Dearest signee,

Ten years ago this month, 19 long-finned pilot whales became stranded and died a horrible death on a beach in the Kyle of Durness in northern Scotland.  Please would you help me today by clicking this link to tell your MP why, after a decade of on-going destruction, it’s unacceptable that the Government has still not mandated that the clearance of unexploded munitions, which a Government report states was the “the only external event with the potential to cause [the stranding], has to be done using modern environmentally friendly techniques rather than by simply just blowing them up.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for your incredible efforts in supporting me in this campaign so far. It was the result of the thousands of you who have signed and shared this Change.org petition that I was delighted to be invited to meet with the Secretary of State for the Environment, George Eustice MP.

This meeting was a few weeks ago. I was encouraged by what the Minister said about the need to move to more environmentally friendly methods of underwater bomb disposal – he genuinely appeared to understand the issue and what needed to be done.

After the meeting, I wrote to him to ask about the steps he would be taking to accelerate the process for change. I don’t doubt that he and his team are good people and want to help. But I have to confess that I am still very disappointed at the pace they seem to be moving at. The current noises we are hearing are that they don’t intend to make any changes until next year!  After all, successive Governments have had 10 full years to sort this out.

As we approach the sorry anniversary of the infamous Kyle of Durness stranding, I’m urging the great British public to help me give the Government that last push to get this change over the line. By clicking this link, you can find a template letter drafted by our campaign team to send to your local MP. You can customise it if you wish. All you need to do is enter your details and hit send.

The actual anniversary of the stranding is July 22nd - only a few days away. Please use the link and please share social media posts from our Twitter page (@StopSeaBlasts) using the hashtag #StopSeaBlasts

Thank you once again for taking the time to be involved in this important cause – I truly appreciate your efforts!

With warmest good wishes,

Joanna x