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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Hello and
welcome to Nature Fix with me,

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Claire Hickinbotham. Every month
we take you with us as we meet

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the people who spend their time
outside and join them in a place

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that most inspires them.

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Today we're in the Isle Of Wight
to meet Theo Vickers, who took a

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childhood hobby and turned it
into a career, shunning the

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lifestyle many his age opt for
and choosing a path that would

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see him spending a lot of time
at the beach.

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So I've just arrived at Compton
Bay on the Isle Of Wight. And

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actually we drove past this spot
a couple of hours ago when the

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tide was all the way in up to
the bottom of the cliffs.

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And in just a couple of hours,
the tide's gone out probably 80,

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100 m?

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And you can see that this is
rock pool heaven. So I'm going

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to go down onto the beach and
meet Theo Vickers, who is a bit

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of an expert rock pooler.

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Hello, you must be Theo.

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THEO VICKERS: I am yes, how are
you?

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Good. How
are you?

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THEO VICKERS: Yeah, not too bad
at all.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So before
we get started on rock pooling,

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is that a shipwreck?

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THEO VICKERS: That is a
shipwreck. Yes, it's the SS

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carbon. I think a 1940s, 1950s
tug that ran aground. It's been

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left there ever since.

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Compton Bay is this nice big
stretch of coast, sand with

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these big rocky ledges, and so
it stays quite shallow, quite a

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long way out.

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And so historically if you were
a like an 18th century vessel

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without modern navigation
equipment, very easy to run

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aground and to to kind of wreck
on those rocks.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And where
we are now, this is Compton Bay,

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and that's a part of the bigger
freshwater bay?

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THEO VICKERS: So to the south,
we've got this kind of coastline

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of sandstone and clay so the
wessex relation, the otherwise

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famous dinosaur fossil producing
rock that will run down this

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winds southwest stretch for like
3 or 4 miles.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So we're
gonna go rock pooling.

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THEO VICKERS: Yes, we are.
Brilliant.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What kit
have you got with you?

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THEO VICKERS: We've got some
wellies, we've got some nets and

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containers, got my underwater
cameras. I'll go out on the

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rocky ledge at Hanover Point,
see what we can find.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And we're
OK to do this even though we're

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not kids?

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THEO VICKERS: Yes, we're
absolutely fine to do this even

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though we're not kids!

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Brilliant!
Let's go!

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I can't walk past these cliffs
without asking you a little

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question about dinosaurs.

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So growing up on the Isle Of
Wight, dinosaurs must have been

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a big part of why you would come
to the beach and finding

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fossils.

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THEO VICKERS: Yeah, so I'm, I'm
quite heavily involved with

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fossil hunting on the island as
well. So over the years I've

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collected quite a few fossil
things like ammonites and and

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fossil mammals and some bits of
dinosaur bone from along here.

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So that's always been a part of
my interest in natural history

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as well.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Does it all
link together for you?

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THEO VICKERS: It's easy to think
they're separate, but actually

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this is just modern life on
Earth, and that's past life on

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Earth. It's the same interest in
animals and biology. It's just

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that stuff's really, really dead
and this stuff's alive,

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basically.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Is that a
big pull for people to come to

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the Isle Of Wight?

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THEO VICKERS: We get lots of
visitors around the world and

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across the UK who are coming
here for the sole purpose of

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dinosaur fossils.

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Where we are at Hanover Point
now, you've got the dinosaur

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footprints, famous dinosaur
footcasts in the summer months

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we'll take hundreds of people
down here to see them because

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that is a really big draw, a big
part of our heritage on the Isle

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of Wight.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What is it
about rock pooling that appeals

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to you?

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THEO VICKERS: It was how my
interest in the sea began really

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as a child, and I think it's
being able to kind of find like

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a really amazing diversity of
things without actually having

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to get too wet.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Are you
from the Isle Of Wight?

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THEO VICKERS: Yes, I was born
here

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So rock
pooling was weekly activity for

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you?

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THEO VICKERS: Yeah, weekends,
school holidays, those sorts of

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things. I was always the nature
kid, I always had a fascination

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with natural history, so like
dinosaurs, sharks, all those

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sort of things.

