Fieldwork notes from our summer seagrass seed collections
The Project Seagrass team have had another busy summer of seagrass seed collections! This year collections took place in Yarmouth, Ryde, and Bembridge on the Isle of Wight in the Solent, and in Porthdinllaen in North Wales. Find out more about how this summer’s collections went: Solent Seed Collection | 11th–17th July 2025 Day 1 The team arrived safely on the Isle of Wight on the 11th July to lovely sunny weather! We installed our keep net at Cowes Harbour – this is where the seagrass seeds are stored following daily seed collections ahead of being transported to Project Seagrass HQ at the end of the week where they are processed. Day 2 The Dive team headed out to Ryde Bay. After completing man over-board drills the divers entered the water to begin collecting seeds. The team managed 90 minutes underwater before the tide turned into too difficult conditions for the divers. The Intertidal team delivered the first Community Seed Collection event of the week. Today’s collection was at Yarmouth where we were joined by 5 volunteers. Hannah and Emma carried out a meadow health survey. Senior Science Officer and Solent Lead Anouska Mendzil collecting seagrass seeds in Yarmouth Volunteer snorkelers gathered on the beach at Yarmouth for a seed collection briefing Day 3 A hot but successful dive trip in Ryde Bay for the Dive Team! Today we had two pairs of divers in the water. The first pair completed a seagrass meadow assessment and then joined the second pair who were solely focused on seed collection. The team and the boat were working really well together, however unfortunately the weather was not in the team’s favour leading to a switch to shore diving for the rest of the week. The Intertidal Team delivered the second Community Seed Collection event of the week. Today’s event took place in Ryde. The team were joined by 8 volunteers including some repeat attendees from yesterday’s event. We were joined by photographer Francesca Page and colleagues from the University of Groningen/The Seagrass Consortium. Alongside the seed collection, Hannah and Ele carried out a survey of the meadow. Day 4 The Dive Team were joined by two new volunteer divers today, Ellie and Carly. Due to the weather conditions, the team were unable to go boat diving and instead went shore diving at Yarmouth Bay. Lots of seeds were collected making it another very successful day. The Intertidal Team were back at Ryde this morning for the third Community Seed Collection event of the week. Today we were joined by repeat volunteers photographer Francesca Page and colleagues from the University of Groningen/The Seagrass Consortium. Following the seed collection, members of the team met with our partners at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Diver entering the water for seed collection Dive team aboard Gwen, preparing for seed collection Day 5 Today the Dive Team surveyed the seagrass meadow at Yarmouth and completed another seed collection. It was another blow out for the boat but a good opportunity to run through the shore diving protocol! The Intertidal Team were back at Yarmouth for a morning seed collection. Today the team were joined by members of The Seagrass Consortium. In the afternoon The Seagrass Consortium met to discuss collaboration and alignment. Days 6 & 7 The Dive team recovered Gwen before heading to Bembridge to determine if this could be another suitable site for shore diving. It ultimately wasn’t but a useful exercise! The Intertidal team delivered their final snorkel seed collection of the week. This collection took place at Bembridge and we were again joined by members of The Seagrass Consortium from the University of Groningen, Sea Rangers, and Office Français de la Biodiversité. The remainder of the day was spent preparing for our travel day back to Project Seagrass HQ. On the morning of our departure we collected the seagrass seeds from the keep net before heading back to South Wales where the seeds are now being processed. Members of the Project Seagrass team at Bembridge with members of The Seagrass Consortium Solent seagrass seeds retrieved from the keepnet and ready to travel back to Project Seagrass HQ North Wales Seed Collection | 26th July – 4th August Day 1 The team arrived safely in North Wales and headed straight to the beach at Porthdinllaen to set up Cabin Griff. We supported an initial seed collection event, providing shore cover for volunteers from our Seagrass Ocean Rescue partner WWF. Day 2 On Day 2 the Dive team launched Gwen and carried out meadow surveys. The Intertidal team had our first Community Seed Collection event. We were joined by partners from Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau Special Area of Conservation and Ocean Wildlife Artist Oli Leger who brought his new artwork ‘Ambassador’ which he introduced to attendees. Project Seagrass vessel Gwen being prepared for deployment Ocean Wildlife Artist Oli Leger introducing his artwork Ambassador to people on the beach Day 3 Today the Dive Team installed the keep net and HOBO logger and carried out their first seed collection. Our Ambassador Jake joined the Dive team – today the divers collected 13kg of seeds! The Intertidal Team delivered another successful Community Seed Collection event. In the afternoon several members of the team attended a celebration event hosted by North Wales Wildlife Trust and Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau Special Conservation Area. Storyteller and National Seagrass Action Plan project Manager Carl delivered a fantastic storytelling session. Day 4 Another successful day for the Dive team! 29kg of seagrass seeds collected today!!! Today the Intertidal team were joined by volunteers from WWF and our Seagrass Ocean Rescue programme funders the National Lottery Community Fund. After the volunteer session we were joined by Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies who joined us on the beach to collect seeds and learn more about the programme. Volunteers collecting seagrass seeds in Porthdinllaen North Wales WWF staff members collecting seeds in Porthdinllaen Days 5-10 The Boat team continued to carry out daily