Category: Blogs

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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.

Read More »

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,

Read More »

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 from day to day – the loss of our planet’s wild places, its biodiversity. I have been witness to this decline. A Life on Our Planet is my witness statement, and my vision for the future. It is the story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake – and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right. We have one final chance to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited. All we need is the will do so.” -Sir David Attenborough I imagine that by now a fair few of you reading this blog will have seen (or read) A Life On Our Planet; the‘ Witness Statement’ of Sir David Attenborough. If you haven’t, then I would absolutely encourage you to watch it. In fact do that NOW, you can come back to this blog later… If you were feeling anything like me, I was struggling to bring myself to watch the film. Against the background of COVID-19, the perpetual isolation from family and friends, the chronic lack of sleep from my early days of parenting and the harrowing reports I read daily relating to the triple crises of climate, biodiversity and pollution then quite frankly I felt I just didn’t have it in me to sit through some beautifully shot sequences of humanity trashing the planet! But I did sit down to watch it… and I am so very glad I did. Did I sit through a horror show? Well yes… But did it depress me? Well no… If anything the last 30 minutes of the film re-energised me. I needed a ‘pick me up’ and this film was it.  If you are reading this blog, then chances are you already know that there has never been a more urgent need to restore damaged ecosystems than now, and I’m not just talking about seagrass ecosystems, but ALL ecosystems. It’s time to revive our planet. #Generation Restoration So here’s my CALL TO ACTION, head over to UNEP’s website NOW and join the #GenerationRestorationmovement today. There has never been a more urgent need to restore damaged ecosystems than now. Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet – and its people. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. It can help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent a mass extinction. However, the decade will only succeed if everyone plays a part. So join the movement today! 30km2 by 2030 As a team of interdisciplinary scientists, the work of Project Seagrass crosses the boundaries of both environmental conservation and social action. For seven years we have worked on the ground with coastal communities, both in the UK and internationally. If the last seven years has taught us anything at Project Seagrass, it’s that achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and how we work together. And now we need to work together more than ever: “At Project Seagrass, we are aiming to restore 30km2 of seagrass across the UK by 2030.” Whether you call it ‘rewilding’ or ‘restoration ecology’ the end point is the same. We need to put habitat back and quickly. Or as sir David said: “We have one final chance to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited. All we need is the will do so.” So to both UNEP and Sir David please know we are ‘all in’ with #GenerationRestoration, and after watching A Life On Our Planet, I am sure you will be too. Stay safe x RJ

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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 Institute of Latin America), had seagrasses as protagonists when the team called “Carbón ¡Oh no!” won the first place with a project that targeted seagrass beds conservation. In spite of their relevance and vulnerability, seagrass beds constitute one of the least protected ecosystems on the planet. For this reason, the “Carbón ¡Oh no!” team developed a model based on artificial intelligence that is capable of detecting changes in seagrass coverage through Landsat Satellite Images. With this model they aim to estimate the amount of carbon stored in seagrasses from “Los Petenes” Biosphere Reserve, then translate it into carbon credits and finally give an estimated value in dollars. The objective of their project is to attract the attention of governments and decision makers on the biological and economic importance of this ecosystem; as well as making visible the urgent need to preserve it and emphasize its potential to mitigate climate change. Additionally, they created a remote sensing prototype based on a micro-spectrograph that would be specialized incollecting data in situ with the purpose of complementing satellite information and strengthening monitoring in this areas; facilitating in this way the creation of management and rehabilitation plans.   The ten team members who participated in the solution of the challenge are Luis Gerardo Canales (Earth Sciences and Mathematics, UNAM), José López (Biologist, UAM), Ismael Contreras (Eng. in Natural Resources, Chapingo), María Sara del Río (Biologist and Mathematics, UNAM), Joel Herrera (Physicist, UV), Karen Álvarez (Biologist, UAM), Christopher Foster (Earth Sciences, UNAM), Adrián Acevedo (Biologist, UNAM), Miriam Álvarez (Engineer Geologist, UNAM) and Maru Bernal (Biologist, UNAM). Mexico has new seagrass protectors! Title image credit: Los Petenes_CONANP