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Growing up here, you were able
to engage with that a bit more

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than perhaps might do in other
places, and so rock pooling was

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a big thing, that kind of got me
into marine biology in the first

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place.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And what
would people from the Isle Of

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Wight normally do? Do you leave
the island and come back at some

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point?

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THEO VICKERS: A lot of people in
my generation, they'll head to

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the mainland because that's
where a lot of the economic

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opportunity is.

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And certainly if you're not so
interested in nature in the

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outdoors, there isn't much here
for you.

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And it's part of the issues that
we have here with things like

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social deprivation and those
sorts of things. But if you're

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into the outdoors, you're into
nature, it's a perfect, perfect

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place to grow up.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It was
never something that you

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fancied?

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THEO VICKERS: So I went to the
university in Portsmouth,

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commuted on the ferry. I spent a
year living in Falmouth in

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Cornwall doing my masters, so
not really pushing the boat out

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very far in terms of like
environmental change or

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anything.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: But if you
found your happy place, you

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know, you don't need to change
it, do you?

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THEO VICKERS: I think if you got
those interests, this is a

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perfect place to be.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So what are
we hoping to see in the rock

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pools today?

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THEO VICKERS: We'll see a good
amount of species, I think. So

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we'll see things like velvet
swimming crabs, so they'll be

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underneath some of the boulders,
hopefully some things like sea

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slugs, sea urchins.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Do you rock
pool in all weathers?

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THEO VICKERS: You can do it in
some reasonably uncomfortable

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conditions if you're really into
it and you're really interested.

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And at night, actually in the
rock pools and under the sea

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here, there are lots of species
that become much more active. So

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we do safaris where we take
guests out at night, we have big

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torches.

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So then you can see things like
Conger Eels and some of the

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pools, lots of really active
crabs.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh wow.

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THEO VICKERS: We can see
biofluorescence, so we use UV

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torches and you shine it across
some of these rock ledges in

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particular species of sea
anemone, or biofluoresce,

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they'll glow in the dark,
essentially, so that's quite a

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cool thing. People seem to
really enjoy them.

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So we're gonna head, you can see
like a channel between us and

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our families, that's the best
spot, so we'll head down there.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So you're
wearing wellies, Theo.

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THEO VICKERS: Yes Yeah

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: That's very
sensible.

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Are you looking for something
already?

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THEO VICKERS: There's a little
animal here...

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Ah, so there's a tail you can
see...

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The tail of a fish.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh yeah.

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THEO VICKERS: So that is-

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Just
burrowing away into a hole in a

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rock

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THEO VICKERS: There we go. And
he's got lightning into there!

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh he's a
speedy little thing isn't he!

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THEO VICKERS: So that's a little
species of Blennies. It's

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probably the most common rock
pool fish we get.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: They're
making use of the holes in the

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rock.

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THEO VICKERS: Yeah, the rock
ledges here at Compton Bay are

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actually quite soft. It's this
sort of clay. These are the

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burrows of piddocks.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What's a
piddock?

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THEO VICKERS: A species of clam
that will burrow through this

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kind of soft sediment, creating
these very surgical holes that

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you're seeing drilled into all
of the clay around us.

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So what happens is once these
guys die, they create these

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holes. So like we were seeing
that fish using their abandoned

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hole.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And that
was just a little-

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THEO VICKERS: A little puddle!

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: But I
wasn't gonna call it a puddle. I

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thought that wouldn't be
scientific enough!

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It effectively is!

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THEO VICKERS: So if you just
sort of move a bit slowly. You

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can sometimes see stuff moving.

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I might whisk some of the
seaweed aside. Yeah, there's

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nothing crazy under that one
actually. There is a little

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anemone down here though, little
Snakelocks Anemone just there.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh yeah,
like a little tuft of grass.

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THEO VICKERS: There's two of
them together, so they're

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probably clones of each other,
so they reproduce asexually many

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Anemone. They just split their
bodies and one half will become

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another individual.

