The sun was out as hundreds flocked to St Bees beach to enjoy Cumbria Wildlife Trust's annual SeaFest.

The popular sand sculpture competition was the highlight of the day and the winning entry featured St Bees head with a guillemot perched on top, along with a poem about the landscape.

One of the sand sculptures at SeaFest (Image: Cumbria Wildlife Trust)

Throughout the day visitors were able to take part in activities including theatre performances, kayaking tasters, rock pooling and arts and crafts sessions.

New for this year was a sand mandala of a turtle crafted by Simon Wheatley.

SeaFest mandala created by Simon Wheatley. Picture: Simon Wheatley  The mandala, which included the words 'It's one Irish Sea to me', served to commemorate SeaFest's overlap with Irish Sea Day on July 27.

Georgia de Jong Cleyndert, head of marine at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: "SeaFest is always a fun day out for all the family but it’s also a great chance to shout out about how wonderful and important this sea is, for wildlife and people.

"This year, we were delighted to be part of the much wider Irish Sea Day celebrations, along with friends, colleagues and communities in Lancashire, Cheshire, Wales, Scotland, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Isle of Man. 

Starfish handling at SeaFest. Picture: Cumbria Wildlife Trust  "SeaFest was just one in a chain of fun events surrounding the Irish Sea’s 17,763 square miles of water, to celebrate its wildlife and the communities that live and work around it. 


"By working together, we can all make a difference to looking after this amazing sea!”

She urged people to send in a 'WishFish' to the Wildlife Trusts explaining how they would like to see the Irish Sea being protected.

The trust will use the wishes to help them lobby for more protection for the Irish Sea. 

More details about how Wildlife Trusts in the North West support marine wildlife and how to send a WishFish are available on the trust's website.