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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 on weather and climate. The ocean made the Earth habitable. The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems. The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected. The ocean is largely unexplored. According to the Marine Biological Association (MBA) these seven Ocean Literacy ‘Principles’ were developed by hundreds of educators and scientists in the USA as a guide to teaching about the Ocean. These principles are now being used as a framework in Europe to develop strategies towards the goal of an Ocean Literate society As stated by the UK’s MBA. “Few of us are aware of how important the sea is to human wellbeing: medically, economically, socially, politically and environmentally. Many of us are unaware of how day-to-day choices and actions can have a cumulative effect on the health of the ocean – a necessary resource that must be protected for life on our blue planet to exist.” The need for improved Ocean Literacy It has long been recognised that improving public awareness about how the ocean can benefit the environment, economy, and society is important (Peterson and Lubchenco 1997, Costanza, 1999). In 2004, a Pew Ocean Commission report identified a need to improve public literacy about oceans. The authors of the report assumed that by enhancing public awareness and knowledge of the oceans, and their influence on our lives, would lead to increased public support for ocean restoration efforts. The Pew Oceans Commission called for‘a new era of ocean literacy that links people to the marine environment’’ [2, p. 91]. The Commission further argues that there is a ‘‘need to provide the public with understandable information about the structure and functioning of coastal and marine ecosystems, how ecosystems affect daily lives, and how we affect ecosystems’’ [2, p. 11]. Since this report was published, low levels of ocean literacy have been, and are continuingly being identified in many countries. These low levels of literacy can be a barrier for citizens to engage in environmentally responsible behaviour or consider ocean-related careers (Guest et al., 2015). Seagrass meadows role in developing Ocean Literacy in the UK Seagrass meadows have a central role to play in developing ocean literacy in the UK. First, they are coastal habitats, readily accessible from the shore by wading or snorkelling and in some locations (i.e. Porthdinllaen in Wales, Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve in England, or Tyninghame in Scotland) they can be easily accessed without specialist equipment simply by walking out at low tide. In addition, there are already well publicised examples from the USA of where restoration of the same seagrass habitat (same species) has lead to rapid recovery of coastal ecosystem services (see Orth et al, 2020). This creates a cause of optimism that similar results could be achieved in the UK since much of the science now exists it just needs to be applied to UK waters. Finally, there are already existing, recognised and celebrated Seagrass Education and Awareness programs running in the UK both through Project Seagrass and the National Marine Aquarium’s ReMEDIES program. This is supported by an active academic literature for further developing this area (Roth and Reynolds, 2020). Conversations are already underway between Project Seagrass and the London Aquarium about a 5-year strategy that would incorporate a national seagrass engagement program and a potential collaboration with BIAZA network of aquariums which could act as community hubs for engaging people with monitoring, and then the potential restoration of their local meadows. References: Pew Oceans Commission. America’s living oceans: charting a course for sea change. A report to the nation. Arlington, VA: Pew Oceans Commission; 2003 144pp. Costanza R. The ecological, economic, and social importance of the oceans. Ecol Econ 1999;31(2):199–213. Peterson CH, Lubchenco J. Marine ecosystem services. In: Daily G, editor. Nature’s services: societal dependence on natural ecosystems. Washington, DC: Island Press; 1997177–94. Guest, H., Lotze, H.K. and Wallace, D., 2015. Youth and the sea: Ocean literacy in Nova Scotia, Canada. Marine Policy, 58, pp.98-107. https://www.mba.ac.uk/ocean-literacy Orth, R.J., Lefcheck, J.S., McGlathery, K.S., Aoki, L., Luckenbach, M.W., Moore, K.A., Oreska, M.P., Snyder, R., Wilcox, D.J. and Lusk, B., 2020. Restoration of seagrass habitat leads to rapid recovery of coastal ecosystem services. Science Advances, 6(41), p.eabc6434. Roth, J. and Reynolds, L.K., 2020. Engaging students in seagrass-focused activities. Science Activities, pp.1-10.

