Animal Thanet – Pegwell Safari
Animal Thanet, Blog, Education, Landscape, Natural WorldIn 2011, I took a series of Animal Thanet images entitled Pegwell Safari – down on the abandoned concrete apron of the former Pegwell Bay Hoverport at Pegwell Bay, Thanet. These images formed part of a postal art project.
Some of the images show the cooling towers & chimney of the former Richborough Power Station, which were demolished by explosives at 09.07am on 11th March 2012.
These images consider & reflect wider concerns for the natural world, particularly focussed on the lives of its wild animals, conservation, loss of habitat, diminishing numbers, poaching, extinction and callous exploitation, which holds a mirror to our humanity. We may soon only have plastic versions of our wild neighbours to play with. The last decade has witnessed the slow & horrible realisation that our negative impact on the planet and particularly our plastic pollution of almost every environment, is a catastrophe for the world around us.

Hippopotamus amphibious Pegwell Bay, Thanet with Richborough Cooling Towers in the background. Image: Christopher Tipping

Hippo Postcard Project – Hippopotamus amphibious Pegwell Bay, Thanet with Richborough Cooling Towers in the background. Image: Christopher Tipping
In March 2011 a Sperm Whale beached and died at Pegwell Bay. I remember running along the beach at low tide all the way from Ramsgate to see it. A whale necropsy was carried out the following day, which was astonishing to see.
Other images were taken earlier in April 2008, of plastic animals from my collection at various sites in Ramsgate and along Ramsgate Main Sands and the Thanet Coast –

Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga angustirostris, Ramsgate Main Sands. Image: Christopher Tipping 2008
Trans Europa Cross Channel Ferries were still running out from Ramsgate to Ostend at this time –

Okapi: Okapia johnstoni. Ramsgate Sands Eastern Undercliffe, Ramsgate. Image: Christopher Tipping 2008

Crocodiles & Hippopotamus sharing a rockpool. Eastern Undercliffe, Ramsgate. Image: Christopher Tipping 2008

Beach Elephants: Elephas maximus indicus & Loxodonta africana, Ramsgate Main Sands. Image: Christopher Tipping 2008