Hello Team Seagrass! I am Rufus, a volunteer with Project Seagrass and a marine biology graduate from the University of St Andrews. Since graduating in June 2017, I have begun working for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Connect team and the University of St Andrews’ Music Centre. In this split position, I get to enjoy
Happy New Year Team Seagrass! I can’t believe it’s 2018 already, and I’m sure that is a sentiment we all share! 2017 was an unbelievable year for all kinds of reasons, yet despite the crazy world we now seem to live in, for a few of us it has been
The savannahs of the seas – our humble seagrass meadows are in peril In its Green Seas episode, Blue Planet II introduced us to seagrass meadows. Scarcely touched upon in past media when compared to coral reefs, mangroves and even kelp forests, we learnt about the vast potential of these
This weekend we are in for a treat as the BBC Blue Planet team broadcast episode 5 “Green Seas” for the first time (Sunday 26th November, BBC One, 8pm – don’t miss it!). The episode will reveal amazing footage of charismatic animals such as the Weedy Sea Dragon, the Green Sea Turtle
Over the next few days the Save Posidonia Project, Formentera celebrates the Save Posidonia Festival. The idea behind the project is to host a festival where culture, sport and environmental activities will be carried out that celebrate the fantastic contribution that the seagrass Posidonia oceanica makes to Mediterranean well-being. The festival is aimed both
 Hurricane Irma – one of the strongest on record to hit the Caribbean – recently scoured the islands leaving catastrophic damage in its wake. And just as we began to piece together the devastating and potentially long–term impacts of Irma, Hurricane Maria has now left another path of destruction.
Last weekend on July 22nd, Ullapool Rotary Club put on yet another wonderful “Round The Pier Day” and Project Seagrass were invited by the Scottish Wildlife Trusts, who, thanks to Ullapool Harbour Trust and staff, have been featuring a ‘Wildlife Marquee’ as be part of the day. We were thus able to join Hebridean Whale
So that’s 4 years, 1460 days, 35,040 hours, 2,120,400 minutes or 12,614,400 seconds of seagrass! 2016/2017 has been our biggest 12 months to date, with our hosting of the 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop at Nant Gwrtheyrn the obvious highlight. But that’s not all we’ve been up to this year. Since our ‘3 years
WOW! I only went and ran THREE marathons in SIX weeks! TODAY, on non-other than World Environment Day (WED), I am SO happy to have completed the challenge I set down for myself, and to have raised over £1,700 for Project Seagrass to continue their great work. What an amazing way
Kayaking on the Isle of Skye’s lochs you feel as though you’re a million miles from civilisation; back to basics with wildlife flitting about you and crystal clear waters to peer into. There’s no rumble in your ear of background traffic noise or aeroplanes going overhead. Just you, your paddling
Hello Team Seagrass! I am Rufus, a volunteer with Project Seagrass and a marine biology graduate from the University of St Andrews. Since graduating in June 2017, I have begun working for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Connect team and the University of St Andrews’ Music Centre. In this split position, I get to enjoy the benefits of working with extraordinary artists and musicians across the country to inspire babies, toddlers, children, students and adults to get more involved with the music in the community around them. There are so many educational opportunities provided by both the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the University of St Andrews. Through its Connect programme, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra interacts with over 10,000 people each year through a vast array of activities. Both the staff and the musicians of the orchestra are extremely driven to reach new audiences all the time, not only to encourage interaction with music in the future but also, in some cases, to improve quality of life. There are so many educational opportunities that can be provided through music. Photo Credit – Fraser Band The Music Centre at the University St Andrews has also led some fantastic workshops throughout local schools in Fife with some of the excellent artists that come to the town to perform. One of the University’s initiatives that I have been involved in is Music Planet. This is a platform that promotes the combination of the arts with global environmental issues to enhance the power of the message that is conveyed, and also to engage new audiences. Music is a fundamental part of human culture, irrespective of where you come from or what your background is. There aren’t many people who don’t enjoy listening to some form of music, either when they are travelling, working, cooking, cleaning or as any other part of their day. I believe that because of this, music has the most potential in interdisciplinary education. Using music, and getting an audience to be involved with music and music making, will help to engage them with any subject. Music making can help children and adults to engage with any subject. Photo Credit – Fraser Band One of the easiest combinations that can be made is music and nature because, in nature, music is all around anyway. The natural soundscape