Year of Coasts and Waters

The science behind harnessing energy from the sea. What are waves and tides and how do you capture their power? What impact does ocean energy have on the surrounding environment? What progress is being made by ocean energy technology developers? David Darbinyan and Joshua Lawrence of EMEC are joined by Calum Miller of Orbital Marine Power, who reports on the progress of the Orbital O2 turbine.

From Rockall to Faroe, Iceland to Greenland, the 19th-century Shetland boats – the Faroe smacks – sought the cod shoals. They used baited lines, then salted the catch on board. Dried salted cod from Shetland was sold to the Basque country, and live cod (kept in tanks) to the London market. They also smuggled Faroese brandy and tobacco. John Goodlad, who has worked in the seafood industry all his life, tells the story of “ordinary people who did extraordinary things”.

Svalbard, far to Norway’s Arctic north, is an island group with glaciers, fjords, reindeer, seabirds and also scientific research. Dr Alison McLure, back from her second expedition, shows images of landscape and wildlife in a sometimes bleak yet breathtakingly beautiful setting.

Nordic Viola presents reflections on female experience of landscapes and community from the Northern Isles to Greenland in music by women composers for string quartet. Highlights include ‘Machair’ by young Highland composer Lisa Robertson and music influenced by Orcadian history and the Hardanger fiddle style by Gemma McGregor. Greenland’s only classical composer, Arnannguaq Gerstrøm, reflects on winter whilst English composer Lillie Harris depicts the full fury of a Shetland storm. Anna Appleby’s evocative ‘Hrakningar’ includes migrating geese from Iceland, and American Jocelyn Hagen offers a new take on the haunting Icelandic lullaby ‘Sofðu Unga’. There are new tunes reflecting on motherhood and the wild Orcadian weather by traditional fiddlers Margaret Robertson (Shetland) and Fiona Driver (Orkney),

A beaver-chewed timber from North America, a sea heart from the rainforests of the southern Caribbean. A skate’s egg case, a lump of paraffin wax, and a lobster creel tag from Newfoundland. Martin Gray, who runs the Orkney Beachcombing page, describes the wealth of treasures that wash up on an Orkney shore and the searching and foraging quest that has taken Orcadians to the shore since Neolithic times and before.

The old selkie story found in Orkney and elsewhere around the coast of the British Isles tells of shapeshifting between the human and natural worlds, in the uncertain boundary world of the shore. This performance piece by artist Selena S Kuzman, specially created for the Year of Coasts and Waters, merges in a poetic way the folk stories of the selkie people with the transformation of waste materials and our deep connection with the sea and the land.

Orkney’s waters can provide spectacular sightings of marine mammals, but research so far has been limited. Orkney Marine Mammal Research Initiative was launched this summer to undertake long-term studies of cetaceans in Orkney waters and gather information from public sightings. It plans to work alongside other UK organisations such as Seawatch Foundation. Emma Neave-Webb, with a wealth of experience in surveying marine mammals in Sanday and elsewhere, describes the life of cetaceans – whales, dolphins and porpoises – whales, dolphins and porpoises. She is joined for questions by Karen Hetherington and Imogen Sawyer.

We’re off to the shore, to Warebeth and Birsay, for a creative and informative family-friendly session of shore-inspired fun. It’s hosted by artists and foragers Katherine Diaper, Rebecca Marr and Fiona Sanderson, and marine ecologist Dr Andrew Want, and they say that all ages are welcome. They want you to make plant brushes, and paint with shore-sourced pigments. Forage along the coastline and feast on your finds. Get up close to shore creatures. Photograph the beauty of seaweed. And they’re going to round off with foraged food around a beach fire.

Music inspired by the sea, presented by its composer, Lochaber musician Ingrid Henderson, in conversation with the head of NatureScot’s marine unit, Katy Gillham. The music was created for a new music and audiovisual show for the Year of Coasts and Waters. Mixing newly crafted music and song with ancient Gaelic melodies and powerful imagery and animation, it explores themes of ocean currents, migration and environmental impact as well as celebrating the rich marine life around us and the deep cultural connection of coastal communities to the sea. Music by Ingrid Henderson (harp/fiddle/vocals), Anna Massie (guitar/fiddle), Megan Henderson (fiddle/vocals/piano) and Conal McDonagh (Irish pipes/whistle).

From one of the industries traditionally most dominated by men come stories of an 18th-century shipwright, a 19th-century propeller designer, a pioneer marine engineer and a WW2 shipyard electrician – and all of them women. Their newly-discovered histories are revealed by engineering historian Dr Nina Baker, who was herself a Merchant Navy deck officer, and highlights the role of women in engineering today.

Orcadians working for the Hudson’s Bay Company over its three and a half centuries have had to use a wide range of vessels – York boats and canoes, ocean-going ships and paddle-steamers on lakes and rivers. Naval architect Dennis Davidson and former boatbuilder Len Wilson tell the story of the boats and the design principles behind their success.

The tall ship Pelican of London is in Orkney, carrying out research to tackle marine challenges, in the tradition of HMS Beagle, launched 200 years ago. With other stops including St Kilda and Shetland, it’s setting the scene for the visionary Darwin200 project that hopes in 2021 to take scientists and conservationists on the route of Darwin and the Beagle. Five young scientists aboard the Pelican – Joe Ellison, Shaolin Casey, Penelope Martinez-Halmen, Aoibhinn Lynch and Abigail Cundell –join us with news of their research amid life under sail.