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A new island has emerged near Fleetwood, England

a-new-island-has-emerged-near-fleetwood-england

A bank of shingle and stone has emerged from the sea forming a new island off the coast of Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The new island is located about 2.5 km (1.6 miles) off the Fleetwood's north shore and is 638 meters long, 10.2 meters high and 3.4 hectares square, as of May 2016. At the moment, the island has no vegetation.

Tony Cowell, second coxswain on Fleetwood Lifeboat and captain of the Fleetwood to Knott End Ferry, said for Fleetwood Today he had been noticing changes for the past 10 years. "Admiralty charts from 1700 show there has always been a bank which is called Kingscar Bank, but nothing has been visible like it is now."

“It is amazing. It is all stones and there have always been stories that there was a Roman port at Fleetwood. In the 1960s, divers went down to have a look. To the other side of the bank is Lune Deep which drops straight down to 18.3 meters (60 feet). I think the island is going to get bigger and bigger. Now you can see it even on a 10-meter tide,” Cowell said.

“No-one can say why it is happening," said Phil Hodgson of Fleetwood-based Vision Air. "The first thing you do is think about what is changing – the estuary doesn’t get dredged anymore as there isn’t the same shipping traffic going into Fleetwood. We also have the wind turbines which have been built. Some people think maybe it is just returning to its natural state."

Hodgson and Joe Helme filmed the island using drones and plan to continue measuring the growth of the new landmass:

YouTube video

Featured image and video courtesy Vision Air

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