has endless capabilities that can be tapped into to expand the possibilities of what you are teaching. In March, I will be co-leading a SCO workshop, with SCO violin Aisling O’Dea, for primary schools in Fife in conjunction with Project Seagrass and Music Planet from the University of St Andrews. A team of musicians from the orchestra and volunteers from Project Seagrass will provide a day workshop for pupils at primary schools centered around the children’s story, “The Snail and the Whale” by Julia Donaldson. This excellent book tells the story of a snail that seeks to see the world and journeys across the oceans on the tail of a humpback whale. In the end, it is an endearing story of community and self-worth. In March, I will be co-leading a SCO workshop, with SCO violin Aisling O’Dea, for primary schools in Fife in conjunction with Project Seagrass and Music Planet from the University of St Andrews. Photo Credit – Fraser Band The day will be centered around this story’s characters and the music that was written to accompany the story. Various activities throughout the day will involve the children in the scientific background behind important environmental issues whilst providing them the opportunity to get involved with the music making themselves. At this important tipping point, the future of the planet as we know it relies on the engagement of the public all over the world. Music can help to broaden the prospects of domestic and international education campaigns to make that change. Rufus If you would like to follow more of my activity, I have recently started a personal challenge and campaign to reduce my impact on the environment – #Green18. In my attempt to complete this challenge, I will write regular blog posts to document my success and any obstacles I have encountered along the way. Follow online @ www.green18.org Facebook @ www.facebook.com/GreenEighteen/ Instagram @ www.instagram.com/_green_18/ Twitter @ www.twitter.com/_Green_18 You can find out more about the Scottish Chamber Orchestra or music in St Andrews below: Follow online: st-andrews.ac.uk/music/ sco.org.uk Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/scottishchamberorchestra/ www.facebook.com/UniversityofStAndrewsMusicCentre/ Follow on Twitter: @SCOmusic @StAndrewsMusic
Happy New Year Team Seagrass! I can’t believe it’s 2018 already, and I’m sure that is a sentiment we all share! 2017 was an unbelievable year for all kinds of reasons, yet despite the crazy world we now seem to live in, for a few of us it has been largely a case of business as usual, and for the four of us as Project Seagrass, that consistency has been only been a good thing! Now I’m not going to spend this New Year’s blog recapping on what we got up to in 2017, I’ll just point you to our previous ‘4th Year’ blog post and save the rest for future reminiscing this summer, as we celebrate the BIG ‘5th Year’ as an NGO. We are certainly looking forward to this July! In 2018 we have BIG aspirations, we hope to release a GLOBAL version of our SeagrassSpotter application which will make it possible to record your seagrass sightings anywhere on this precious Blue Planet. Blue Planet. Green Seas. In 2018, we are taking Seagrass Spotter to the world. Since its initial launch in late 2015, we’ve been tinkering with the SeagrassSpotter app, expanding its sphere of use from just our local waters, to now encompass the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea. With help from various end users, we’ve co-created a new version of the application that brings in elements that we, as scientists, had overlooked. Over the last 12 months the real challenge has been in developing the app for the regions around the Coral Triangle with its exceptional levels of biodiversity! In 2018, we are also looking forward to the 13th International Seagrass Biology Workshop in Singapore. The International Seagrass Biology Workshops are official World Seagrass Association events. World Seagrass Association members facilitate the organisation of these biennial meetings and the World Seagrass Association usually provides some financial support where possible. The International Seagrass Biology Workshop series have taken place around the world since Japan in 1993 (when I was just 9 years old!) and have evolved out of recognition of the global focus of seagrass issues. Just from looking at the locations of previous meetings it is clear that these workshops are truly international events! ISBW12: Nant Gwrtheyrn, Wales. 17 – 23 October 2016. ISBW11: Sanya, China. 7 – 10 November 2014. ISBW10: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 25 – 30 November 2012. ISBW9: Phuket–Trang, Thailand. 21 – 30 November 2010. ISBW8: Bamfield, Canada. 31 August – 5 September 2008. ISBW7: Zanzibar, Tanzania. 10 – 16 September 2006. ISBW6: Townsville, Australia. 24 September – 1 October 2004. ISBW5: Ensenada, México. 7–11 October 2002. ISBW4: Corsica, France. 25 September – 1 October 2000. ISBW3: Pangasinan, Philippines. 19 – 26 April 1998. ISBW2: Rottnest Island, Australia. 25 – 29 January 1996. ISBW1: Kominato, Japan. 24 – 26 August, 1993 Of course, the other big global event for Team Seagrass in 2018 is The 5th International Marine Conservation Congress in Kuching, Sarawak. Which is being held this summer between the 24th – 29th June. As a gentle reminder, the Call For Abstracts for this OPENS ON THE 5TH JANUARY 2018 (i.e. tomorrow!) so get submitting! Also, just as an FYI, you can keep up to date with the goings on of IMCC5 through their WordPress Blog. We hope we will be able to catch up with many of our colleagues at these events this year and we are always on the lookout for collaborations which will help catalyse positive change for our oceans. We’ve got a few innovative collaborations already pipelined (which I can’t reveal at this point!) but we will do as soon as they are all confirmed! So please get in touch with your ideas at hello@projectseagrass.org Despite all the adversity of the past 12 months I feel genuinely optimistic that this year will be a BIG ONE on the journey to put our “Green Seas” on the map. So keep up that Ocean Optimism, galvanise yourself for the year ahead, and remember what we are fighting for… In the words of David Attenborough; “It’s our green seas, not the blue, that bring life to our oceans.” Happy New Year! RJ
The savannahs of the seas – our humble seagrass meadows are in peril In its Green Seas episode, Blue Planet II introduced us to seagrass meadows. Scarcely touched upon in past media when compared to coral reefs, mangroves and even kelp forests, we learnt about the vast potential of these underwater grasslands to sequester carbon from our atmosphere through to providing habitat for charismatic marine life. But seagrass meadows are much more than this. Indeed, we would need a whole new landmark series to truly convey how vitally important these habitats are for biodiversity, people and the planet. Seagrass meadows are home to charismatic marine life, such as eagle ray’s which utilise seagrass meadows as juveniles in the Caribbean Our understanding of the importance of seagrass meadows is racking up. Recently we’ve discovered how seagrasses filter bacteria from coastal waters, helping to keep both people and coral reef’s healthy. We also now know that seagrass meadows are possibly the most underappreciated fishing habitats on earth, securing food supply and livelihoods. Seagrass meadows are a home, source of food and a feeding ground for numerous species of fish, invertebrates, reptiles, birds and mammals. They protect our shores from erosion, trapping sediment in place and slowing currents and produce oxygen that we breath. They truly are the oceans hero. Not the hero our planet deserves, but the hero our planet needs. Our green knight if you will. Women in Mozambique use fishing nets made from mosquito nets to collect fish within seagrass Despite all this, our seagrass meadows are in peril – unacknowledged, ignored in management and never the poster child of ocean conservation. What this has resulted in is a habitat in a state of emergency. From the shores of the UK to uninhabited islands within the Indian ocean, the tell-tale signs of man’s impact on seagrass meadows is visible. We simply don’t know how much seagrass there is globally. This also means we don’t know how much we’ve lost, bust estimates suggest that since the 1980’s we’ve lost over 35%. That equates to around a football field every hour. A scar on the oceans seabed. A small but visible impact from a boat anchor The threats we present to seagrass remains invisible, while we’re distracted by stories of deforestation and river pollution. Vast plumes of nutrient and sediment rich water flood onto our coastal seagrass meadows every day. Nutrients cause eutrophication, and opportunistic microscopic algae smother seagrasses, preventing the plants from obtaining food through photosynthesis. Elevated nutrients cause microscopic algae to smother seagrass leaves, reducing their ability to absorb light Similarly, sediment derived from coastal development and land reclamation burry the sensitive grasses, leaving nothing but a deserted wasteland. Contributing to this is the fact that fish species that might help seagrasses in their fight are gone. Exploited beyond belief and a result of seagrass meadows being ignored, time and time again when designing Marine Protected Areas. A static fish fence, or sero, used to funnel fish into a pen so that they can be collected daily has no preference for species or size Even in the UK, where we apparently “lead the way” in environmental protection, our seagrass meadows are in a perilous state. Despite being included within Special Areas of Conservation and Marine Conservation Zones, protection is woefully inadequate. But despite this doom and gloom there is hope for seagrass. Last year more than 100 scientists from 28 countries called for global action to protect seagrass meadows. It now seems that people are listening. It seems there is hope for these vital yet fragile ecosystems For our oceans, the futures bright and the futures green. Seagrass research and conservation are growing, and new information points to people as part of the answer. Citizen science has the potential to help members of the public to discover seagrass meadows while contributing to conservation at the same time. By making seagrass meadows a familiar species, we hope to use people to leverage change. While some governments are already looking to seagrass meadows as potential blue carbon hero’s and actively working on conservation strategies the reality is most are still naively unaware. For change to happen seagrass meadows can no longer be the ugly duckling of the conservation world and need to be given the limelight they deserve.
This weekend we are in for a treat as the BBC Blue Planet team broadcast episode 5 “Green Seas” for the first time (Sunday 26th November, BBC One, 8pm – don’t miss it!). The episode will reveal amazing footage of charismatic animals such as the Weedy Sea Dragon, the Green Sea Turtle and the Tiger Shark. These are just a few of the enigmatic species we associate with seagrass meadows, and all of these species are showcased in this episode! It’s now been over a year since we hosted the 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop in Wales and it got me thinking about how far we’ve come with raising the profile of seagrass meadows… but just how far we’ve yet to go… and what we should be the ‘take home’ messages we are aiming to communicate ahead of the 13th International Seagrass Biology Workshop in Singapore next year? I love to read the new science which seems to be being generated almost weekly at the moment by #TeamSeagrass! Personally, I am back in a secondary school classroom these days, and so don’t have the time I used too, but if I had the capacity to go, I would certainly have been at CERF 2017 this month which is took place in Providence, Rhode Island. From my perspective both CERF 2015 in Portland, Oregon and CERF 2013 in San Diego, California were excellent conferences. They were particularly good for catching up with colleagues from around the world and getting a sneak peek into seagrass science coming hot off the press. If you are not already, I’d get following @CERFScience on Twitter ahead of CERF 2019 in Mobile, Alabama. This month we also witnessed the big UN Climate Change Conference “COP23” in Bonn, Germany. This conference marks the next step for governments to implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement and accelerate the transformation to sustainable, resilient and climate-safe development. The Climate Conference was reported as a ‘Launch-pad for higher ambition’ but as with all international agreements, it’s a case of walking the walk, not just talking the talk. Finally, next Monday I’ll be attending The World Forum on Natural Capital hosted by the Scottish Wildlife Trust in Edinburgh. Early this year I wrote a guest blog for the trust which explains the importance of seagrass habitat, and how people can help by submitting records through Seagrass Spotter. I also wrote another guest blog for ScotLINK which focussed on the value of seagrass meadows as Natural Capital. All this activity has got me thinking once again about how we best communicate seagrass meadows. At Project Seagrass we’ve tried a variety of educational tools, including colouring in books, nursery rhymes, school workshops and videos to name just a few. However, as I’m now back in the classroom and teaching young biology students (11-18 years old), I have had to re-evaluate some of the language I’ve got accustomed to using on a day to day basis, especially amongst my academic colleagues. I’m essentially stripping seagrass science back to the VERY basics. For several years now my ‘elevator pitch’ for seagrass has been based around 3 topics; 1) Fisheries and Food Security (seagrass meadows are a nursery habitat for many important food fish species) 2) Blue Carbon (seagrass meadows are a mega carbon sink) 3) Green Barriers (seagrass meadows protect our coastlines from wave energy). But how do you pitch that to an 11-year-old? And is that what I should be focussing on? Learning to communicate seagrass science at every level is something that we should all aim to improve in, but I also think it’s especially important for us to all be ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’. If the first challenge was in getting seagrass as a ‘thing’ into the public consciousness, the next step is surely explaining why it is so damn important! Learning to communicate these three concepts is my current seagrass science communication challenge and so if anyone has got any ideas or resources to help with this, then I’m all ears! Cheers RJ
Over the next few days the Save Posidonia Project, Formentera celebrates the Save Posidonia Festival. The idea behind the project is to host a festival where culture, sport and environmental activities will be carried out that celebrate the fantastic contribution that the seagrass Posidonia oceanica makes to Mediterranean well-being. The festival is aimed both at marine professionals, as well as the public, and hopes to champion sustainability, so that it is not just an act or one off event, but becomes a permanent way of being. Outputs from the festival are concrete, with the most innovative scientific and environmental projects presented at the festival (linked to the preservation of Posidonia oceanica) having the opportunity to be financed through a collection made during by Save Posidonia Project. The projects are to be evaluated by a technical committee of high national and international recognition and the objective is to involve all individuals, companies and national or international organisations in raising awareness to take action in the conservation of such a critical ecosystem to the Balearic Islands. To participate in the festival all events must apply sustainability measures based on basic principles. Before the celebration of the event the promoters featured had to submit a plan to reduce the impact on the environment and respect the well-being of local people. However, this isn’t the first festival of this kind, indeed the Posidonia Festival has been active in the Mediterranean for nearly 10 years. Originating in 2008 on the island of Formentera (Spain), the festival has been hosted fifteen times in six different locations (Carloforte, Formentera, Mallorca, Santa Margherita Ligure, Sitges, Tavolara). Most recently Posidonia Festival was held in Mallorca with Three days of activities on Art, Nature and Sustainable Tourism have been held in Palma and Deià. The event will be held again next year. As an International Ecofestival of Art, Environment and Sustainable Development. The festival is a space for dissemination of knowledge and practices that promote the protection of the natural coastal environment and, at the same time, an opportunity for sustainable development, culture and tourism. For us seeing these ‘festivals of seagrass’ taking place is incredibly positive, since it is through platforms such as this that we are able to communicate seagrass science to the public! We’ve already heard this year about how seagrass science is growing, and I have witnessed first-hand the dedication and enthusiasm of this small (but growing!) group of seagrass scientists during the 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop that Project Seagrass hosted in north Wales last year. Also, for me personally, I am thrilled to see the spotlight on the seagrass Posidonia oceanica since this species is critical to the sustainable provision of seafood in the Greek islands where I have made many friends. I find it deeply upsetting to witness the ecological, social and economic ramifications of degraded Posidonia oceanica meadows. The species has been estimated to be worth €190 million per year to Mediterranean fishing and the loss of this foundation species could result in both a loss of income and food security that these islands have long enjoyed. Keep up the good work #TeamSeagrass and together we will be the change.
