Solent Seascape Project

Seagrass is one of the four habitats the Solent Seascape Project is working to protect and restore. But why? This vital natural resource has many benefits, not just for wildlife but for all of us, especially those living near to the meadows. Did you know it can even store carbon 35 times faster than rainforests? 🌿 To help preserve this important habitat around the Solent, we’re working with our partners Project Seagrass and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to restore seagrass meadows at Priory Bay and Thorness on the Isle of Wight, as well as at Calshot and Chilling in Hampshire. You can find out more about seagrass and our work to protect it on our website www.solentseascape.com With thanks to Theo Vickers for the stunning photos. #SolentSeascapeProject #Seagrass #SeagrassMeadows #GenerationRestoriation #Solent #CoastalCommunities #FightClimateChange #CoastalResilience #IsleOfWight Blue Marine Foundation

Sign up as a volunteer for our partner Project Seagrass, and be part of the Solent Seascape Project too, as we work to restore seagrass across the Solent together.

Solent Seagrass 2024: A year in review 🌱 As we move forwards to a new year in 2025 its important to reflect on efforts, achievements and lessons learnt in the year gone by and some reflections for 2024 | Project Seagrass | Swansea University 📌In January we began the Solent Seascape Project - a UN decade recognised holistic seascape project, active restoration of Zostera marina, planting 0.5 ha of our 3.5 ha target. 📌Witnessing significant success through germination, growth and survival of seed-based (132k seeds planted) and transplant (2160 plants planted) methodologies subtidally and intertidally - a particular personal highlight! 📌Continuation of our WWF-UK seagrass planting methodology project demonstrating success now 2 years on from planting 📌Collaboration with Seacology, Blue Parameters and Warren Boats to install Advanced Mooring Systems, and using UAVs to map the seagrass meadow 📌101, 710k seagrass seeds harvested from Isle of Wight meadows currently overwintering in the Project Seagrass nursery, which will actively contribute to local restoration in 2025 📌Launched our Fragment Walks, an engagement and outreach initiative to facilitate, enhance and upscale local restoration practices. This year 8 fragment walks took place, planting 329 fragments over 17 m2 with the help of 214 volunteers.  📌Directly engaged with 839 volunteers - we couldn't do it without the generous help of local volunteers. 📌Presented externally to numerous workshops, conferences, panels and working groups with a particular highlight being at ISBW World Seagrass Association in Naples in May on the supporting and provisioning services of fisheries that seagrass meadows provides - #RESOW #SMMR 📌Undertaken 15 individual field campaigns - planting, monitoring and seed collections in The Solent and Isle of Wight and participated and contributed to 23 outreach and engagement events. 📌Harnessed new and continued professional relationships, collaborations and partnerships with some amazing folk, and by no means exhaustive, a special thank to all who have worked with us this year Mermaid ~ Isle of Wight Distillery | Liz Earle Beauty Co. Limited | Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust | The Green Blue | Royal Yachting Association (RYA) | Pineapple Island UK | ecoSUB Robotics | Arc Biodiversity & Climate Ltd | Deloitte | Ocean Conservation Trust| Aram Atkinson | Theo Vickers | Laura McConnell | Yachts For Science | Arksen Here's to 2025! Happy New Year!

As the last day of the year comes to a close, we’re looking back on 2024.....and what a year it has been for the Solent Seascape Project! Over the last 12 months, the partnership has continued to work hard protecting, restoring and connecting saltmarsh, seagrass meadows, seabird nesting sites and oyster beds across the Solent strait. We were even endorsed by the United Nations as an internationally important Ocean Decade Action for our work. None of this would have been possible without our partners, volunteers, supporters, funders and followers who have been so vital to our restoration efforts - thank you. We hope you all have a very happy New Year. Here’s to 2025 and everything we can achieve together for these important habitats. #HappyNewYear #2024 #2025 #SolentSeascapeProject Blue Marine Foundation Project Seagrass Natural England Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Chichester Harbour Conservancy RSPB Coastal Partners Environment Agency University of Portsmouth East Head Impact Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme