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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 National Nature Reserve (Lindisfarne NNR) that as well as history, the mudflats there are also home to seagrass meadows! This was the reason for my journey from Swansea to the Northumberland, to help collect and transport seagrass seeds from the meadow at Lindisfarne back to Swansea. Our weekend team was led by RJ, with me and three volunteers joining to lend a hand which was only made possible through support from BIAZA. Before we organised the trip, we needed consent from Natural England to collect the seeds. The Lindisfarne NNR is a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and so permissions are always sought when working in these environments (to ensure the best management of these places). However, since we are working in partnership with Lindisfarne NNR on this project, obtaining the consents for this work was straightforward. Thursday came about and we met at the Island late morning. Our timings were completely reliant on the tides as the only way to access the island and mudflats is to go when the tide is low. This gave us a window of a few hours to get our work done out on the meadow. The first task of the weekend was to collect 600 spathes (the parts of the seagrass that contain the seeds). The hours spent kneeling to pick those spathes were very peaceful. The only sounds were the wind whistling and the eerie wail of what must have been hundreds of seals hauled out on the sand across the flats. The strong gusts carried the sounds making it almost haunting. Similar to the day before, Friday involved more seed collection but this time we needed to do some more data collection. Quadrats were used to assess the condition of the meadow. This is important as this is the first time we have been able to collect seeds from this area. As well as collecting data, spending time on the meadow was a good opportunity for taking photos. There were dozens of wading birds, from curlews to dunlins, all using the seagrass meadow as a feeding ground. It was great to see so many species all gathered in one place!! After a final day of seed picking and some video shooting for social media, RJ showed me some of the coastal towns in the area. It was my first time in Northumberland and South East Scotland, so it was great to the see the beautiful towns like Dunbar and North Berwick. These are the communities which we will be working with if Project Seagrass can expand its restoration sites to Scotland, so it was wonderful to see them first hand. Overall is was a very successful weekend as we collected our goal of 600 spathes, the data needed, and footage. I also completed my personal goals of seeing interesting birds, doing photography, and learning about this incredible area of Britain!

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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 the team and volunteers in North Wales for a fortnight of picking seagrass seeds, and so on Saturday 1st August Evie and I made the 5 hour drive from Swansea to the Llŷn a’r Sarnau Special Area of Conservation. After settling in, it was early to bed as work was to begin at 2am to catch the first low tide of the trip. The first night of a week of very strange sleep patterns! Meeting in the dark at Porthdinllaen beach, armed with headtorches and mesh bags, Dr Unsworth gave a quick briefing to make sure we were all up to speed with the nights task. To collect mature seeds we’d need to find seagrass spathes, which could be identified by their lime green or yellowish colouration. Despite it being the middle of the night, the light from our headtorches made finding spathes very easy. As well as spotting the all-important seagrass spathes, wading on the meadow at night gave a unique opportunity for spotting interesting creatures. The highlight of the night-time pickings was seeing tiny little cuttlefish, with such bright colours! Returning to Porthdinllaen during the day, we donned our wetsuits and weight belts ready to enter the water. With the sun shining (most of the time!) we entered the water, picking yet more seeds. This time we would dive, or reach, down to pick the spathes which were up to a few meters beneath the surface. This technique allowed us see the seagrass meadow in its own world, from beneath the waves. It was truly a stunning, life-filled landscape with pipefish, spider crabs, sticklebacks, wrasses and more! We continued this cycle for the first week, wading at night and snorkelling in the day. This changed during the second week, when the volunteers left and the dive gear came out. Those in the team qualified to dive would kit up and dive around low tide. Being able to stay down at the seagrass’s level rather than having to constantly duck dive down meant that far more spathes could be picked with much less effort. After two weeks of wading, snorkelling, and diving, we had amassed a very good number of spathes! It was a very successful trip, and our final task was to empty the huge blue tank and pack up all the gear into the van. This was no mean feat but in about half a day we were done, and so ended my first two weeks working with Project Seagrass!

