Flight of the Swans superhero Sacha Dench arrives at WWT Llanelli Wetland Centre today
The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust’s (WWT) Sacha Dench, leader of the first ever lone female paramotor expedition to follow Europe’s smallest swan on migration, has arrived at Llanelli Wetland Centre in Carmarthenshire today with her paramotor to chat about her gruelling journey.
Her expedition, the Flight of the Swans is the first ever attempt to follow the migration of the Bewick’s swan from the air to find out why their numbers are declining so dramatically. Setting off this September, Sacha will fly her paramotor from the Bewick’s swan’s breeding ground in arctic Russia 7,500 km across 11 countries before finishing at the swan’s final destination in the UK.
The paramotor is simply a wing of fabric, from which Sacha will dangle with a propeller strapped to her back. Flying at the same speed and height as the swans she will experience the wonders and dangers the swans face including heavy storms, sea crossings and extreme cold. She will share their view with the world in real time using the latest digital camera technology and satellite communication.
Sacha is also WWT’s 2016 Nature Explorer and has landed today at the beautiful wetland centre in Llanelli to highlight how local children can follow in her footsteps by becoming Nature Explorers themselves. They can do this by picking up a Nature Explorers passport at WWT Llanelli and collecting stickers for each thrilling nature explorer adventure they complete.
Budding explorers can get their passport stamped with stickers and work their way up to gold by taking part in activities such as:
- Exploring in your own canoe on our watery safari
- Hiring a bike and winding your way through our exciting wildlife trail
- Grabbing your magnifying glasses and finding some creepy crawlies at our big bug hunt
- Discovering what lies beneath the waters of a pond with your own net for some pond exploring
Sacha Dench says:
““It’s great to be at the fantastic wetlands of WWT Llanelli today to chat about my journey in September and hopefully inspire others. My thirst for adventure began by exploring nature locally, so I’m really happy to be also highlighting how children in Llanelli can do the same by taking part in the fantastic Nature Explorers activities being held this summer at WWT Llanelli Wetland Centre”
To find out more about Nature Explorers at WWT Llanelli – visit http://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/llanelli/whats-on/2016/07/21/nature-explorers/
To find out more about Flight of the Swans visit www.flightoftheswans.org.