 Hurricane Irma – one of the strongest on record to hit the Caribbean – recently scoured the islands leaving catastrophic damage in its wake. And just as we began to piece together the devastating and potentially long–term impacts of Irma, Hurricane Maria has now left another path of destruction. Puerto Rico, the British dependency of the Turks and Caicos, and many other Caribbean islands have suffered what have been described as “apocalyptic conditions”. When the world talks of the tragic and devastating consequences of severe hurricanes, the focus tends to be on the land, and the people who live in affected communities. Indeed, nearly 30 people have been reported killed, while Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez has said that the hurricane has set the country back by “20 to 30 years”. We see images of toppled trees, torn off roofs and severe flooding. But marine environments can be also badly affected by hurricanes, with potential long-term effects. The force of hurricane winds, and the resultant tides and waves are so strong that both plants and animals are ripped from the sea floor leaving lifeless rubble and sediment behind. Hurricanes have a washing machine effect: they mix up coastal sediments with knock-on effects for marine life. Suspended matter left floating in the water column limits the amount of sunlight that reaches marine habitats and so reduces growth and recovery. Meanwhile in shallow coastal environments, debris, sewage and run-off continue to flow in to the sea long after the hurricane has passed. Human dependency on the sea  The fishery for Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) is a major source of income to many around the Caribbean. The devastation of coastal environments, particularly seagrass meadows, can also result in long-term losses of the benefits that humans receive from them, such as fisheries support or coastal protection. Damage to these ecosystem services consequently impacts human well-being, because people can no longer rely on them for their livelihood and food supply. Some of the most severely affected areas of the recent hurricanes in the Caribbean – Florida, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, Cuba and the British Virgin Islands – all house extensive seagrass meadows. These shallow water marine habitats support valuable lobster fisheries, as well as shrimp, conch, and finfish fisheries. Seagrass also stabilises sediments and protects the white sand beaches that attract so many tourists to the region. Previous hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons (weather events which are essentially the same but have different names depending on where the storm happens) across the globe have shown the severe negative effects they can have on these vital seagrass meadows. The seagrass plants are ripped up or buried under sediments, leading to their suffocation. The extensive associated murky water leads to widespread loss of seagrass, as was seen in the years that followed hurricane Katrina hitting the US. Initial indications from the Everglades in Florida show that seagrass destruction in the wake of Irma is extensive, with large piles already being washed far onshore. This should ring alarm bells for Caribbean fisheries, as hurricanes Katrina and Rita led to losses in the seafood industry that reached billions of dollars. The Caribbean spiny lobster fishery business alone is worth more than US$450m, and directly employs 50,000 people. Healthy seagrass provides the best fishing grounds with the greatest revenue, and the recent hurricanes have the potential to decimate this. Environmental impact But this is not just about money. Seagrass loss also threatens marine biodiversity and the health of charismatic species. After a severe cyclone in Australia in 2011, turtles and dugong starved due to the damaged meadows. In addition, seagrass is a marine powerhouse, which stores vast amounts of carbon in meadow sediments. When the seagrass is removed, this carbon is released back into the environment.  Caribbean spiny lobsters depend on clams they find in seagrass. Hurricanes have always been a part of life in tropical seas. The destruction they cause and their recovery have been observed throughout human history. What is alarming now, however, is the apparent increased frequency and intensity. The already poor state of the Caribbean marine environment restricts the ability of habitats such as seagrass meadows and coral reefs to recover from the effects of severe storms. Poor water quality and over-fishing, for example, promotes the overgrowth of algae, preventing recovery. With repeated hurricanes occurring over time periods that are insufficient for recovery to occur, this will only get worse. The severity of hurricanes Irma and Maria are a wake up call. We need a fundamental shift in how marine environments are protected to enable long-term sustainability for the food and income they provide. Many locations in the Caribbean, for example Puerto Rico, have ineffective marine protection rules and so destructive practices continue unchecked, meaning that when a disaster does occur, the environment is unable to recover. Although local actions against climate change are difficult to achieve, it is possible to manage river catchments to improve water quality, and focus on small scale immediate actions, such as implementation