19 February 2020
Conservation News

We are working in partnership with Swansea University and Project Seagrass on the ‘Seagrass Ocean Rescue’ project.  

 

The aim is to conserve and restore seagrass meadows around the British coastline. As well as contributing to the educational aspect of the project, The Deep will be sending two members of the aquarist team who will be heavily involved in the seagrass meadow restoration. Including fieldwork such as seed collection dives, seagrass planting dives, and survey work.

Did you know?

  • 50 species of fish live in or visit UK seagrass, supporting 30 times more animals than nearby habitat.
  • Seagrass restoration is vital to protecting UK coastlines and help to fight climate change as seagrass stores carbon 35 times faster than forests.
  • Seagrass is vital to the oceans health, as much as 92% of the UK’s seagrass has been lost
  • 20% of the world’s biggest fisheries are supported by seagrass meadows as fish nurseries.

This project supports research led by Swansea University, it is hoped that the partnership will inspire future major projects in other areas to restore the UK’s seagrass meadows to help support our climate, our fisheries, and our coastal livelihoods. The project is supported by Sky Ocean Rescue, WWF, Cardiff University, Swansea University, and Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum.