The waters off the Berwickshire coast have long been considered special by marine biologists as they contain a fantastic abundance and diversity of marine life. Add to this clear waters and spectacular underwater scenery and it is not surprising that divers have been coming to the area for decades.

In the early days numbers were low, but word soon spread and by the 1970s there were concerns that increasing human activity might start to have an adverse effect on the wildlife. Initially divers banned themselves from taking a crab or lobster “for the pot” from around St Abbs and the Barefoot Marine Reserve was set up at Eyemouth by a local landowner. Then in 1984 local fishermen, divers and conservationists got together and decided to create St Abbs & Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve (VMR). This was the first reserve of its kind in the UK and, to this day, remains the only one in Scotland.

The VMR aims to balance the needs of the area’s marine life with the needs of recreation & traditional creel fishing. Protection of the marine life relies on educating people who use the area, promoting responsible behaviour and asking them to stick to a voluntary Code of Conduct.

Tuesday 2nd September
Come help turn the tide on marine litter
If you are fed up with seeing our fabulous beaches blighted by rubbish that is washed up by the tide, why not come and do your bit. Come and help us do a beach clean and litter survey on Linkim Shore on Sunday 21st September.

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Friday 22nd August
Killer whale North of St Abbs Head!
The passengers of the local glass bottomed boat had a fantastic experience yesterday - a surfeit of cetaceans! First off a pod of 4 Rissos dolphins, not a common sight, closely followed by 2 minke whales and then a brief glimpse or two of a killer whale, definately a rare sighting.

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2nd August 2008
White-beaked dolphins off St Abbs Harbour
Two White-beaked dolphins decided to stop and play around St Abbs Inshore Lifeboat whilst it was out on exercise this morning. They made several passes under the boat and then indulged in a short spell of bowriding before disappearing as fast as they appeared.

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