The Big Seaweed Search
The big seaweed search is a citizen science project run by the Marine Conservation Society in partnership with the Natural History Museum.
Around the UK there are over 650 seaweed species however for these surveys we are only focussing on 14 of them. The data collected will help scientists understand how seaweed preserves the health and diversity of the ecosystem.
In the marine ecosystem, seaweeds play a crucial role in the food chain providing energy and nutrients for many other marine animals. They are also sometimes described as trees of the ocean, removing carbon dioxide from the water and replacing it with oxygen, helping combat climate change. However, climate change is still causing ocean acidification, sea temperatures rise and sea levels rise which will lead to changes in seaweed distribution. By doing these survey's we can help monitor any changes and figure out the consequences that may be seen as a result.
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You can sign up to do the big seaweed search anytime through the Marine Conservation Society website: Big Seaweed Search | What you can do | Marine Conservation Society (mcsuk.org)
or
The BMR are hosting their own big seaweed search day on the Saturday the 23rd April. If you would like to join we will be putting up more specifics about the event closer to the time.