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.
Heat stress from marine heat waves can create a toxic relationship between seagrasses and a hidden ecosystem of bacteria, transforming a previously beneficial co-existence between marine plants and microbes into a harmful one, a University of Sydney and UNSW study has found. Seagrasses are marine flowering plants that act as
As our Fragment Walks from the 2025/26 season come to an end Project Seagrass Intern Anya Lamparelli reflects on this year’s efforts. A seagrass fragment is a precious and vulnerable thing. Torn free by winter storms and strong swells these delicate shoots with intricate root systems still attached wash ashore
A new study of the British Isles’ coastal ecosystems has revealed that nitrogen enrichment is significantly reducing the abundance and variety of marine life. The research, published by scientists at Swansea University and the charity Project Seagrass, warns that increasing nutrient flows are overriding local habitat conditions to restructure and
Residents and visitors to the Isle of Wight can now access information about the Island’s important seagrass habitats thanks to new signage installed through support from Seacology. The signage has been installed by Project Seagrass as part of ongoing efforts to protect and restore seagrass ecosystems within the Solent. The signs
Hannah Harrero and Stephanie Insalaco-Wyner, geographers from Florida, comment on differing methods of monitoring the resilience of seagrass meadows in Florida’s ‘Mosquito Lagoon’, following a number of extreme weather events. Florida’s Indian River Lagoon has been an ecosystem in decline going back to 2011, when harmful algal blooms led to a severe decline in
Heidi McIlvenny, PhD researcher from Queen’s University Belfast, comments on seagrass meadows in Northern Ireland and how seagrass meadows can recover but only if we tackle the pollution at its source. I spent last summer wading through seagrass meadows across Northern Ireland, from the sheltered waters of Strangford Lough to
Between the 17th and 23rd March 2026, members of the Project Seagrass team were on the Isle of Wight carrying out active restoration as part of the The Solent Seascape Project, the first project of its kind in the UK to initiate seascape-scale restoration. As part of The Solent Seascape
New research led by scientists at University of California’s San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography is shining a spotlight on one of the ocean’s most overlooked habitats: seagrass. Led by Scripps Oceanography Ph.D. candidate Rilee Sanders, the study documented the first successful restoration of open-coast seagrass (common eelgrass). The findings offer
Nursery intern Iestyn Comey details how fishing in seagrass meadows can be great to improve mental health and are vital nursery grounds for key fisheries species. Fishing is a hard thing to explain to someone who has never done it. There is no better feeling than the moment the line
Now seeking investment, the Global Seagrass Challenge Fund will unite funders, businesses, and individuals committed to securing a future for seagrass. With an ambitious target of £50 million, the Fund will support people-centred seagrass conservation for a healthier ocean and a fairer future. Project Seagrass has launched the Global Seagrass
In 2024, Project Seagrass launched a new Fragment Walk initiative on the Isle of Wight to support community-based seagrass restoration as part of our work in the Solent. Seagrass Fragments Seagrass meadows are sensitive habitats which can be easily uprooted. As a result of storms or other disturbances, fragments of
Two new studies call for clear framework conditions for CO2 sequestration in coastal areas, including a digital twin for projections and an independent body for certification and new legal structures for monitoring. The two papers led by researchers from Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon were recently published in Environmental Research Letters and Elementa. So-called “blue carbon ecosystems”
Seagrasses are special: they are the only flowering plants that have returned to sea from land. They are also known as the “lungs of the oceans” because of their ability to photosynthesize. And with the exception of Antarctica, they can be found on all continents, where they form extensive underwater
We spoke to Moray Ocean Community about their volunteering in the Moray Firth area and how they integrate the SeagrassSpotter app into their activities. Read the full interview below: Can you tell us about Moray Ocean Community and how it started? Moray Ocean Community started to come together over two
Scientists from the marine conservation charity Project Seagrass are undertaking seagrass planting experiments along the South & West Wales coastline, including a new planting site in Butetown along Cardiff’s Foreshore. Cardiff’s Foreshore is a popular place for sea-angling for species such as cod, which uses seagrass meadows as a nursery
We have just launched a journal club for the Project Seagrass team. These monthly meetups work much like a book club, members of the team each suggest a relevant scientific paper, vote on their favourite, then read the winning paper prior to meeting. During the journal club we critically discuss
