In this episode, we explore the crucial role of seagrass habitats in coastal ecosystems and their importance in combating climate change. Join us as we discuss Project Seagrass and their innovative initiative to create a seed harvester designed to efficiently gather seeds from seagrass meadows. Dr. Richard Unsworth, the chief scientific officer of Project Seagrass, shares insights into the challenges of restoring degraded seagrass habitats and the potential impact of their crowdfunding campaign aimed at developing this essential technology. Discover how you can contribute to the preservation of these vital ecosystems and join us in supporting this important cause. Don't miss this enlightening conversation about protecting our oceans and the future of seagrass restoration!

Support the Project: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/underwater-seagrass-seed-harvester?__cf_chl_rt_tk=Ms7lI_hTDLz3947auDBLvQtwQKoVaGaVBOs6f9eM6_8-1726751063-0.0.1.1-8276

Project Seagrass and the Development of an Underwater Seed Harvester

Project Seagrass is leading innovative conservation efforts aimed at restoring degraded seagrass habitats worldwide. One of their most exciting initiatives is the development of an underwater seed harvester designed to automate the collection of seagrass seeds. This project is crucial for enhancing restoration efforts, as seagrass meadows play a vital role in coastal ecosystems.

Importance of Seagrass Habitats

Seagrass habitats are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. They significantly contribute to coastal biodiversity, provide security for coastlines, and serve as important blue carbon habitats, meaning they sequester carbon and help combat climate change. However, many of these habitats are currently facing degradation due to various environmental pressures, including poor water quality and human activities.

The Need for Automation

Traditionally, collecting seagrass seeds has been a labor-intensive process, requiring volunteers to wade, snorkel, or dive in shallow waters to gather seeds manually. This method is not only time-consuming but also limited by the number of people who can participate. Project Seagrass recognized the need for a more efficient approach to seed collection to scale up restoration efforts.

The Underwater Seed Harvester

The underwater seed harvester aims to mechanize the seed collection process. Drawing inspiration from a prototype developed by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science two decades ago, Project Seagrass is building upon this foundation to create a more effective tool suitable for varying environmental conditions. The harvester will operate by "giving the seagrass a haircut," cutting the seagrass shoots at a specific height to collect seeds without damaging the underlying roots or rhizomes.

Research and Development

Before moving forward with the harvester, Project Seagrass conducted extensive research to ensure that the cutting process would not negatively impact the seagrass. They collaborated with regulators in Wales to develop a series of experimental trials, comparing the health of seagrass that had been cut with that of untouched meadows. The results showed no significant negative impact, confirming that the seagrass could recover quickly after being pruned.

Future Plans

With the prototype successfully tested, Project Seagrass is now focused on securing funding through a crowdfunding campaign to build a fully operational version of the seed harvester. Once funded, they plan to work with engineering partners to finalize the design and conduct further tests in the upcoming summer. The ultimate goal is to create a reliable tool that can be used not only in the UK but also in other regions facing similar seagrass restoration challenges.

The Importance of Seagrass and the Underwater Seed Harvester Project

Seagrass habitats are vital coastal ecosystems that play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and combating climate change. Often referred to as the "canary in the coal mine" for marine environments, they indicate the overall health of coastal ecosystems. Unfortunately, seagrass meadows are facing significant degradation worldwide due to various factors, including poor water quality and habitat loss.

Why Seagrass Matters

1. Biodiversity: Seagrass meadows are among the most biodiverse habitats on the planet, providing essential habitat and nursery grounds for numerous marine species, including fish, invertebrates, and other wildlife.

2. Coastal Protection: Seagrasses help stabilize coastlines by reducing erosion and providing a buffer against storm surges. This is particularly important in the context of rising sea levels and increasing storm intensity due to climate change.

3. Blue Carbon: Seagrass meadows are significant carbon sinks, sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and helping mitigate climate change. They store carbon in their biomass and in the sediment beneath them, making them critical in the fight against global warming.

The Challenge of Seed Collection

To restore degraded seagrass habitats, it is essential to collect and replant seagrass seeds. Traditionally, this process has involved volunteers wading, snorkeling, or diving to gather seeds, which can be labor-intensive and limited by the number of available volunteers. The manual collection of seeds is not only time-consuming but also poses challenges in terms of safety and efficiency.

The Underwater Seed Harvester Project

Recognizing the need for a more efficient method of seed collection, Project Seagrass has initiated the development of an underwater seed harvester. This innovative technology aims to automate the seed collection process, making it quicker and more efficient.

1. Building on Previous Research: The concept of an underwater seed harvester is not entirely new. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science developed a prototype 20 years ago, but Project Seagrass is adapting and improving upon this design to suit different environmental conditions.

2. Prototype Development: The team at Project Seagrass has conducted extensive trials to ensure that the harvester does not negatively impact the seagrass. They have demonstrated that cutting the seagrass to a certain height—akin to giving it a "haircut"—does not harm the plant and allows for the collection of seeds that float to the surface during specific times of the year.

3. Efficiency and Scale: The harvester is designed to be towed behind a vessel at a controlled speed, allowing for the collection of a significant number of seeds in a short amount of time. In healthy seagrass meadows, there can be anywhere from 100 to 10,000 seeds per square meter, meaning that the potential for seed collection is immense.

4. Future Plans: Once the crowdfunding campaign is successful, the team plans to finalize the design and test the harvester in the field. They aim to refine the technology further and explore its applicability in various regions around the world, ultimately contributing to the restoration of seagrass habitats globally.