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So those guys are just filter
feeding and they're waiting for

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small shrimps, crustaceans to
come by and just grab them with

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the tentacles and pull them in
and feed on them, essentially.

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So they're like these passive
carnivores. And this is the

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species that when we do the
night safaris, that

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biofluoresces, so those guys
glow in the dark under UV light.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: That's
fascinating because it's tiny,

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isn't it? And you'd very easily
walk past that without realizing

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what you're looking at. But even
just you picking it up and using

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the word clone makes it
interesting!

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THEO VICKERS: It's pretty weird!

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And then what we'll do, we'll go
down into that channel we'll

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start flipping big rocks, and
we'll find some hopefully some

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bigger stuff.

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You wanna find a rock, you
almost wanna kind of put your

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fingers in the danger zone.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Are you
being nibbled by anything?

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THEO VICKERS: No, not yet.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So I
wouldn't think if I were to go

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rock pooling.

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That it would be OK to lift up
the rocks.

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THEO VICKERS: It's, it, it's a
very good point.

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So it's OK to do it as long as
you do it properly. And what

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we're gonna do, and this is the
cardinal rule of rock pulling on

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that topic, we're gonna make
sure it goes back the right way

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up.

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We've got an interesting rock
here I'll have a look under this

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one. Big velvet swimming crab,
you can see in that pool that.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh yeah,
our first crab!

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THEO VICKERS: They're quite
aggressive.

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They've got the name Devil crab
is one of their other common

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names and you can see two blood
red eyes in there, so that's

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partly where the name comes
from, and they're also often

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quite aggressive.

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So you can see when it thought
we'd seen it there, the arms

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went up like that, and it's like
a threat display, it's like stay

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away, I'm really big.

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But you can see, so for a crab
that's got like a really bad

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reputation.

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CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It's very
close to me!

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THEO VICKERS: Yeah, let's move
out the way slightly! If you

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stroke its back, you can feel
what it's called a velvet

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00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:33,169
swimming crab.

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00:09:34,130 --> 00:09:34,290
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh god
yeah!

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00:09:34,290 --> 00:09:36,330
THEO VICKERS: It's sort of
really soft, yeah. So it's all

227
00:09:36,330 --> 00:09:39,599
these fine little hairs. And
again, it might be to help with

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00:09:39,599 --> 00:09:41,780
getting sand stuck to you to
like camouflage you a little

229
00:09:41,780 --> 00:09:42,119
bit.

230
00:09:42,330 --> 00:09:44,289
But yeah, so for a crab that's
got this really like mean

231
00:09:44,289 --> 00:09:47,359
attitude, they're actually quite
soft and they look quite good,

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00:09:47,409 --> 00:09:47,799
yeah.

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00:09:48,489 --> 00:09:50,409
They can be pretty big. There we
go, and they're quite strong as

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00:09:50,409 --> 00:09:50,859
well.

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00:09:51,169 --> 00:09:52,969
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So did he
just propell himself out of your

236
00:09:52,969 --> 00:09:53,440
hand?

237
00:09:53,809 --> 00:09:55,890
THEO VICKERS: One of their kind
of protective moves is they are

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00:09:55,890 --> 00:09:58,400
swimming crabs, so if you look
to their back legs. You can see

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00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:01,320
like a flat paddle, so they
often go like that because they

240
00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,280
think it's defense to get away
from anything, it's to try and

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00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:03,750
swim.

242
00:10:03,979 --> 00:10:06,520
And so they're quite strong so
they can just hop out sometimes

243
00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,570
like he just did. So fair play
to him he's, he's escaped.

244
00:10:10,309 --> 00:10:10,520
There we go.

245
00:10:10,650 --> 00:10:11,359
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh that was
a good spot.

246
00:10:15,979 --> 00:10:18,099
THEO VICKERS: So you can kind of
see now there's really lush

247
00:10:18,099 --> 00:10:21,500
seaweed. So we're right down on
like the lowest extent of the

248
00:10:21,500 --> 00:10:24,659
shore, so the diversity here is
higher because the exposure's

249
00:10:24,659 --> 00:10:28,380
less on average, so this place
is exposed to the air less

250
00:10:28,380 --> 00:10:31,140
frequently than it would be like
up by the the dinosaur tracks.

