Any day that has been filled with wildlife, walks, friends and ends with a National Trust hot chocolate can be agreed upon as a pretty good day! But this wasn’t just a group of friends looking for a break from university. Four fellow students and I spent a wonderful late November day making a film for Loe Pool Forum – telling its story through the eyes of a rather special mammal: the otter

The Loe Pool Crew, from l-r: David Matheson, Amy Hall, Alexandra Hoadley, Megan Binns and Gemma Wearing

We are all on the committee of NatureWatch – a student-led wildlife documentary series run by students from Falmouth University and the University of Exeter. While we may share our Penryn Campus, it is a unique opportunity to also have a project that brings together students from different universities and disciplines with the shared goal of science communication.

Science communication is not always easy. All you have to do is look at climate change and global species declines – we know our planet is in trouble but changing our collective behaviours to allow us to live alongside nature without harming it is no easy feat! We need to tell the stories of species in trouble and communicate the issues at hand without making a difference seem like an impossible task.

Loe Pool Forum is a story that does just that! The Forum is a brilliant network of organisations that have successfully tackled environmental threats to the Pool – and these conservation efforts have all more than paid off.

The View Over Loe Bar

Today as a visitor to Loe Pool you are greeted with verdant banks and vistas, shimmering reflections and nature serenading you on all sides. A crow gave us a beady eye from a hedge, warblers pinged through the reeds and there was the ever-present chance of seeing an otter. Through the fantastic work of the Forum otters have returned to this special site – make sure you check out our NatureWatch film to see if we found any signs of them!

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Alexandra Hoadley is an MSc Conservation and Biodiversity student at the University of Exeter. She is a presenter for NatureWatch, and on the committee of A Focus on Nature – the youth nature network in the UK.