A petition signed by forty-three residents of the streets surrounding Bramblegate Steps was delivered to the Transit Authority this morning, requesting that the Ashwater ferry’s fog horn be restricted to daylight hours or replaced with a quieter navigational signal. The horn has sounded on fourteen of the past seventeen mornings, beginning at 5:45 AM.

The petition was organised by Enid Marsh, a retired seamstress of sixty-eight who lives in a second-floor flat directly above the Steps.

“I do not object to the ferry,” Mrs Marsh said, standing at her kitchen window, which offers an unobstructed view of the landing stage. “The ferry is a public service and I support it. I object to being startled awake at half-past five by a noise that could raise the dead.”

The fog horn — a compressed-air signal mounted on the bow of the Thornhill Star — is required by maritime navigation regulations whenever visibility on the Ashwater falls below two hundred metres. Dense river fog has been a recurring feature of March mornings on the lower Ashwater, and Captain Morris Aldgate, who operates the ferry’s first crossing at 6 AM, has been sounding the horn as a precaution during the approach to the landing stage.

“The regulations are not optional,” said Gwen Alderly, managing director of Ashwater River Services, when informed of the petition. “Captain Aldgate sounds the horn when conditions require it. That is not discretion. That is the law.”

The fog, which forms when cold overnight air meets the warmer surface water of the lower Ashwater, has been unusually persistent this March. Harbour Master Cornelius Ashby confirmed that fog advisories have been issued on twelve of the past seventeen mornings — the longest consecutive fog season in recent memory.

“March fogs on the Ashwater are not unusual,” Ashby said. “The frequency this year is notable, but within historical range. The 1960s saw worse.”

The ferry, which launched on 6 March to replace the closed Fernwick Bridge crossing, has carried an average of 7,400 passengers per day and is widely regarded as an essential service. Mrs Marsh and her co-petitioners are careful to note that they do not wish to disrupt it.

“What we are asking for,” Mrs Marsh said, “is that someone with authority consider whether there is a way to navigate a river in fog that does not involve a horn audible in Midtown.”

The Transit Authority acknowledged receipt of the petition and said it would consult with the Harbour Authority on whether alternative navigational aids — such as a reduced-intensity electric bell signal or a shore-based light system — might satisfy safety requirements while reducing the acoustic impact on residents.

Dr Annalise Fenn-Coulthard, the marine biologist conducting a population survey of the harbour seal colony on the mudflats below Bramblegate Steps, offered an observation from her own early-morning vigils.

“The seals are entirely unbothered,” she said. “They have been present at every foggy dawn visit. They appear to find the horn less alarming than I do.”

The Thornhill Star carried 194 passengers on its first crossing this morning. The fog lifted by 8:15 AM.