The UK has lost up to 92 percent of its coastal seagrass habitats in the last 100 years. Reversing this trend underpins the work of marine conservation organisation Project Seagrass who are working to enable the recognition, recovery and resilience of seagrass ecosystems globally.

This vital charitable work is essential to stop the devastating decline of ocean ecosystems, which is why Arksen and 10% for the Ocean supported a team from Project Seagrass on the Isle of Wight in the South of England, providing an Arksen 8 Discovery Series RIB to assist in a series of scientific field trials of seagrass planting methods.

“Seagrass meadows are one of the most widespread coastal habitats and provide a range of benefits for people and planet,” explains the charity’s Communications Officer Corinne Cox. “Despite only covering 0.1% of the seafloor, seagrass meadows are responsible for storing up to 18% of the world’s oceanic carbon. Their roots help to stabilise our coastlines, so their continued loss presents a threat to the natural coastal protection they provide.

“They’re also really important for biodiversity, supporting many different species of fish, invertebrates, mammals, reptiles, and birds ,  including commercially viable fish species. They are particularly important for coastal communities and small-scale fisheries, helping to sustain livelihoods and support a source of food for millions of people all around the world.”

Ocean devastation caused by human interaction

The devastation of the oceanic ecosystem was laid bare in the documentary Ocean with David Attenborough. The powerful feature film demonstrated just how damaging human interaction with the ocean floor can be, from the use of bottom trawling in commercial fishing to scarring from leisure boat anchors.

Project Seagrass’ Senior Scientific Officer Anouska Mendzil explains : “Seagrass meadows exist in sheltered coastal areas and can often be found in waters with large amounts of boating use and activity such as harbours, marinas, and lagoons. Boat anchorage and moorings can cause damage to our sensitive seagrass habitats as a result of physical damage to the seabed caused from traditional anchorage.”  

The Solent’s nature is considered to be very important internationally, nationally and locally with many sites being designated. Despite this, seagrass in the Solent faces a range of pressures due to nutrient enrichment resulting from water pollution, as well as seabed disturbance caused by recreational activities including boat anchors.

Experimental replanting and seeding

Arksen supported Project Seagrass as part of the  Seagrass Ocean Rescue: Solent project , which was funded by WWF and skincare brand Liz Earle. This involved a series of scientific field trials of seagrass planting using five different methods, in three locations in the Solent: Thorness, Priory Bay and Beaulieu. 

In some cases, fieldwork sites were in remote locations and the Discovery Series Arksen 8 proved the perfect vessel to deliver equipment and people, whilst also supporting diving for planting activity.

“Seagrass planting requires large amounts of kit and staff for planting, and it takes a lot of effort to reach some of the sites on foot,” explains Mendzil. “In this project, we were trialling different seagrass planting methods, one of which is the inter-tidal Dispenser Injection Seeding (DIS) method, which uses adapted caulking gun devices for planting. We have hundreds of these filled with seeds and sediment, so having boat assistance to transport them was a big help.

“We also used the Arksen 8 as a dive boat for some of our sub-tidal seagrass planting and collection activities, to enable us to carry out our experimental transplant work. That involved travelling to local existing seagrass meadows and sending our dive team down to retrieve plants. We then transported them to our restoration sites to be planted.”

Important findings and new approaches

The Solent sites are still being monitored, and the research is due to end this year, but it has already delivered some clear findings. Mendzil continues: “From the five methods we trialled, the DIS and sub-tidal zone transplants were the two methods that gave us the best recovery in terms of seed-based and plant-based approaches.”

The insights gained through these trials will allow future seagrass restoration projects to make informed, scientifically trialled, and evidence-based decisions as to the most successful restoration technique to greatly improve the chances of seagrass meadow establishment in restoration projects.  

The positive news is that, as shown in the feature film Ocean with David Attenborough, the ocean can recover rapidly. Seagrass can take around five or ten years to grow substantially, but the Solent project has already discovered that in just two seasons of growth, the planted areas are starting to slowly regenerate on their own.

“Seagrass either reproduces through rhizome expansion, which is essentially cloning, or by putting out seeds on the spathe,” explains Mendzil. “It’s a very sensitive plant, so it doesn't always establish itself back that readily. Sometimes it never does. But in this case, it’s encouraging to see it’s in a stable position and the planting patches are already expanding.”

Building awareness through citizen science

The ocean is a delicate ecosystem and seagrass is a vital part of it, yet many people are not even aware it exists. The protection of the rainforests has been championed for decades, albeit with varying levels of success, and one of the missions of Project Seagrass is to develop a similar awareness for these vital marine plants.

An important part of Project Seqagrass’ work is connecting with local communities and enabling them to take positive action and Mendzil explains: “As part of a partnership between Project Seagrass, Blue Parameters, and WarrenBoats, we have recently installed two advanced mooring systems at Seaview on the Isle of Wight to allow boaters to have less impact on the seabed. 

“Education, awareness and getting stakeholders to invest in their ocean and be guardians of their seabed is key. Only with that sort of engagement can you then start to protect the ocean at scale. We talk to yacht clubs, fishermen, local people, to really increase awareness of seagrass habitats. 

“It's about having a holistic view of the marine ecosystem to be able to help one another, and taking a multi-habitat approach to restoration – because to have a healthy ocean, one area can't fully function without the other.”

To accelerate awareness and action globally, Project Seagrass is encouraging people to participate in their citizen science project,  SeagrassSpotter . This involves downloading an app and uploading seagrass sightings wherever you are. The charity is hoping to achieve 10,000 uploads by SeagrassSpotter’s tenth anniversary in November. 

Research and conservation work cannot be done without charitable donations and Arksen and 10% for the Ocean is aiming to accelerate funding for the ocean, which currently receives less than 1% of global philanthropy. Pledging just 10% of charitable giving to ocean recovery would unlock $80 billion annually, helping to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.