251
00:10:33,119 --> 00:10:36,979
So a high tide, this might be
2/3 m deep. And then off the

252
00:10:36,979 --> 00:10:38,940
back of the rocks here you've
got like the beginnings of like

253
00:10:38,940 --> 00:10:42,020
kelp forest and deeper subtidal
habitats.

254
00:10:42,219 --> 00:10:43,820
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Anyone ever
says kelp forest, it makes me

255
00:10:43,820 --> 00:10:44,900
think of the Octonauts.

256
00:10:45,010 --> 00:10:46,690
THEO VICKERS: Yeah, get that a
lot on me.

257
00:10:46,900 --> 00:10:47,340
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Do you?

258
00:10:47,359 --> 00:10:47,369
THEO VICKERS: Yeah.

259
00:10:48,260 --> 00:10:49,650
Oh, actually there's some kelp
there.

260
00:10:49,979 --> 00:10:50,849
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What is
kelp?

261
00:10:50,940 --> 00:10:56,049
THEO VICKERS: So kelp is an
informal name for a group of

262
00:10:56,619 --> 00:11:00,739
brown algae essentially. So it
usually describes quite big

263
00:11:00,739 --> 00:11:03,299
forest forming species. So
that's really cool to see. And

264
00:11:03,299 --> 00:11:04,419
that one there's sea oak.

265
00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,359
Oh, there's a velvet crab, so
you can see the little ones

266
00:11:07,359 --> 00:11:08,440
again, it's gone under that bowl
there.

267
00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:10,119
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So that was
the same with the devil eyes?

268
00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:11,640
THEO VICKERS: With the devilish
eyes, and actually he was

269
00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,760
missing an arm, probably through
fighting other crabs. A lot of

270
00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:16,840
them can be quite cannibalistic,
they might feed on each other,

271
00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,119
so you often see crabs are
missing arms, but actually that

272
00:11:19,119 --> 00:11:19,840
will grow back.

273
00:11:25,489 --> 00:11:27,080
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And how
long have you been rock pooling?

274
00:11:27,270 --> 00:11:29,559
THEO VICKERS: So I was like 4 or
5 years old. So a lifetime

275
00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:30,090
pursuit, basically, yeah.

276
00:11:30,789 --> 00:11:33,400
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And what
have you noticed has changed in

277
00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:34,070
that time?

278
00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,700
THEO VICKERS: You're seeing lots
of species. We'd more typically

279
00:11:36,700 --> 00:11:39,479
see in Cornwall and Devon than
we would have done here, maybe

280
00:11:39,479 --> 00:11:42,599
20 years ago, arriving because
the winters in our seas are

281
00:11:42,599 --> 00:11:45,039
milder on average as sea
temperatures are rising through

282
00:11:45,039 --> 00:11:49,059
climate change, and so that
means that species within the UK

283
00:11:49,309 --> 00:11:52,070
will just shift their ranges,
their distributions.

284
00:11:52,109 --> 00:11:54,960
So the Mantis crab's a really
good example here. That's a crab

285
00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,309
that we've picked up on the
safaris here now quite a few

286
00:11:57,309 --> 00:12:01,150
times, but before 2020 it hadn't
ever been seen on the Isle Of

287
00:12:01,150 --> 00:12:03,630
Wight, and historically it was
only really found in West

288
00:12:03,630 --> 00:12:05,869
Cornwall. So if you go rock
pooling in Falmouth, it's

289
00:12:05,869 --> 00:12:06,150
everywhere.

290
00:12:06,179 --> 00:12:08,950
It's a really, really common
species of crab, but it was

291
00:12:08,950 --> 00:12:10,489
never here when I was a child.

292
00:12:10,750 --> 00:12:13,030
And we're starting to see
females like mature females, the

293
00:12:13,030 --> 00:12:15,750
eggs, so we know they're
breeding here now.