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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 ago in in Nagoya, Japan. The vision set out in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework of “Living in harmony with nature”, and the 2030 mission as set out in the Zero Draft document make one thing pretty clear. Conserving biodiversity, for people and the planet, cannot happen without people. For me, the past few years have been pretty key in re-shaping what conservation truly is. The principal top-down conservationist architype, imposed by scientists and NGOs for decades, has been replaced by measures that include the rights and needs of local communities. Placing humans within ecosystems, rather than apart from them, is key if we are to live in harmony with nature. Back in 2013, my initial visions for what Project Seagrass should exist to achieve were purely natural. Not for people, but for seagrass sake. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being so passionate about an organism that you simply don’t want to see it lost. But what I missed and what I failed to see back then was how important seagrass meadows were to communities. The more time I’ve spent with communities that live by and utilise seagrass meadows, the more I’ve realised how we as humans have re-shaped nature. We’ve become a central part of the ecosystem. In some ways, our goals to return nature to a “pristine” state is naïve. We’re blind to the fact we don’t really know what pristine is. But, more worryingly, our view of a pristine environment, is one without humans. This why I now focus on evidencing this with my own research, showing just how central communities are to conservation and sustainability goals, and how ignoring them actually undermines conservation and sustainability goals themselves. It’s all well and good setting time-bound targets and making specific promises and commitments. These are useful as motivational goals to help drive action in tackling biodiversity loss, but what has been holding us up, what has been putting on the brakes, is our inability to recognise people as part of the solution. The Edinburgh Declaration on post-2020 global biodiversity framework recognises this, and why I fundamentally support its call to action. At Project Seagrass, this has been on our mind lately. Without the partnerships we’ve made with communities, our projects could not be possible. Seagrass Ocean Rescue for example is just as much communities doing conservation as it is conservation for communities. We’ll be build on this as we move forward with the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

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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. Back in 2018, we released a study documenting this problem and called on the government to make changes – but water companies, some farmers and the Government have not, and it would appear are still not, doing enough to address theses risks. While the EU’s landmark legislation to improve bathing water quality has been a success in many places, much of what we do in the UK is woefully insufficient. Many seagrass meadows around the UK are in areas with designated EU protection. Protection on paper, but not in practice. Many seagrass meadows around the UK are polluted with nutrients derived from human sewage and livestock waste. Adding excessive amounts of nutrients to the environment, like spreading sewage liberally over fields, leads to those nutrients leeching out and into our rivers. Transported downstream to our coasts, these nutrients are a nightmare for seagrass leading to excessive growth of tiny algae called epiphytes which smother seagrass, leading to its death. Dead seagrass means no carbon sequestration, and in many cases dead seagrass means carbon emissions. Dead seagrass also means a loss of habitat for juvenile fish such as cod, herring and plaice, and dead seagrass means no coastal protection. Sewage puts all the benefits that seagrass provide to humans at risk. Farming is likely the UK’s leading cause of water pollution. Inefficiencies in the storage and disposal of sewage slurry mean that it ends up in rivers and coastal waters. Dr Andrew Singer, a senior scientist at the world-renowned Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, has said that there are no rivers in the UK that is safe to be swimming in. It’s clear then that there are some pretty systematic issues in the way we deal with sewage and livestock waste across the UK. Add on top of this the health issues that even the Environment Agency themselves acknowledge and you have a recipe for something that stinks. At the moment, we really don’t know whether spreading human sewage is safe or not for our food, according Alistair Boxall, a professor in environmental science at the University of York. It’s an ill bird that fouls its own nest.

