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.
As a third year Biology Student from Cardiff University, I’ve been lucky to get involved with Project Seagrass, which has its offices within the University. I first started working with the team last summer when I took part in an 8 week CUROP placement (Cardiff University Research Opportunities Programme) at
The International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) is the primary international meeting for researchers who are focused on coral reef science and management. In fact, as a conference it has a similar ecosystem focus to the International Seagrass Biology Workshop (ISBW) that we will be hosting in Wales this coming October. The Symposium,
Launched in 2007, Glasgow Science Festival (http://www.glasgowsciencefestival.org.uk) has grown to be one of the largest science festivals in the UK. The festival takes memorable events to non-traditional venues across the City of Glasgow where researchers, charities and non-governmental organistations are able to engage with people, from all ages and backgrounds.
During April I returned to the Llyn Peninsula, along with Project Seagrass directors RJ Lilley, Ben Jones and Richard Unsworth to conduct the Spring SeagrassWatch survey, 1/4 of the yearly seagrass monitoring survey that we’ve been conducting at Porthdinllaen for the past two years. In addition, we also checking seeds from Project ReStore and
Are they aliens, are they dinosaur eggs, or are they just some ‘organic’ bath sponges that fell of the ship from China?These are the questions people might rightfully be asking when they come across numerous fuzzy round balls washed upon the beach. Well in the village of Inverallochy, North of
Seagrasses grow all around the coast of the UK and around our islands within the intertidal zone. Scotland plays host to the highest abundance of seagrass when compared to the rest of UK, this is due to the better water quality and also a higher number of available sheltered sites
As a Marine Biology student at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, I was lucky enough to be accepted on to a Maters Work Placement. This course allows a few selected students to take a year between the 3rd and 4th year of their degree to experience working for an organisation
Our oceans and coastal resources have never been more important or under greater threat. Marine biodiversity has rapidly declined in the last 40 years, so much so, that marine populations have almost halved during this time. The very marine habitats and biodiversity that help ensure we have food to eat
Help us record the seagrass near you At Project Seagrass we created a conservation tool that could lead to new discoveries about one of the ocean’s most underappreciated habitats — seagrass. With our new phone app and website, Seagrass Spotter, ocean enthusiasts around the British Isles can become citizen scientists who
Seagrass meadows provide a suitable environment for eggstraordinary creatures to lay and secure their weird and wonderful eggs. As its Easter, we thought it would be a nice opportunity to introduce you to eggs that can be found in seagrass meadows around our coast. Cuttlefish eggs or “sea grapes” attached
In Dale Bay, Pembrokeshire, a collaboration between local fishers and marine conservation charity Project Seagrass is showing positive results for both sustainable fishing and seagrass restoration. Dale Bay is the location of an ongoing seagrass restoration project, delivered by South Wales based charity Project Seagrass and overseen by the Dale
Grammy-nominated singer and Solent Seascape Project collaborate with Jeremy Irons and Angela Harding to celebrate and protect the region’s coastal habitats. The Solent Seascape Project, of which Project Seagrass is a partner, has launched Songs from the Solent, a new EP by Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Richard Walters that uses music to spotlight the Solent’s threatened coastal habitats
Grace Cutler, one of our 2025-26 Project Seagrass interns, reflects on Rebekah Bajkó’s research, Coastal Roots: The History of Seagrass in Northern Ireland. Northern Irish Seagrass In November 2025, I attended the UK Seagrass Symposium, an exciting conference hosted every two years to highlight the current state of seagrass research
Current estimates of the global extent of seagrass range from between 160,000-266,000km. Such a high degree of uncertainty presents challenges for researchers and managers and their ability to make informed decisions which account for the changing status of seagrass ecosystems. Key to improving our understanding of seagrass presence and absence,
Accelerate Seagrass is a collaborative program being delivered by Climate Impact Partners, Deloitte, Project Seagrass, and the National Oceanography Centre which aims to support groundbreaking research into seagrass carbon sequestration and unlock long-term finance to save and reinstate vital seagrass meadows. Part of this programme of work includes mapping to record the presence and extent of
Chief Conservation Officer Dr Benjamin Jones reflects on the IUCN World Conservation Congress: The IUCN World Conservation Congress is, at its core, about knowledge exchange. Experiencing it first-hand made clear just how ambitious and wide-ranging that exchange has become. Across the week, the Congress unfolded through a programme of workshops,