294
00:12:16,250 --> 00:12:19,650
This incremental advance as the
crab's gone it's a bit more

295
00:12:19,650 --> 00:12:21,250
comfortable further east now,
oh, it's a bit more comfortable

296
00:12:21,250 --> 00:12:23,320
further east, and then it just
keeps going and going and going.

297
00:12:23,849 --> 00:12:25,690
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Didn't you
have a term that you used for

298
00:12:25,690 --> 00:12:25,770
it?

299
00:12:25,830 --> 00:12:28,049
THEO VICKERS: Yeah, it's my
colloquial term. I call it south

300
00:12:28,049 --> 00:12:28,890
westification!

301
00:12:28,929 --> 00:12:29,650
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: I think
it's a great term!

302
00:12:29,650 --> 00:12:32,530
THEO VICKERS: Yeah so becoming
more like Cornwall and Devon. I

303
00:12:32,530 --> 00:12:33,650
think I have made up, yeah.

304
00:12:34,630 --> 00:12:36,820
I mean, it describes what's
happening. A lot of the species

305
00:12:36,820 --> 00:12:39,530
we're seeing are from the rocky
shores in the southwest.

306
00:12:39,700 --> 00:12:41,820
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And a big
part of what you do is record

307
00:12:41,820 --> 00:12:44,450
keeping, isn't it? Even if you
don't keep the records to give

308
00:12:44,450 --> 00:12:48,659
that data to somebody else to
keep those records, because our

309
00:12:48,659 --> 00:12:51,799
lifetime is almost insignificant
in the big scheme of things,

310
00:12:51,859 --> 00:12:54,909
isn't it? But it's important
that those records exist forever

311
00:12:54,909 --> 00:12:55,549
more, really.

312
00:12:55,940 --> 00:12:58,020
THEO VICKERS: I mean, the Isle
Of Wight's marine biological

313
00:12:58,020 --> 00:13:00,619
records are quite limited. There
hasn't really been a lot of

314
00:13:00,619 --> 00:13:02,500
marine recording here, whereas
there's been loads of stuff with

315
00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:03,979
insects and birds and stuff on
land.

316
00:13:04,460 --> 00:13:07,750
And so with these, we're partly
trying to just create these

317
00:13:07,750 --> 00:13:09,989
really cool baselines for
different sites like Compton Bay

318
00:13:09,989 --> 00:13:11,669
here, St Helen's, Culver, you
know, on the east side of the

319
00:13:11,669 --> 00:13:13,830
Isle Of Wight, so that you've
then got this really like

320
00:13:13,830 --> 00:13:16,390
exhaustive list of all the
animals when they were first

321
00:13:16,390 --> 00:13:19,229
seen. And so as we can keep
doing these for years, you might

322
00:13:19,229 --> 00:13:21,909
get some really cool data sets
of, you know, when stuff's

323
00:13:21,909 --> 00:13:22,260
appeared.

324
00:13:22,419 --> 00:13:23,830
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It's more
than a job really, isn't it?

325
00:13:30,669 --> 00:13:30,998
THEO VICKERS: A bit of an
obsession to be honest with you!

326
00:13:30,998 --> 00:13:31,083
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Let's go
with obession!

327
00:13:31,083 --> 00:13:31,133
Shall we?

328
00:13:31,133 --> 00:13:32,150
THEO VICKERS: Yeah we'll have a
look at some more rocks.

329
00:13:34,750 --> 00:13:36,239
There's a good one here
actually, we'll have a look

330
00:13:36,239 --> 00:13:36,900
under that one.

331
00:13:37,349 --> 00:13:38,830
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And there's
something there moving, what's

332
00:13:38,830 --> 00:13:40,270
that? Is that a tiny little
crab?

333
00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,299
THEO VICKERS: Yes, that's a
hairy crab. You see, it's like a

334
00:13:43,299 --> 00:13:46,619
little tarantula, pop in your
hand. These guys are like really

335
00:13:46,619 --> 00:13:48,409
docile. He's actually playing
dead.

336
00:13:48,940 --> 00:13:49,340
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh, is he
dead?

