NEWS

NEWS

Keeping you up to date with Project Seagrass news and views with a mixture of field notes and commentary on seagrass and marine conservation topics.

A Life On Our Planet

“I’ve had an extraordinary life. It’s only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world – but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable

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Seagrasses starred in Ocean Hackathon Mexico 2020

Last October 9th, the Ocean Hackathon® 2020 took place in Mexico City. This is an event in which multidisciplinary teams have access to international databases and have 48 hours to develop a pilot project or proof of concept that targets an ocean-related problem. This year’s event, organized by IFAL (French

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The role of seagrass meadows in promoting Ocean Literacy

Ocean Literacy is defined as ‘an understanding of the ocean’s influence on us and our influence on the ocean.’ There are Seven Principles of Ocean Literacy: The Earth has one big ocean with many features. The ocean and the life in the ocean shape the features of Earth. The ocean is a major influence

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Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve

Holy Island. A place with a rich history of monks, Vikings and saints. Nowadays Holy Island, also known as Lindisfarne, is a hotspot for tourists wishing to learn about British heritage or walk along the beautiful coastline. I only learnt just a few days prior to travelling up to Lindisfarne

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A fortnight in North Wales

My name is Emma and I am a marine biology undergraduate student at Swansea University. This summer I started a year long internship placement with Project Seagrass as part of my degree scheme and boy did I jump in at the deep end! My first experience was to be joining

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Communities are central to conservation

Earlier this week saw the release of the Edinburgh Declaration on post-2020 global biodiversity framework, a bold call to action urging Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to work more closely with communities in order to meet 20 biodiversity goals set out in the Aichi accord, signed 10 years

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It’s an ill bird that fouls its own nest

Nearly 30,000 tonnes of sewage containing human waste is to enter the UK despite potential problems for human health. Yet, what stinks for me is that sewage and livestock waste are driving seagrass loss across the UK – we already have a problem, and we don’t need to exacerbate this.

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Who knew saving the planet could be so peaceful?

Like many of you, WWF staff have been working from spare rooms, kitchen tables and the occasional garden patio for the past few months. When a call came to join our partners at Project Seagrass and Swansea University on a seagrass seed collection trip to North Wales, it was a

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Two Aquarists went to Wales

Elise and myself look after all the native marine species at The Deep, an aquarium in Hull. I’m very new to all things native having previously worked with penguins and tropical fish but Elise is a pro, thankfully accepting me as her apprentice. We first heard about the work of

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From studies to seagrass

Mike, Sam, Sam and Owen all started out as students with a love for the ocean on their doorsteps, over the summer they became ‘underwater gardeners’ and joined the Seagrass Ocean Rescue team from the collection of almost a million seeds through to planting 1.5 hectares of seagrass in Dale,

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new science

Underwater seagrass seed harvester – Support our Crowdfunder!

Seagrass meadows are essential for the health of our oceans. They provide vital habitats for marine life, improve water quality, and store significant amounts of carbon. Unfortunately, these vital ecosystems are in decline. Here at Project Seagrass, we are on a mission to restore seagrass meadows to help create a

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A ray swims through a seagrass meadow.
new science

Scientists and rangers share knowledge to restore seagrass

Scientists from The University of Western Australia have partnered with Indigenous rangers on a seagrass restoration project in Gathaagudu (Shark Bay) to help moderate climate change and conserve biodiversity. Dr. Elizabeth Sinclair and Professor Gary Kendrick, from UWA’s School of Biological Sciences and Oceans Institute, were co-authors of the paper published in Ocean

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The image shows seagrass growing next to an area of development in Mexico. There is a hotel on the seafront.
new science

Seagrasses filter human pathogens in marine waters

An international team of researchers discovered that coastal urban seagrass ecosystems can significantly reduce human bacterial pathogens, including those with widespread antibiotic resistance, in marine bivalves—a vital food source for people around the world. The study, published Aug 2 in the journal Nature Sustainability, sheds light on the significant role seagrass meadows play

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Bob is standing on Porthdinllaen beach wearing a dryrobe. He has his hands in his pockets.
Volunteer

Seagrass Ocean Rescue Volunteer Profile: Bob

As our 2024 seagrass seed collection in North Wales draws to a close we spoke to Seagrass Ocean Rescue volunteer Bob Pethers about his experience of volunteering as part of the project. Tell us a little bit about yourself: I’m Bob Pethers, originally from London but have lived and worked

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A member of the Restoration Forth is crouched on the beach. They are holding a ruler and a clipboard as they record data as part of the monitoring of seagrass shoots.

Project Update: Restoration Forth | July 2024

Restoration Forth aims to restore seagrass meadows and native oysters into the Firth of Forth, to create a healthier coastline for people and nature.   Find out more about the project here.  Seagrass – the outcome of monitoring Back in March, 128 volunteers helped Restoration Forth plant more seagrass seeds along

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new science

Scientists outline 10 golden rules for seagrass restoration

196 of the world’s nations are committed under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to tackling nature loss. Habitat restoration is a major pathway to tackling this loss. For marine habitats such as seagrass, such restoration is often portrayed as an easy answer to fighting many of our planetary ills causing

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