BDMLR presentation from Ollie Lewis.

Written by Poppy (Year 13)

On Thursday (October 2nd) we welcomed back Ollie Lewis, a past Bassaleg pupil who now, alongside university, volunteers with the British Divers Marine Life Rescue. The organisation specialises in gathering passionate marine life enthusiasts and medical specialists to help rescue and rehabilitate injured marine mammals, as well as educating the public on the dos and don’ts of interacting with this delicate part of the natural world.

Presenting to our Eco Council, he talked us through the situations he has encountered as part of the charity, including the rescues of many aquatic mammals off the coast of Britain such as dolphins, seals and porpoises. The younger members of our school were certainly inspired after hearing these experiences; with questions aplenty, Bassaleg can expect to see many future environmentalist alumnus, like Ollie.

One effort of the BDMLR, introduced to Eco during the session, is to dispose of the ‘flying ring’ frisbees. This is due to the sad reality that, mistaking them for toys, seals have been known to become trapped in discarded ‘flying rings’, some even growing with the hoops digging into their necks. To prevent this from happening, simply dispose of any ringed frisbees you may own, cutting them up first to insure they don’t find their way into the ocean as litter. A simple change that could save the lives of countless seals.

We would like to thank Ollie for giving up his time to educate our Eco council, and to congratulate him on his efforts to save our aquatic environment.