337
00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:51,059
THEO VICKERS: Yeah, well, he's
playing dead. So he thinks that

338
00:13:51,059 --> 00:13:53,179
if it's dead, then we're a bird,
we're not gonna eat it. We won't

339
00:13:53,179 --> 00:13:53,820
be quite that interested.

340
00:13:53,900 --> 00:13:55,820
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: I mean, I'm
not being funny, but that's

341
00:13:55,820 --> 00:13:56,530
smaller than a peanut.

342
00:13:56,690 --> 00:13:57,530
THEO VICKERS: I know yeah.

343
00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:00,159
They're a cool little species
and you can see it's got one

344
00:14:00,159 --> 00:14:03,030
massive arm like Popeye and one
little arm there, so probably

345
00:14:03,030 --> 00:14:05,599
the big arm for crushing, the
little arm for maybe cutting and

346
00:14:05,599 --> 00:14:06,719
manipulating things a bit more.

347
00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:09,960
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: We should
mention we've got another person

348
00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,729
with us really, shouldn't we?
Laura, who's working away in the

349
00:14:13,729 --> 00:14:13,729
background!

350
00:14:13,729 --> 00:14:15,390
THEO VICKERS: Laura look that
rock is a fossil tree.

351
00:14:16,450 --> 00:14:18,890
You can see that. These
segmented things. So these are

352
00:14:18,890 --> 00:14:21,570
big petrified fossil trees from
the Wessex Formation. So from

353
00:14:21,570 --> 00:14:22,760
the dinosaur bearing-

354
00:14:23,039 --> 00:14:25,790
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: They're
segments of the original tree

355
00:14:25,790 --> 00:14:26,070
trunk?

356
00:14:26,070 --> 00:14:27,770
It's quite obvious to see, isn't
it.

357
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,590
THEO VICKERS: About 130 million
years old or so.

358
00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:33,809
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So we've
got your assistant?

359
00:14:34,630 --> 00:14:36,830
THEO VICKERS: Yes, partner,
girlfriend! Laura!

360
00:14:36,830 --> 00:14:38,830
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Laura, how
do you feel about the word

361
00:14:38,830 --> 00:14:39,549
assistant, Laura?

362
00:14:39,549 --> 00:14:40,549
LAURA: I'll take it!

363
00:14:40,549 --> 00:14:43,299
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Laura is on
the rock pool safari with this,

364
00:14:43,469 --> 00:14:45,760
working ahead of us, finding the
good stuff.

365
00:14:46,429 --> 00:14:47,340
THEO VICKERS: Is there anything
over there?

366
00:14:47,549 --> 00:14:49,000
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh. What
have you seen?

367
00:14:49,070 --> 00:14:52,690
THEO VICKERS: There's a little,
oh, fantastic, right. That's

368
00:14:52,690 --> 00:14:56,280
find of the day. That's really
cool. That is little clingfish.

369
00:14:56,469 --> 00:14:59,309
They're like a really
specialized species of fish and

370
00:14:59,309 --> 00:15:02,309
what's happened to them is the
pectoral fins, like the arm fins

371
00:15:02,309 --> 00:15:02,900
basically.

372
00:15:03,770 --> 00:15:06,250
Have become almost like a
suction cup, and so it means

373
00:15:06,250 --> 00:15:09,409
they can like adhere themselves
to to the to the rocks

374
00:15:09,409 --> 00:15:09,770
basically.

375
00:15:09,890 --> 00:15:13,690
So in a in a wave exposed place
like this, it means you can like

376
00:15:13,690 --> 00:15:16,450
happily feed all day long just
hopping along the bottom of the

377
00:15:16,450 --> 00:15:18,510
rocks. But they're very, very
cool, that's a really cool

378
00:15:18,510 --> 00:15:21,140
little fish to see. That was
very cool though.

379
00:15:23,859 --> 00:15:27,140
Ah there's a hermit crab! I can
see there walking.

380
00:15:28,330 --> 00:15:32,130
Walking away there. And there
is, is that there's something

381
00:15:32,130 --> 00:15:35,950
else, it's like really tiny.
That's a hairy hermit crab.