of marine protected areas to limit immediate and direct damage to coastal resources. Coordinated small scale actions will ultimately help enhance the resilience of the Caribbean Sea, and make sure that the environment can better recover from any future extreme events. Richard K.F. Unsworth, Research Officer (Marine Ecology), Swansea University; Benjamin L. Jones, Research Assistant at the Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University; Leanne Cullen-Unsworth, Research Fellow, Cardiff University, and Lina Mtwana Nordlund, Researcher in coastal environmental sciences, Stockholm University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Last weekend on July 22nd, Ullapool Rotary Club put on yet another wonderful “Round The Pier Day” and Project Seagrass were invited by the Scottish Wildlife Trusts, who, thanks to Ullapool Harbour Trust and staff, have been featuring a ‘Wildlife Marquee’ as be part of the day. We were thus able to join Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT), Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), Marine Conservation Society (MCSUK), RSPB Scotland and Capturing our Coast in the Wildlife Marquee. It was a super day with 1728 visitors coming onto the Pier to enjoy the festivities throughout the day! In Scotland Project Seagrass have been working alongside Scottish Wildlife Trusts to raise awareness of Eelgrass (Zostera marina) which is one of the trusts ‘priority species’. In April 2016 it was hoped that our move to Scotland would herald ‘A New Dawn For Scottish Seagrass’ and we spoke then of our ambition to engage with Scotland’s coastal communities and begin the much needed process of mapping Scotland’s seagrass meadows. Community events such as this are the ‘bread and butter’ of that vision. They are also some of the best craic you can have! Our ambition for ‘Seagrass meadows to be saved around Scottish coasts’ has to start with people, and raising awareness of this most productive of coastal ecosystems. Having the opportunity to talk with folk about what seagrass is, where it is found and how we can map it is central to our strategy of raising awareness amongst the public. The Scottish Wildlife Trusts ‘Wildlife Marquee’ was a fantastic platform for engaging with people both from the local community, and those visiting the area. On a personal note it was brilliant to see the ‘Have You Got The Bottle?’ campaign present in the tent. The organisation is campaigning for a Scottish Deposit Return System for drinks packaging (Basically you would pay a small deposit when you buy cans and bottles and get it back when they are returned. Easy.) As someone who wants to reduce litter entering our marine ecosystems then this seems to me like a super solution to a huge problem! Anyways, back to the seagrass! When we arrived in Scotland we wanted develop and network of like minded individuals who could help volunteer their time and energy towards our common goal. This is the Scottish Seagrass Network. This weekend SJ (of the “ThreeBeforeThirty” blog posts) and Lauren (our West of Scotland rep) joined me in Ullapool to help deliver the SEA education (Seagrass, Education and Awareness) on the Saturday and explore the Marine Protected Area on the Sunday. By land and by sea the Wester Ross Marine Protected Area is simply stunning! First, we explored Loch Broom and the Summer Isles (towards the North-East of the MPA) and then afterwards Little Loch Broom, Gruinard Bay and Loch Ewe (towards the centre and South-West of the MPA). In Gruinard Bay there is a known seagrass meadow which forms part of the Scottish Wildlife Trusts North-West Highlands Snorkel Trail which has nine sites along the north west highlands coast around Ullapool, and recently a further six sites on the Isle of Harris. The Summer Isles are home to seals, seabirds and the majestic White-tailed eagle. If anyone is interested in assisting Project Seagrass in mapping the extent of seagrass distribution around these trails then please upload your photos via our Seagrass Spotter app and if you would like to find out more information about Scotland’s Seagrass Meadows then check out the Scottish Wildlife Trusts website. Slàinte RJ
So that’s 4 years, 1460 days, 35,040 hours, 2,120,400 minutes or 12,614,400 seconds of seagrass! 2016/2017 has been our biggest 12 months to date, with our hosting of the 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop at Nant Gwrtheyrn the obvious highlight. But that’s not all we’ve been up to this year. Since our ‘3 years of Project Seagrass’ blog last July, we’ve enjoyed making marine science matter at IMCC4 last August, right up to outreach at Ullapool Pier Day (blog to follow) just this last week. This blog is thus a celebration, and a review, of our 4th year as an officially seagrass focused entity! 