SOUTH West Water has teamed up with a professional wildlife filmmaker to explore what invasive non-native species are lurking within the region’s reservoirs.

South West Water commissioned professional wildlife filmmaker Jack Perks – whose work has featured on the likes of Springwatch and David Attenborough’s ‘Wild Isles’ series – to undertake surveys using underwater cameras.

The innovative surveying technique was part of a trialled approach by the water company to look for invasive non-native species, such as American signal crayfish, at the company’s sites and confirm their presence to help contain the species.

Jack’s cameras effectively located the elusive American signal crayfish at Roadford Reservoir in areas of the lake where other methods have previously proven unsuccessful. American signal crayfish are highly invasive and have a big negative impact on our native wildlife.