Almost £1,000 Raised In Response To "Critical Situation" At Sandown Canoe Lake

A bid to save an Isle of Wight lake’s fish has raised almost £1,000 in under 24 hours in response to a “critical situation” at the site.

Jane Rogers’s online GoFundMe plea has notched up £965 in donations to ‘desperately save the fish left’ in Sandown’s Canoe Lake.

The appeal states the lake is ‘drying up rapidly’ with only ‘a few days’ left until it is ‘completely dried out’.

It says:

“A group of lovely individuals are trying desperately to save the fish left in the Canoe Lake at Sandown.

“The lake is drying up rapidly and there is only a few days left until it has completely dried out.

"Many fish have perished but a small group of people are trying to save what remains alive of the huge fish.

“There is no significant rain forecast, and the fish can’t be moved so they are raising money to buy pools to keep them in temporarily at the lake and a generator to provide air.

“Time is critical so please support this fundraiser with anything you can!”

Cllr Adrian Whittaker, who serves on Shanklin Town Council and recently raised the alarm over declining water levels in his town’s Big Mead Pond, reported a “critical situation” at the Canoe Lake on Friday (August 8).

He told the press this morning:

“The far end is littered with fish…water levels will be gone probably by Saturday…gone completely.”

Cllr Whittaker, Shanklin’s former deputy mayor, said “tens of thousands of gallons” would be needed to “make a difference”.

“What we put in Big Mead yesterday will be like putting a teaspoon in the Sandown Canoe Lake.”

Last week, the Isle of Wight Council said 1,000 litres of water per day would be added to Big Mead Pond to avert further water loss.

In response to developments at the Sandown Canoe Lake, a County Hall spokesperson said the Environment Agency “has been on site” and “providing advice” to the private landowner.

They said most of the land that the canoe lake is situated on is privately owned.

Find the fundraiser at https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-sandown-canoe-lake-fish