Weekend Magic – Da Voar Redd Up & Wildlife & Photography Noss Boat tours.

Da Voar Redd Up & The Noss Boat Wildlife & Photography Tours Weekend April – 2024

We had a fun weekend with both our Noss Boat Team beach clean-ups for Da Voar Redd Up and our wildlife & photography boat tours to Noss with a small break in the weather! There was a wonderful sense of community as we passed so many people on beaches and on the roads brandishing litter pickers and the large green collection bags. We filled 3 enormous bags on one small beach alone and what was clearly evident was that the vast majority of litter was rope & line from the fishing industry. This is something we also come across and remove from the ocean surface on a regular basis during our boat tours and we see hanging in great clumps from gannet nest sites. Other items included many plastic bottles, a shoe, sheep ear tags, cans and sea-worn sections of buoys. 

We also found a hand-full of eggcases (mermaid’s purses), a Starry Skate, several Small-spotted Catshark and Thornback Ray! These will be uploaded and recorded to the Shark Trust website for their ongoing highly successful eggcase recording scheme.

We have really enjoyed taking part in this award winning, community clean up weekend & are looking forward to taking part in the next organised one already whilst still beach-cleaning as and when we can throughout the year! 

“Da Voar Redd Up is the UK’s most successful community litter-picking event, with around 4,500 people (20% of Shetland’s population) volunteering each year. The Redd Up makes a huge contribution to the protection of Shetland’s natural environment and wildlife, clearing Shetland’s beaches, coastlines and roadsides of litter and the debris washed up by winter storms.

We also enjoyed sharing the delights of Noss with with our famous Noss Boat tours over the weekend during a break in the weather – So elated to be back out on the water sharing the wonders of Shetlands incredible natural marine environment with guests from all over the world, this weekend, Australia, Germany and Italy and closer to home some passengers from here on the Isles. Hope you will be joining us this season to experience the breathtaking seabirds around Noss, a true highlight of many holidays on Shetland!

 

3D WOODEN DIVING GANNETS – FREE GIFT FOR NOSS BOAT KIDS 2024

NEWLY SOURCED – SCOTTISH SMALL BUSINESS COLLABORATION

Diving Gannets 3D Pop Up for all children aboard the famous Noss Boat for the 2024 season.

We are delighted to have sourced and are now both selling via our online shop and giving for FREE to every child aboard our boat this year, a Pop Up DIVING GANNETS eco-card. Pop up cards are quick to make, easy to assemble, need no glue and all have pop out parts to make them 3D. Pop up cards are designed and made in Scotland by precision laser cutting. They are made from a sustainable and recyclable poplar plywood.

The cards come with a C6 coloured envelope, a C6 cellophane wrap and a paper insert with a picture of a completed model on it. This wooden card measures at L 140 x W 95 x T 3 mms and weighs 19 gms. This card can be posted for the same price as a normal letter in the UK.

THE STORY BEHIND THEM

These diving gannets are one of many pop up designs made by Andy Cox who started a small business in 2012 in order to raise funds to support two children a year (or more) through compassion UK.  This charity gives long term support  to children in some of the world’s poorest places. This goal was achieved for two years by selling a range of products that were made in  Gordonstoun School,  Moray, Scotland mainly for the Christmas Gift market. (Andy had been Head of Design there for 15 years and Fiona was in charge of Careers and Cooking.)

In the Summer of 2015 Andy and Fiona left teaching to concentrate on the business. They set up as a partnership, built a workshop and now have several Laser cutters making pop up designs.  They went full time into wood gift designing, making and packing in 2016.  After selling 80 000 cards last year, in 2019 they hope to sell many thousands of products and  raise many thousands of pounds for good causes.  They have started the funding of a workshop through compassionUK (one of the top 10 British charities), providing tools, materials and  teachers to help 30 boys and girls in Kenya to get a vocational education in one of the most poorest areas of the country and of our world. This year they are hoping to sponsor a project in Tanzania for a vocational workshop for wood and cooking. In 2018 they started working with adopt-a-child as well helping with child sponsorship projects in Guatemala and Albania. in 2019 they had the wonderful opportunity to visit one of the projects we help support in Guatemala.  In 2021 they moved south of Edinburgh to a bigger workshop, to be closer to their children and new Grandchild.  Post covid they are still hoping to give away £8000 to £20 000 a year to the two main charities we support adopt-a-child and compassion UK.