382
00:15:36,479 --> 00:15:40,489
So you can literally see how
hairy the like claws are. So if

383
00:15:40,489 --> 00:15:43,419
you look at a hermit crab out of
its shell, it's entire body

384
00:15:43,729 --> 00:15:47,090
after the head has almost
spiraled, they have evolved

385
00:15:47,650 --> 00:15:50,190
almost in like symbiosis with
shells.

386
00:15:50,330 --> 00:15:52,929
So they've evolved that entire
lifestyle, they have to have a

387
00:15:52,929 --> 00:15:53,570
shell to survive.

388
00:15:53,570 --> 00:15:53,690
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It's
incredible isn't it!

389
00:15:53,690 --> 00:15:56,349
THEO VICKERS: Yeah, it's really,
really cool. And so as they get

390
00:15:56,349 --> 00:16:00,049
bigger, they will like kind of
upsizing the house you live in,

391
00:16:00,349 --> 00:16:02,950
they'll look for bigger shells.
So we've seen them in the sea

392
00:16:02,950 --> 00:16:05,960
grass on the island, literally
walking from a smaller shell to

393
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:08,630
a bigger shell and popping into
it and then walking off with a

394
00:16:08,630 --> 00:16:09,070
bigger shell.

395
00:16:12,020 --> 00:16:13,299
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So you've
been carrying quite an

396
00:16:13,299 --> 00:16:14,619
impressive camera.

397
00:16:14,820 --> 00:16:17,340
THEO VICKERS: So it's a little
Sony mirrorless camera, but it's

398
00:16:17,340 --> 00:16:19,520
in like a dive housing, yes,
it's in underwater housing.

399
00:16:19,900 --> 00:16:21,219
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So we're
gonna try and get a good shot of

400
00:16:21,219 --> 00:16:22,020
the seaweed.

401
00:16:22,140 --> 00:16:24,659
THEO VICKERS: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You often see the underwater

402
00:16:24,659 --> 00:16:27,979
pictures, there's a very like
fish eye kind of appearance to

403
00:16:27,979 --> 00:16:31,380
it. So that's what that lens
will help to create. It's just

404
00:16:31,380 --> 00:16:34,299
getting people on the island
interested in marine life around

405
00:16:34,299 --> 00:16:35,419
the island, that's the big
thing.

406
00:16:37,479 --> 00:16:39,669
I think you can say it for the
whole UK you can say it locally

407
00:16:39,669 --> 00:16:43,830
as well. Marine literacy in
Britain is relatively poor, even

408
00:16:43,830 --> 00:16:46,179
though we're an island nation of
islands.

409
00:16:46,630 --> 00:16:50,719
People actually have relatively
limited knowledge of the natural

410
00:16:50,719 --> 00:16:52,750
history of the marine
environment around the UK, maybe

411
00:16:52,750 --> 00:16:54,789
much less than they do, for
example, like birds or, you

412
00:16:54,789 --> 00:16:56,150
know, they might have in their
back garden.

413
00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,390
You can show people pictures of
a cuttlefish, and I'll say that

414
00:16:59,390 --> 00:17:01,070
I have no idea what that is, and
you'll say, well, that's the

415
00:17:01,070 --> 00:17:02,989
white thing that you might find
washed up on the beach, and then

416
00:17:02,989 --> 00:17:05,310
they go, hang on, you know, that
makes sense.

417
00:17:05,770 --> 00:17:08,660
So for me, the real impetus and
the drive has been to get people

418
00:17:08,660 --> 00:17:10,859
thinking that marine life's
cool, it's worth taking interest

419
00:17:10,859 --> 00:17:13,540
in, and then they can take
action locally and we can create

420
00:17:13,540 --> 00:17:15,489
a better environment for our
seas.

421
00:17:16,308 --> 00:17:18,428
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Sounds
perfect. Should we start heading

422
00:17:18,428 --> 00:17:18,808
back?

