Sent in by John Kinsman, operations manager at Coastwatch St Monans, Fife. Featured image shows Elie Harbour, where Coastwatch St Monans is based. Image credit: James Denham.
Dramatic rescue at St Monans
A person was airlifted to hospital after falling from rocks at St Monans. Emergency services including Coastwatch St Monans team and teams from Leven, St Andrews and South Queensferry, and a lifeboat, rescue helicopter and ambulances and police attended the accident which occurred on rocks below the village parish church.
The injured person who suffered serious head, pelvic and leg injuries was recovered from the water by lifeboat and treated on the pebble beach by paramedic and rescue team personnel before being airlifted from the beach by Coastguard rescue helicopter and flown to Edinburgh royal infirmary.
One witness said, “There was a huge emergency response, there must have been at least 10 emergency vehicles there. There was a lot of activity on the beach as rescue personnel attended to the injured person.
A helicopter hovered overhead as a winch was lowered onto the beach and then a stretcher was winched up.”
Coastwatch St Monans team who were paged to attend the incident arrived with 10 minutes of receiving the call out alert. The team who attended were operations manager John Kinsman, deputy manager Anne Kinsman, and team members John McLean, Bob MacDonald, Karen Dobson, Ian Duncan, Beth McLean, Cameron McDonald, and Sue Johnstone. The team did.a fantastic job in very challenging conditions.
Rescue on Chainwalk
A young person was rescued after getting stranded on a popular Fife walking spot.
A lifeboat was launched by HM Coastguards after receiving an 999 call to someone stranded on the Chainwalk at Elle.
The lifeboat crew worked alongside rescue teams including Coastwatch St Monans to safety evacuate the stranded person round the point to the safety of Shell bay.
The stranded person was unhurt.
The Elie Chainwalk is known as one of Scotland’s best kept secrets but it is stressed the route is not so much a walk but a scramble.
Before embarking on the trail visitors are urged to check tide times, ensure good foot wear and wear safety helmets.
A full team from Coastwatch St Monans attended along with a coastguard team.
Clifftop drama
A teenager was rescued from cliffs near the Fife village of Crail after a major emergency operation
Police and ambulance staff attended to a young person near a cliff. They were assisted by coastguard crews from Dundee and St Andrews, as well as a lifeboat crew. The person was taken to Ninewells hospital in Dundee.
A spokesperson for the Scottish ambulance service said, “We received a call to attend an incident at Crail cliffs. We dispatched two ambulances and our special operations team to the scene. We transported a teenage patient to Ninewells hospital in Dundee.”
Native oysters
Native oysters have been returned to the Firth of Forth for the first time in a century. They are the first of 30,000 oysters being reintroduced as part of the ground breaking Restoration Forth project. The intention is to create a new oyster reef, providing habitat for other species including fish, crabs and sea snails.
Historically enormous native oyster beds in the Forth provided an important source of food. But the species were lost due to overfishing and industrial developments. The active oysters being introduced to the Forth of Forth were sourced from Little Loch Broom near Ullapool.
Caitlin Godfrey from the Marine Conservation Society said, “Native oysters have huge cultural value in this area. Alongside seagrass meadows they will play a crucial role in transforming the future of this coastal environment.”
Meanwhile Fisherman Bill Simson, skipper of the Conserved boat said, “I have been working on the Forth for over 50 years and it’s good to know we will have oysters back, let’s hope they go forth and multiply:”
Restoration Forth partners include WWF, Fife Coast and Countryside Trust and the Ecology Centre in Kinghorn.
Whale watch
A large number of whale watchers descended on the fishing village of Pittenweem recently after reports were received of Orca whales spotted in the Firth of Forth. The whale watchers equipped with cameras, telescopes, binoculars and seats set up their camp on the braes over-looking the Firth of Forth.
The whale watchers spent several hours scouring the Firth of Forth but was disappointed about not spotting any Orca whales, only a few bottle nose dolphins.
However an Orca whale was later spotted near the May island about 6 miles off Pittenweem long after the whales watchers had left the area.