The Noss Boat is delighted to support this business by giving every child passenger (under 16) aboard The Noss Boat a free diving gannet pop up gift as part of our spectacular Noss Boat wildlife experience for the 2024 season. This is a unique and original design we have sourced and a fabulous new asset to our ever expanding boat tour business here on Shetland. 

Da Voar Redd Up 2024 – Spring Beach Cleaning Weekend !

                                                Da Voar Redd Up 2024

Da Voar Redd Up will take place from Saturday 20 April – Friday 26 April 2024.

The Shetland Seabird Tours family regularly clean up litter ‘bruck’ on Shetland beaches. We spend a lot of time beachcombing & taking part in beached bird surveys & take great satisfaction in removing ugly, damaging manmade items from the shoreline. Alongside this however, we have really enjoyed taking part in this award winning, community clean up weekend & are looking forward to taking part in this well organised one! Hope you will take part too? See you out there!

“Da Voar Redd Up is the UK’s most successful community litter-picking event, with around 4,500 people (20% of Shetland’s population) volunteering each year. The Redd Up makes a huge contribution to the protection of Shetland’s natural environment and wildlife, clearing Shetland’s beaches, coastlines and roadsides of litter and the debris washed up by winter storms.

 

2024 registration open

To register for this year’s Redd Up please completed our online form here.

Registration will close on Wednesday 17 April at 17:00.

Why should you register?

  • When you register, you will be provided with Redd Up bags. These identify Redd Up rubbish, making it easier for us to record it.
  • Registering allows you to choose a Redd Up location and allows us to make sure that different groups are not cleaning the same places. This not only means that more of Shetland gets cleaned, but also gives us a more accurate record the amount of litter that has been collected.
  • During registration, you will be able to specify a roadside collection point for all of your bags. Redd Up rubbish can only be picked up from these locations

What happens after registration?

After you have registered, we’ll prepare your bags for you and let you know when and where they can be picked up. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide gloves. If your chosen location is unavailable, we’ll get in touch to discuss alternative options.” Shetland Amenity Trust 2024

 

Both images © Shetland Seabird Tours – The Noss Boat 2024

Da Voar Redd Up – Community Beach Clean – Shetland

Da Voar Redd Up

Saturday 22nd to Friday 28th April 2023

“Da Voar Redd Up is the UK’s most successful community litter-picking event, with around 4,500 people (20% of Shetland’s population) volunteering each year. The Redd Up makes a huge contribution to the protection of Shetland’s natural environment and wildlife, clearing Shetland’s beaches, coastlines and roadsides of litter and the debris washed up by winter storms”Shetland Amenity Trust

Shetland Seabird Tours family have been beach cleaning for some years now, it is something we have been happy to do on a regular basis through the winter months as we love beach walking and beach-combing, have a passion for our coastal environment, and it has been a source of fun and pleasure with our daughter who is very good with the pick up grabbers! This year Shetland Seabird Tours also took part in the popular annual clean up community event held by the Shetland Amenity Trust, something we will be doing every year now we are registered. We had a designated beach to clean and battled the elements over the weekend to get the job done. It is lovely to see so many folk taking part in this event and all the bags of bruck being removed from our roadsides and shorelines. Some folk have been doing these annual beach cleans for many many years, and active litter-pickers range from toddlers to folk in their late eighties –  what a great reason to hit the beaches together!

“Thanks to Shetland Islands Council for providing rubbish collection. We would also like to thank Shetland Charitable Trust, Enquest Sullom Voe, and Tesco Bags of Help for funding the event and to for Marine Conservation Society for their continued support” Shetland Amenity Trust