Wellbeing: Beachcombing
Spending time by the ocean can make us feel calmer. Listening to the waves, watching sea birds, and smelling the cooler air can all help our wellbeing.
Montserrat’s beaches are also a good place to explore biodiversity. What can you find if you go beachcombing?
Activity: Colouring sheet
Hermit Crab
Activity: Colouring sheet
Montserratian fish
Monty’s Messengers’ museum and beach visit
In February 2024, Monty’s Messengers visited the beach at Little Bay, helping Montserrat National Trust staff collect natural objects to display in the National Museum of Montserrat.
As part of the Darwin Plus-funded project, we worked with visitors from the UK Overseas Conservation Forum.
At the museum, we discussed how important animals and plants were to Amerindian people on Montserrat. We thought about how they used them for food, shelter and medicine.
We talked about how we need nature for the same things. Some of us have medicinal teas to heal us, or keep us healthy, and some of us enjoy watching the ocean.
We thought about which animals and plants make our lives better. Here are some ways that nature makes us happy.
We thought about animals and plants which early settlers would have known, but which aren’t here any more. Some have become extinct, and others are struggling, like Mountain Chickens.
Some animals and plants live on Montserrat today that early Amerindian people wouldn’t have seen. Some have been introduced by people on purpose, and others by accident.
We discussed endemic animals and plants, which only live on Montserrat, like Montserrat Orioles and Plymouth Anoles.
Then we headed to the beach! We collected specimens for the museum, so visitors to Montserrat can find out more about its biodiversity. Montserratians will be able to use them to learn about the nature around them.
We enjoyed being on the beach at Little Bay. As well as collecting objects, Chris from the Botanical Gardens got wet from the waves, and we watched a pelican fishing.
We brought our specimens back to the museum, and labelled them so people would know what they are, and who collected them. Here are some of our objects!
Sam, the museum curator, put together a display of our objects, and our thoughts about nature. It formed a part of an exhibition on Montserrat’s indigenous peoples.
Museum visitors added to our display, sharing their own favourite animals, and why they love nature.