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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 welcome break from the (new) norm. WWF has been working closely with Project Seagrass, Swansea University and Sky Ocean Rescue to conduct the biggest seagrass restoration project undertaken in the UK – aiming to restore 20,000 m2 of the marine plant, following the disappearance of up to 92 per cent of the UK’s seagrass in the last century. We’re always keen to share accounts of our work with partners with our supporters so with that in mind, I travelled to Porthdinllaen hoping to contribute to the long-term task of collecting up to a million seeds for planting at and also to document how and why we’re taking on such an endeavour! Our days began by greeting the dawn at low tide with mesh bags in hand as we waded through the shallows, searching for the bright green shoots that that indicate seed-bearing spathes of seagrass. These peaceful, pre-coffee excursions were taking place in the midst of a pandemic and so each of the  volunteers setting forth each morning were alone together as we quietly spread out across the meadow for some socially distanced seed picking. After a week, I was convinced that no form of morning yoga, meditation or lie-in could be quite as restful as this! As the tide turned, we’d leave the bay and return in the afternoon when conditions were better for getting in the water and collecting seeds from deeper parts of the meadow. These were more energetic affairs – our makeshift snorkelling staging post abuzz with activity as people grappled with masks, fins and snorkels and braced themselves for a dip the chilly waters of the Irish Sea in August. With so little seagrass remaining in the UK, I’m reminded whenever I swim above what a shame it is that so few get the chance to experience the closest thing we have to underwater forests that exists within yards of the shore. As I dived from surface to seabed to search for seeds, I’d catch glimpses of the wildlife that depends on seagrass for shelter and sustenance – anemones clinging to individual blades of grass, spider crabs tracing the boundaries of individual patches and the young fish darting across the meadows that double up as their nurseries. Each afternoon, I’d promise myself that I’d remain in the water a little longer than the previous day, shortly before bouts of uncontrollable shivering would send me to shore after little less than an hour! After every session, our collected bounty would be added to a huge tub of harvested of seeds back at base which provided two constant reminders and affirmations of our progress – the first being the ever growing quantities… and the second being the ever worsening smell as the shoots collected earlier began to gently decompose and separate from their previously tightly held seeds. Suffice to say, there are some things we’re happy not to share with our supporters… Our seagrass meadows remain at risk and with so many of our iconic coastal species reliant on them, we can ill afford to lose more. What is less well known is that the case for restoring meadows, like the one at Port Dale where these seeds will soon be planted, is one that could help us save the planet. Healthy seagrass meadows can capture and store carbon emissions at a rate 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. We hope that this work of this partnership will lead to further successful restoration efforts across the country and bring a brighter future for these incredible coastal ecosystems. Words and photos by Sean Clement

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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 Project Seagrass and Swansea Uni when Elise went to the National Aquarium Conference (NAC) in late 2019. From there we attended the first BIAZA seagrass focus group meeting organised by Sam and only a few weeks after that we set off on the train to Wales. The seven hour journey was very much the calm before the storm but what a wonderful, happy storm it would prove to be. The scale of the work to be achieved in the week was imposing but equally impressive was the effort carried out to get to that point. Twenty thousand small bags had been filled by a small army of school children, volunteers and the dedicated project team before being hand tied to twenty kilometres of rope ready to be planted. Alongside that was the harvesting and preparation of the three quarters of a million seeds that would go into the bags. This doesn’t even touch on the logistical work carried out to put everything in place. During the week each rope, 100m long, would be laid to restore seagrass over an area of one and a half football pitches. Day one was spent loading the vans in typical Swansea rain with all the equipment needed and prepping the two boats (Calypso and Zostera) that would be used before driving down to Dale and getting everything set up for the week ahead. This was when the true scale of the project hit home, stepping into the library at the fort and seeing the piles of boxes containing the prepped bags and ropes. Watching this pile shrink through the week was immensely satisfying as it was a clear visible indicator of the fantastic work being done by everyone involved. The first task we were involved with was prepping the individual crates to be sent down to the boat for laying. This involved untangling the ropes, filling each bag with around fifty seeds, topping them up with sand and adding some water before coiling them again for soaking. This work was completed in small teams of between three to six people, the composition of these teams was always changing as different volunteers arrived each day and people swapped in and out of different jobs in the bigger picture. What never changed was the amazing work atmosphere and efficiency with which the process was carried out, fuelled by a constant supply of tea, cake and music. The opportunity to spend so much time working and chatting with such an amazing group of people will live long in the memory. The bag filling was paused every now and then by trips to the beach with the completed crates containing the seeds to load into the boats. As energy levels dropped through the week the work ethic of the team really shone, sharing the load of the heavy crates and sand bags. Work by the boat team was almost continuous as more and more lines were laid, one quick break being met with some well-deserved pea and ham soup from the locals. By Friday all targets had being met with seven hundred and fifty thousand seeds planted and the library empty of boxes. Everything was tidied up and it was time to head back to Swansea for a warm shower, a takeaway and a good sleep. Sitting down after pretty much non-stop activity allowed time to reflect on all that had been achieved and how much of a pleasure it had been to do our bit for the environment alongside such a great group of people. We are both so grateful that we were able to be involved and can’t thank Project Seagrass enough, very much looking forward to the day where we can go and see the seeds growing and the positive impact the project will have had on local diversity. Matt and Elise

