Over the summer, we have been busy with seagrass seed collection for our restoration efforts as part of the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project.
Our dedicated seagrass team headed out to seagrass meadows along the South Coast to collect seagrass seeds. In total, they collected around a million seeds, from the Solent, Looe and Helford!
The seed laden reproductive shoots are hand collected by our experienced divers, working in buddy pairs. They dive in parallel lines and they collect every third reproductive shoot encountered. The shoot is cut along the main stem, with care taken not to disturb the rhizome of the plant, so that it can continue to grow reproductive shoots and stay a healthy meadow.
Whilst collecting seeds, the team were lucky enough to encounter some of the wonderful animals that call seagrass home. For them, it was an absolute joy to see first-hand the animals whose habitat we are working so hard to restore.
All of the seeds are being looked after in our seagrass cultivation laboratory at the National Marine Aquarium. The seeds will be kept there until they are ready to be replanted as part of our seagrass restoration efforts in the ReMEDIES Project.
LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES is a four year marine conservation project which will see 5 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) safeguarded for future generations.