One of the island’s rarest flowers is in safe hands. The rather beautiful Yarrow Broomrape (the purple flower in the picture) has acquired ‘AlarmGnome’ technology thanks to a grant from the SBPF (Spurious Botanical Projects Fund). If anyone should approach the plants AlarmGnome issues a first warning: ” Step Away from the Flowers”. If this doesn’t ward them off and they get still closer risking harm to the Broomrape, then AlarmGnome gives a second warning of “Back Off Now, or Suffer”. If this still doesn’t deter the deranged intruder then AlarmGnome becomes AttackGnome and you really don’t want to know what happens next.
On Monday, Island 2000’s bio-tech department reported the results of the latest stage of its GM trials. A joint investigation with Yarmouth Harbour Commission is seeking to establish whether splicing DNA extracted from the gribble (Limnoria lignorum) into the human genome can impart the ability to breathe under water.
Samantha Buck, who has been running the trial said “There’s nothing unusual about breathing in an aquatic environment. Lots of species do it. We just need to make some minor adjustments to the way our bodies function. If we can crack this one, it could provide a significant boost to the Island’s tourist industry and would be the perfect accompaniment to the launch of our Isle of Wight snorkelling guide. Although results up to now have been disappointing, we must remember that this study was very small and we cannot be sure that the results are statistically significant.”
The trial recently ran into controversy when three volunteers were admitted to St Mary’s A&E suffering from water on the lung and two others developed an uncharachteristic urge to gnaw wooden objects.
As part of Sandown Primary’s grounds development project Dan was commissioned to make a lovely wooden xylophone fence. The children love it and it’s a special musical addition to the rest of the creative outdoor classroom at the school.
Hmmm… but how would one transport a 3m wooden xylophone from our offices in East Cowes to Sandown I hear you ask…..?
It’s wonderful to rummage around in the huge nest of materials that the Magpie scheme is gathering and pull out useful bits for different projects. The Vestas plywood has been specially versatile and has been put to some unlikely uses…
Inspired by the Footprint Trust’s ground-breaking scheme in which enthusiastic youngsters adopt the gardens of more elderly folk for the purpose of growing food, Simon proposed to make some changes to Dan’s garden. The pictures below show a team of Island 2000 volunteers digging over the ground, having dragged off the old anti-weed matting.
Next leaves and leaf-mould were collected from outside the Island 2000 workshop to dig into the clay-laden soil. This nutritious material was transported up the hill by environmentally friendly means…
Sam’s mum sent seeds of many exotic varieties, but Simon thought it was safest to start with something simple -
We’ll keep you posted on any exciting developments down on the farm.
Forget afternoon tea breaks, afternoon rowing breaks are the future! After too long in front of the computer monitor, Dan’s suggestion of a quick trip out in the boat was too tempting to refuse. So Dan, Simon and I sloped off for a bit to row out from East Cowes seafront into the Solent. It was a beautiful afternoon, with silky smooth seas and the sun low in the sky over Cowes. What a fantastic way to reinvigorate yourself before heading back to the office for some more hard work. For half an hour…
The video below shows some select bits from our little voyage, including some views of Island 2000’s home, Venture Quays (formerly known more interestingly as the Columbine building or Columbine shed) - just look out for the Union Jack. You can also see just how easy to transport and put away our boat is - even in a first floor room!
Here you can see the progress of The Purple Kite from scraps of plywood pulled out of a skip, to the proud craft bobbing down the river below.
Like many projects, it’s the result of a random turn in a conversation. Simon was talking about beavers and streams, then someone said it would be great if we had an inflatable canoe for surveying wildlife in ponds and rivers. After that someone came up with a challenge: to make our own boat in one day using only recycled materials and anything we could find in the office and then row it across the River Medina and back.
We set to work in our small inventions workshop in East Cowes which SEEDA let us use specifically for making interesting and unlikely creations.
Well, we failed to make it in a day and cheated by buying a box of screws, but as it took shape over the next week our confidence grew that it really would stay afloat with us in it. It started to feel more and more like a proper boat.
The more organic lines can be explained by the fact that there weren’t any plans and there wasn’t a lot of measuring either.
This picture shows Simon ceremonially rubbing down the boat in whiskey prior to painting.
There are two port-holes in the bottom for observing fish, rocks, seaweed and submarines passing beneath us.
At this point the boat had no name, but by means of a democratic process, we arrived at The Purple Kite. The Island 2000 logo is of course a purple kite and it is also, by sheer coincidence, the rarest species of sea-bird to be found in the British Isles, never having been observed or recorded.
Launchday - a last minute attack of responsibility makes us leave behind our recycled life-jacketsand ask Offshore Challenges next door if they can lend us something more reliable. They hand us two very swanky-looking flotation devices which, we understand, deploy automatically as soon as they get a whiff of sea-water. Simon instructs us that if it looks like we’re going down, we’re to throw them back onto the land to avoid the punitive cost of recharging the gas canisters.
Luckily, this isn’t necessary as itturns out to be the driest rowing boat we’ve been in. We launch from the slipway just next to the car ferry, waved off in a cloud of sherbet by well-wishers and curious staff from Red Funnel. The oars are on the long side for such a small boat, but The Purple Kite is easy to row and very manoeuvrable, sitting surprisingly high in the water.
If you’d like to see the cross-Medina escapade for yourself, take a look at the Youtube video below.
We’re now planning to produce some commentaries on the wildlife of the Isle of Wight’s rivers, viewed and recorded from the water. The Purple Kite is availablefor other water-borne tasks or challenges. Any suggestions?
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