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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, Pembrokeshire. Mike Parker, Sam Files, Sam Petts and Owen Maddocks are four students from Swansea University, they met three years ago through the sub-aqua club and have logged their fair share of dives together ever since. Over a Zoom call in April, I had the opportunity to ask them about their time volunteering with Seagrass Ocean Rescue. We started our seagrass journey together last summer and they’ve returned with unwavering support to all our events from picking to planting. When did you develop an interest in marine ecosystems? Mike Parker: I joined the sub aqua club in my first year of university and got into diving in my second year… then it took over my life! Sam Files: I’ve always lived by the coast and spent a lot of time at the beach and swimming in the sea, then I started studying marine biology at Swansea and joined the dive club. Sam Petts: I’ve always liked underwater habitats and enjoyed swimming and being around water, I guess for me it was a natural progression to go deeper and see what’s hidden under the water! Owen Maddocks: I grew up on the coast and spent a lot of time rock pooling and surfing.   How did you find out about Project Seagrass and how have you been involved? MP: I heard about it through Evie Furness, she later invited the dive club to come diving for seeds. We went to Weymouth and Torbay for a week in the summer, had a hilarious week of camping, sun and seagrass! I came along to the rope tying days and helped tie the bags to the rope ready for planting. SF: I was doing my year in industry at Plymouth aquarium and they had a seagrass exhibition, I got talking to some of the team there and they mentioned Project Seagrass and the team at Swansea University. I later joined these guys with Swansea’s dive club to go pick seeds, I did some of the rope tying and then joined Sam and Owen in Dale in February! SP: I’d spoken to Evie about her work and she invited the dive club on an opportunity to go seed diving, I helped organise some of the dives and went along on the trip! I helped out in February with some of the preparation and planting. OM: I heard about it through the biosciences department and dive club at Swansea. I first got involved with seed picking then helped with seed preparation in February.   What’s been your most memorable experience with the project? MP: I think diving has definitely been my highlight and having the opportunity to meet people with the same common interest. SF: Trying to put up the tent on a windy cliff in Weymouth was a stand out moment for me! It would be between that and sending Mike and his dive buddy in the opposite direction from the seagrass… it took them a while to find it! I think it’s been nice to be involved in the whole process, to see it come full circle. It’s been exciting seeing people coming from around the country, with such a wide variety of backgrounds and generations – really encouraging for the future! SP: It was a habitat we’d never dived in before which was something I don’t think you can forget, and it was nice to dive with a purpose. Diving is fun anyway but when you’re doing something positive at the same time, it feels good! There was a real sense of accomplishment, and I was lucky to be last one in and last one out – I got to see everyone on the boat getting excited for the dive ahead and then when i’d come up, just seeing this huge pile of seagrass seeds, that was really cool! OM: Probably diving through the seagrass meadows and seeing all the juvenile fish and diversity… I felt like a human, underwater lawn mower.   Is there anything you’ve learnt from your experience with Seagrass Ocean Rescue? MP: I think there should be greater awareness for projects like these! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get involved. I think in any age group you can sometimes get trapped in a bubble but this gives an opportunity to meet people from outside your usual crowd. It was a really nice way to gently introduce people to marine sciences and conservation as well. It’s definitely a community that will stick around for future projects! SF: If you’re thinking of getting involved just go for it! It’s amazing to see what you’ve achieved, and the community is diverse and you meet people from all over! SP: It’s been a really great experience to do with friends but also to make new friends! It was a great opportunity to listen to people’s stories and to learn from others. It’s the first time I’ve been involved with a project and I hope to get involved with more conservation in the future. OM: I’ve learnt more about how conservation is applied in a real world setting and the value of seagrass for supporting biodiversity and blue carbon sequestration. At Project Seagrass we really appreciate the support of our volunteers, without them none of what we do would be possible! If you’re interested in helping out with future projects keep an eye on our social media, join the Project Seagrass Volunteers facebook group or alternatively don’t hesitate to contact us! By Eve Uncles

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