423
00:17:25,538 --> 00:17:27,438
So I know, it's a kind of-

424
00:17:27,438 --> 00:17:30,458
It's something you've loved
doing from childhood and you've

425
00:17:30,458 --> 00:17:33,288
made it your, your life, your
job, your career.

426
00:17:35,300 --> 00:17:38,359
And you've got that natural
interest, but does it give you

427
00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:39,150
more than that?

428
00:17:40,719 --> 00:17:42,380
THEO VICKERS: Yeah, it's just
that for me, like, it's a sense

429
00:17:42,380 --> 00:17:45,619
of like purpose, like I'm on a,
a sort of mission, I suppose.

430
00:17:45,670 --> 00:17:48,719
I've found what I wanna do. I
wanna be the guy on the island

431
00:17:48,719 --> 00:17:51,189
of what that helped get marine
life big, get the community

432
00:17:51,189 --> 00:17:54,310
interested in nature and, and
get local people living more

433
00:17:54,310 --> 00:17:55,859
closely with nature,
understanding it better.

434
00:17:56,069 --> 00:17:58,630
So yeah, it's given me actually
like a real like mission, like a

435
00:17:58,630 --> 00:18:00,189
sense of purpose, so it's, it's
cool, yeah.

436
00:18:00,390 --> 00:18:03,079
Like living on an island that I
grew up on that I feel really

437
00:18:03,079 --> 00:18:06,640
passionately about where I feel
very much at home doing what

438
00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:07,439
I've always loved doing, you
know

439
00:18:07,439 --> 00:18:07,591
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And sharing
it with other people?

440
00:18:07,591 --> 00:18:09,040
THEO VICKERS: It's really cool
yeah and showing other people

441
00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:10,469
and getting people interested in
it in the same way.

442
00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,410
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What's a
marker for you of that success,

443
00:18:14,489 --> 00:18:17,550
you know, is it a kid that goes
away and they're happy and, or

444
00:18:17,550 --> 00:18:20,040
do you want to hear those
stories of, oh, I've become a

445
00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:21,420
marine biologist?

446
00:18:21,550 --> 00:18:23,349
THEO VICKERS: We get lots of
examples like this. We get

447
00:18:23,349 --> 00:18:24,989
families give us really nice
feed, oh, my kid's really

448
00:18:24,989 --> 00:18:29,079
interested in in marine life now
and there's lots of people that

449
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:30,829
kind of recognize me now around
the island.

450
00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:32,900
They go, Oh hi Theo, I saw your
pictures, you know, I saw your

451
00:18:32,900 --> 00:18:34,239
video the other day and things
like that.

452
00:18:34,239 --> 00:18:35,319
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So you're a
local celebrity!

453
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:38,000
THEO VICKERS: Well, I wouldn't
call myself that, but it's cool

454
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:39,680
when people, you know, they
recognize you for what you've

455
00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,640
done, and they've got that
positive view of it, and they

456
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:44,640
obviously have taken interest in
it because of, you know, a

457
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:46,390
picture I've shared and that
sort of thing, It's cool.

458
00:18:47,239 --> 00:18:49,069
There's a perception in this
country again that we don't have

459
00:18:49,069 --> 00:18:50,869
the big megafauna.

460
00:18:51,219 --> 00:18:53,839
You know, there's a really good
selection of whales and dolphins

461
00:18:53,839 --> 00:18:56,339
in our waters. We've got large
sharks off the coast of the Isle

462
00:18:56,339 --> 00:18:56,869
Of Wight.

463
00:18:57,719 --> 00:18:59,959
For some people it might be, you
know, going rock pooling is the

464
00:18:59,959 --> 00:19:01,560
way you first go, oh actually
this is really interesting,

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00:19:01,719 --> 00:19:02,680
there's some cool stuff down
here.

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00:19:12,489 --> 00:19:14,609
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Thanks for
listening to Nature Fix. We'll

467
00:19:14,609 --> 00:19:17,849
be back next month with a new
episode. Why not give us a

468
00:19:17,849 --> 00:19:21,119
follow on your favorite podcast
app, and if you've got the time,

469
00:19:21,290 --> 00:19:23,530
leave us a review. Bye for now.