Street artist ‘ATM’ has taken inspiration from the lush seagrass meadows off Ryde for his latest wildlife portrait, a cuttlefish.
A visit to Ryde at low tide with Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust gave ATM the chance to see important local habitats first hand, ahead of painting his cuttlefish portrait over the Solent at Portsmouth City Museum.
Among the species he saw on Ryde’s mudflats and under the pier included hermit crabs, snakelocks and dahlia anemones, as well as ‘cuttlebones’.
During the spring cuttlefish swim to shallower waters like those in the Solent to breed, often in fragile underwater meadows of sea grass. These sea grass beds are also home to seahorses and many species of juvenile fish, and are the focus of local campaigns to secure better protection for marine habitats and species.
ATM’s painting now decorates a Portsmouth City Museum building, and was commissioned by The Wildlife Trusts to mark the start of their National Marine Week celebrations. Over the coming days local Wildlife Trusts are organising events and campaigns, and people are being encouraged to take pledges to protect our marine environment.
There are a number of Wildlife Trust events coming up on the Island in the next few weeks giving people the chance to see the diversity of local marine wildlife for themselves:
• Compton Shoresearch – 20th August at 14:00
• Thorness Bay Shoresearch – 22nd August at 15:45
More information on these and other upcoming coastal events can be found at https://www.hiwwt.org.uk/news/2017/07/31/national-marine-week-2017-events.
