiversity of this pearl of our coast: it hosts brown and red algae and a rich meadow of Posidonia oceanica, as well as coral formations and various species of molluscs, crustaceans, sea urchins, sponges and hydroids. And they then “explained” it to their parents and grandparents, in a curious and paradoxical generational shift.
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