2016 August So first up, and in a break from our usual seagrass focus, myself and Edd Hind-Ozan were involved in an innovative project with “Oceans Online” at IMCC4. The idea was to run a workshop which focussed on “Bringing fishermen to the table” at academic conferences. The aim was to achieve this using live stream “Bambuser” technology. Whilst this is a simple concept, I believe it is one that is long overdue. At marine conservation focused conferences and workshops, the importance of stakeholders is discussed frequently, whether it’s from developing solutions for community led MPA’s or improving fishing quotas – but the stakeholders are all to frequently absent from these high-level discussions. Oceans Online marked a pretty important development in making conferences accessible to all, especially considering a lot of commercial fishermen (from both developed and developing countries) cannot attend conferences because they are fishing! It was a privilege to be part of the beginning of a movement that looks to cultivate the ways marine science is conducted, shared and communicated online. Oceans Online will be returning on the 29th June 2018 for IMCC5 in Malaysia – so save the date! Next up in August was the development of Scottish Seagrass Network and the official registration of Project Seagrass as a charitable entity in Scotland. As we entered our fourth year as an NGO, we thought this was a logical step for us, especially since within north-west Europe, approximately 20% of seagrass meadows are found within Scottish waters. Within north-west Europe roughly 1/5th of seagrass meadows are found in Scottish waters. September In September myself and SJ managed to get over to the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban for some ‘Seagrass Spotter’ citizen science. The site we went seagrass spotting was Dunstaffnage Bay at the entrance to Loch Etive on the West Coast of Scotland. Beyond the eelgrass meadow already known to SAMS there was not much to report. Meanwhile, in Swansea, Wales the team from HQ in Cardiff were busy running a Seagrass Education and Awareness stand at the British Science Festival. The festival’s began in 1831 in York, England and have run through to this festival in Swansea which marked the 177th meeting of the British Science Association. Project Seagrass at the British Science Festival in Swansea, Wales. October This month was clearly ‘the big one’ in our calendar, and what a brilliant event the 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop turned out to be. Our intern Evelyn Furness remarked on just how friendly “Team Seagrass” turned out to be and I think all delegates were impressed at both the diversity and quality of seagrass science that is now taking place globally. I’m sure that ISBW13 in Singapore will be an absolute cracker of a conference! The 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop was held at Nant Gwrtheyrn, Wales. November You’d be forgiven for thinking that November would be a prime opportunity to take our foot off the gas after the efforts that went into hosting ISBW12, but conversely, we were really keen to build on the momentum and enthusiasm generated at ISBW12, especially the passion shown for our smartphone app Seagrass Spotter. For this reason, we put all our efforts this month into ensuring that Seagrass Spotter was developed and enhanced from being a smartphone application that was only available in the British Isles, to one that was functional across Europe, and in particular, that it be made accessible to as many delegates as possible from across the Mediterranean region. Seagrass spotter was made available to users in the Mediterranean Sea November was also the month that SJ announced she would be running “Three marathons before I turn 30” in a bid to raise vital funds for Project Seagrass. December Building on our traditional Christmas advent calendar, this year we created a “virtual” calendar for you all to enjoy. Behind each door of our calendar is one of #SantasSeagrassSecrets introducing you to the weird and wonderful uses and functions of seagrasses across the world. 2017 January The new year started with a reason to celebrate! Participation in SeagrassSpotter had rocketed since its expansion and we now had over 400 seagrass sightings from across the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea! What’s more, we had the good news that Andrew Lewin was keen to support Team Seagrass on his Speak Up For Blue website, with each of the plenaries from ISBW12 to be shared from his website. The first of these was Ocean Optimism on the Future of Seagrass Meadows on January 3rd but he continued to share one plenary / blog combo through until March (Check them out at www.speakupforblue.com). Each January I also take the time to head down to the BETT show as I seek inspiration for the best ways for us to improve on our SEA (Seagrass, Education and Awareness) programme. Towards the end of the month, Ben attended a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, to discuss the final developments to “The Dugong & Seagrass Research Toolkit”, which we’ll discuss later. Richard headed to Puerto Rico, where he led the Swansea University Tropical Marine Ecology field course. Here he used the opportunity to test the capabilities of Seagrass Spotter in a tropical environment and paved the way for scientific seagrass spotting by conducting the activity along transects. February In February we were out and about in Cardiff talking all things seagrass at Cardiff University’s “Speak Week” March March is Seagrass Awareness Month and so a busy time of year for anyone involved in seagrass science and communication! This month Ben headed to Mexico as part of a ‘Land 2 Coast’ project with Cardiff University. 