European visitors first beheld the wonders of French Polynesia, which is where I am writing this, when HMS Dolphin, under the command of Samuel Wallis, entered the Tahiti lagoon in June 1767. Today our ship cruises at just 10 knots (only a tad faster than an 18th century frigate) and there is still plenty to marvel at – turquoise seas, white rollers on the reef, a rich variety of fish and corals, the silver sheen of black pearls, floating coconuts looking like seals, lush rain forests and flowers everywhere.
In January at 16° South the sun tracks directly overhead: but there are hardly any solar panels, because of a rotten deal with the energy suppliers. We enter UNESCO-listed lagoons, with rare maritime creatures, and the ship drops a 5-ton anchor followed by 25 tons of chain, swings this around scouring several acres of fundus, and a few hours later breaks it out. We seem to have difficulty treading gently on God’s earth, even when immersed in indescribable beauty.
Which brings me (I hope without lowering the tone) to the discharge of sewage onto South Sands beach. Harbour Board member Professor Malcolm Mackley has used the Freedom of Information Act to discover the extent of SWW’S discharges between May and September over the last five years.
The information makes alarming reading. Sewage is released onto South Sands for about 200 hours every summer and the worst month is often August – this, let’s remind ourselves, is Salcombe’s premier Blue Flag bathing beach. Moreover these discharges are not diminishing: by far the best year was 2011, with a total of merely 38 hours. The worst was 2012 with 345 hours. Last year was 248 hours.
All this underlines the point that looking after our environment requires thought, money – and passion. French Polynesia would benefit from solar panels, and moorings to save ships having to drop anchor: we in turn must work on something better for South Sands and the people who use it.
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