🎄 A very merry Christmas from the team at the Solent Seascape Project! 🎉 Thank you for all your support over the last year and for all your help working to protect and restore the very special Solent seascape. We hope you have a happy and peaceful Christmas (and enjoy the Solent waters if you’re taking a Boxing Day dip!) #MerryChristmas #SolentSeascapeProject #BoxingDaySwim Blue Marine Foundation Project Seagrass Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Coastal Partners RSPB Chichester Harbour Conservancy Natural England University of Portsmouth

Tis the season of dazzling light displays, from colourful flashing ones, to icicles, and even Father Christmas shaped ones, but did you know that beneath our Solent waters, there are creatures that put on equally incredible and colourful displays? Cuttlefish have the amazing ability to rapidly change the colour and brightness of their skin, in the case of the common cuttlefish - the species normally found in the Solent- from mottled brown to vibrant blues and greens. They can put on mesmerising displays of flashing, colourful patterns that pulse along their bodies to attract a mate, and hypnotise prey, using specialised skin cells called chromatophores. These cells also allow them to camouflage themselves against their surroundings. Not only are cuttlefish incredibly talented in the special effects department, but they are also highly intelligent, with studies showing they have the ability to count and also delay gratification - ignoring food if they know something better will be coming along. Like other cephalopods, such as squids and octopuses, they can squirt ink when threatened, confusing predators and covering their escape. Most often, all we get to see is the bleached-white cuttlebone that can be found washed ashore on Solent beaches and is often given to budgies, but this belies the truly remarkable and colourful abilities of this incredible creature, found right here on our Solent doorstep. 📷 Theo Vickers #SolentSeascapeProject #SpeciesSpotlight #Cuttlefish Blue Marine Foundation

🌊 Meet the team This is Rosalie, our Solent Seascape Project Co-ordinator. Passionate about all things ocean-related, Rosalie spent three years prior to joining Blue Marine Foundation working in coral reef research and ocean outreach, and was also a Programme Co-ordinator for the United Nations Global Compact Network UK. She can sometimes be seen recreating scenes from Dune too..... 🐟 What does an average day look like as Solent Seascape Project Co-ordinator? Every day is different, so I'm getting used to expecting the unexpected. I could be meeting project partners, pulling reports together, developing our sustainable finance mechanisms or scrubbing oyster cages! 🌿 What's your favourite part about working on the Solent Seascape Project? The team - working in partnership with brilliant people to pioneer seascape restoration. 🪶 What makes the Solent special to you? The Solent is home to 1.2 million people, and I love that we work somewhere where communities and the ocean are so interlinked. Our coastal habitats have been home for people and wildlife for centuries; it's incredible to see how resilient nature can be. 🦪What’s your proudest moment so far with the project? A recent highlight was the Hamble saltmarsh restoration trial. So many project partners turned up to help, meaning a huge restoration task became a hilarious few days of hard work (and very sore shoulders). We're still recovering! 👉 Discover more about the project, including the Hamble saltmarsh restoration trial, on our website www.solentseascape.com and keep following to find out more about our team. #MeetTheTeam #SolentSeascapeProject #Solent #MarineConservation #Restoration #Dune #Wormrider

A massive thank you to everyone that applied for the Solent Seascape Artist Residency and to those that shared the opportunity! We have so many amazingly talented artists that live by, or are connected to, the Solent. 🌊 We're in the process of reviewing all the proposals now and will have more news in the new year. #SolentSeascapeProject #ArtistInResidence #SolentSeascapeArtistResidency #ThankYou Blue Marine Foundation Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme Project Seagrass Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Chichester Harbour Conservancy

Just a few hours left until the deadline! Apply before 11.59pm tonight (11 Dec) for our Solent Seascape Artist Residency.

Earlier this week I gave a talk on our Seals of the South Coast as part of the Solent Seascape Project and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Winter Talk Series!! ❄️🌊🌱 I am so pleased to say it went really well - We had 35 participants who gave really positive feedback! Yay!! Attendees have since reached out and said that the talk has encouraged them to volunteer with seals in the future - which is just awesome! 👏🏼 Everyone was really on it with the quiz section of the talk as well as the photo ID questions which was really great!! 📸 A bonus was being able to meet a lovely representative from the Solent Seal Project, Lindsey, who attended the talk! Thanks so much Lindsey!! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who attended, it means a lot to me and the seals of course!! And thank you so much to #HIWWT and #SSP for the fantastic opportunity to spread the word about seals! 🦭🤍🌀