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WOW! I only went and ran THREE marathons in SIX weeks! TODAY, on non-other than World Environment Day (WED), I am SO happy to have completed the challenge I set down for myself, and to have raised over £1,700 for Project Seagrass to continue their great work. What an amazing way to celebrate World Environment Day! World Environment Day occurs on 5 June every year, and is the United Nation’s primary medium for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment. The theme for World Environment Day 2017 is ‘Connecting People to Nature – in the city and on the land, from the poles to the equator’. It seems a poignant theme for me this year, having just ran these last two weeks through some of the finest examples of cities that are connected to nature anywhere in the world. Edinburgh boasts the most green space of the UK’s largest cities. At 49.2%, almost half of the Scottish capital boasts parks and green land, and Sweden’s capital Stockholm, with its 1.5 million inhabitants, is today recognised as one of the greenest and most beautiful metropolitan areas in Europe. There is so much green space in Stockholm that you don’t always know you are in a city! In Edinburgh a great effort has been made by the Scottish Wildlife Trusts and the City of Edinburgh Council to create, restore and connect green areas of the city in order to make the city more attractive and biodiverse. This concept has been touted as a ‘Living Landscape’ which focusses on ‘managing land at the ecosystem-scale to benefit people, wildlife and the economy’ A successful Living Landscape is one with a network of healthy, resilient ecosystems supporting all forms of life. Ecosystem health is restored and society benefits fully from the vital services that ecosystems provide. It’s my impression that this is pretty much the same idea that Project Seagrass has for coastal ecosystems globally… The idea that we need to protect and restore the seagrass in our ‘Living Seascapes ’ to ensure that all the benefits that the coasts provide for us are maintained! I’m proud to be signing off today having been successful in my #ThreeBeforeThirty challenge, and in having raised both funds (much needed!), and the profile (hopefully) of Project Seagrass too! It was certainly a challenge! Running the Stockholm Marathon was hard because I only ran the Edinburgh Marathon six days ago! But the journey to raise the profile of seagrass doesn’t stop here. Richard Unsworth has taken on the baton and is running the Snowdonia Marathon in October! If you have any fundraising ideas, or ways that you think we can raise the profile of seagrass meadows then I know the Project Seagrass team are all ears! Just send an email to hello@projectseagrass.org It was so good to have the support of Richard and Sarah for the final marathon! Remember, it doesn’t have to be anything crazy… (or sporty!) even just talking about seagrass makes a difference! So this is me, signing off… I know any last minute sponsorship would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! – http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SJPopester Over and out! SJ x
Kayaking on the Isle of Skye’s lochs you feel as though you’re a million miles from civilisation; back to basics with wildlife flitting about you and crystal clear waters to peer into. There’s no rumble in your ear of background traffic noise or aeroplanes going overhead. Just you, your paddling buddy and the creatures that decide to make themselves known. Feeling completely remote on Loch Eishort. Being somewhere that appeared so untouched by man is a luxury hardly ever come across in the modern day, but the illusion was burst as we stopped at a beach at the top of Loch Eishort. The place was awash with tropical blue – bright blue nets and ropes, tubs and wrappers. A sea of rubbish. Mixed in were huge buoys washed up from the mussel farm across the loch. You can’t help but wonder why the farmer doesn’t make the less than five-minute boat ride across the loch to retrieve them, rather than splashing out on new ones? Doesn’t he / she worry for the health of the mussels with that much rubbish just the other side? Mussels are filter feeders, taking in any particles in the water, including degrading plastic. A glimpse of the rubbish at the top of Loch Eishort. But it’s not just the top of Loch Eishort where we were shocked. Camasunary is a bay on the Isle of Skye only accessible by boat or walking a few kilometres over a rocky track. Reaching it you expect to be isolated from the world, but instead we were greeted with all of man’s rubbish. (On a more positive note, we did find some seagrass washed up in with the rubbish, so hopefully there’s a healthy bed close by!). An uninhabited island. It makes stories such as Henderson Island, one of the world’s most remote islands, having been found to have nearly 18 tonnes of plastic weighing it down, sadly, less shocking. If we can leave this much mess in areas where we can get to, then there’s no surprise that it’s spreading to places where humans should never be. Our way of thinking needs to change. Plastics are not a onetime thing, we need to reduce the amount we use and reuse everything else. The plastic bag charge was one small step in the right direction, but we need a lot more. Choose veg without tonnes of wrapping, try to avoid one use coffee cups, retrieve that buoy instead of buying a new one; small changes will add up. Let’s try to save those last few untouched havens. Thanks for reading! Evie
