Our connection with the sea and our favourite seaside memories are the theme of this year’s National Marine Week, which takes place from this Saturday July 27 to Sunday 11 August.
Cleethorpes’ unique position as a seaside resort situated on the River Humber and bordering the North Sea, makes it a perfect place to enjoy the benefits of the water with almost 9-million people visiting the town in 2022.
The Humber Estuary’s catchment area drains one fifth of England (24,472 km2), providing the largest single input of freshwater to the North Sea from the English coastline. There are more than 400,000 people living and working within the Humber floodplain, almost 30,000 of them in Cleethorpes, and 12 million within the overall catchment area. With 480 inhabitants per km2, the Humber is the most densely populated large European estuary.
Its muddy appearance is known as turbidity and is due to suspended sediment, around 60% of which comes from the North Sea, 37% from the eroding boulders clay cliffs along the Holderness Coast, and 3% coming from the river itself.
It may not be the prettiest, but this sediment is vital for the estuary to function, with more than 1,500 tons being carried in on every tide. It is estimated that up to 1.26-million tons of sediment may be present in the water column, and the deposited sediments provide essential material to maintain important habitats within the estuary, such as mudflats, sandflats and the saltmarsh.
Due to the presence of important habitats and species, the entire Humber Estuary and parts of its tidal river tributaries have been given a number of nature conservation designations under UK, European, and international law. The estuary is a Natura 2000 site, designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a Special Protection Area (SPA), a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and a Ramsar site, together forming the Humber Estuary European Marine Site.
The Humber is one of the 10 most important estuaries in Europe for birds. It supports internationally important populations including the Marsh Harrier, Avocet, Little Tern, Bittern, Hen Harrier, Golden Plover, and Bar-Tailed Godwit. Donna Nook supports one of the largest Grey Seal breeding colonies in England with hundreds of new pups born every year. The sea supports a range of fish including Haddock, Cod, Monkfish, Red Mullet, Mackerel, Whiting, Ballan Wrasse and Dogfish.
Locals and tourists have been sharing their favourite pictures of Cleethorpes seafront with us over the past few months and to celebrate National Marine Week we are sharing some of our favourites again here.
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