Conclusion

The underwater seed harvester project represents a significant step forward in seagrass restoration efforts. By automating the seed collection process, Project Seagrass aims to enhance the efficiency of restoration activities, ultimately leading to healthier coastal ecosystems. Supporting this initiative through crowdfunding not only aids in the development of this innovative technology but also contributes to the broader goal of conserving and restoring vital seagrass habitats worldwide.

The initial prototype of the seed harvester developed by Project Seagrass has provided promising results regarding its impact on seagrass health. Through a series of trials, researchers found that cutting the seagrass to collect seeds does not negatively affect its overall health, effectively demonstrating that this process is akin to giving the seagrass a "haircut."

Key Findings from the Prototype Trials

1. Methodology of the Trials: The team conducted experiments comparing areas of seagrass that were cut using the prototype harvester against areas that remained untouched. They established transect lines underwater to monitor the health of the seagrass over time. Divers were involved in both cutting the seagrass with shears and using the prototype sled to collect seeds.

2. Results of the Cutting: The results indicated no significant difference in the health of the seagrass between the cut areas and the natural populations that had not been impacted. This finding is crucial as it suggests that the seagrass can withstand this form of harvesting without suffering detrimental effects.

3. Growth Rates: Seagrass is known for its resilience and rapid growth. After the cutting, new shoots began to emerge quickly, with growth rates of three to four centimeters in just a few weeks during the peak summer period. This rapid turnover reinforces the idea that cutting the seagrass merely stimulates growth rather than harming it.

4. Ecological Context: The natural grazing behavior of various marine animals, such as turtles and geese, further supports the notion that seagrass can recover from cutting. These animals regularly graze on seagrass, and the plants have adapted to this natural form of pruning. The prototype's cutting method mimics this natural process, allowing the seagrass to thrive post-harvest.

5. Regulatory Approval: The successful trials have also led to increased confidence among regulators. Initially, there was concern about the potential impact of cutting seagrass, but the evidence gathered from the trials has helped to alleviate these fears. The regulators in Wales, who were initially apprehensive, have begun to understand that the cutting method is not harmful and can be a sustainable practice for seed collection.

Coastal Habitats play a very important role in the health of the Ocean and the security of the coastline. Seagrass meadows are one of the critical habitats that are often forgotten because they may not have the "sexiness" that other habitats such as coral reefs have; however, they provide a nursery habitat for thousands of species, filter out nutrients and heavy metals from the water, and act as a carbon sink.

There is one more benefit that certain Seagrass species provide the Ocean and that is filtering out large amounts of microplastics. The Seagrass species, Posidonia oceanica, produce fibrous material known as Neptune balls that trap 1,500 plastic particles per kilogram of seagrass each year. The Neptune balls often wash ashore where they can be picked up and discarded. 

Researchers don't know the effects of plastics on the seagrass species as trapping plastic is a fairly new discovery and more research will be required.

P. oceanica is not the only seagrass species to have this ability to trap plastic pieces, Enhalus acodoides, is a species found off the coast of China's Hainan province and has been observed to trap plastics too, just a lesser amount. 

The discovery adds to the benefit of keeping Seagrass meadows around; however, the Mediterranean species are slowly disappearing from the area due to a number of threats such as Climate Change, invasive species, pollution, boating anchors, and coastal development. 

Link to Article: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/this-mediterranean-seagrass-filters-plastic-waste-but-its-also-under-threat/

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Waves can be a detrimental thing for our shores. Wave action through storms along beaches can erode the coastline, especially beaches due to their small sediment particle size, over a short period of time.

Coastal habitats such as Coral Reefs, Mangroves, and Seagrass Meadows have been playing an important role for the coastline to ensure it stays secure from erosion. 

In today's episode, I discuss why Seagrass Meadow habitats are so important to reducing Climate Change, securing to the coastline, and protecting biodiversity as they face destruction from human disturbance, invasive species, and water quality. 

Link To Article: https://www.nioz.nl/en/news/caribbean-islands-face-loss-of-protection-and-biodiversity-as-seagrass-loses-terrain

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You may have seen a plethora of articles and political announcements on tree planting to mitigate (reduce) climate change by absorbing more Carbon Dioxide. As news broke about the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest a few months ago, scientists reiterated the need for trees to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) that contributes to Climate Change. However, trees aren't the only plants that absorb CO2. Seagrasses may even be a better plant type to absorb the GHG.   

In this episode, I discuss the benefit of protecting Seagrass habitats and how countries should consider restoring these useful habitats to help attain the goals set out in the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Link to article: https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/seagrass-secret-weapon-fight-against-global-heating?fbclid=IwAR1_cqwRzYiyCk-KYKAn3I4r20NZeSR-wEMrrsgy4WAbCBhfHvNxyQPWVQY

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Environmental Studies & Sciences
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Today's episode of the Speak Up For Blue Podcast has me talking to 3/4 of the Project Seagrass Team. We discuss all things seagrass and how the team is trying to get Seagrass part of the Conservation Conversation.

Seagrass are important ecosystems as they hold a huge amount of the biodiversity and abundance of important fisheries species in coastal systems around the world. The Project Seagrass team discuss some projects in Southeast Asia where they are working with communities to assess and protect seagrass meadows to ensure the sustainability supply of fisheries on which the community depends for food. 

As this is an IMCC5 podcast Season, the team and I chat about how important it was for them to be an exhibitor at the conference. They talk about the connections they have made and the people with which they discuss seagrass projects. 

Can you tell why I love this team?!?!?! 

Check you their links below:

Project Seagrass Website

Seagrass Spotter

Project Seagrass Twitter

Enjoy the Podcast!!!

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The Project Seagrass Team has a purpose to map the world's seagrass distribution. Not an easy task, so they are asking for your help as well as everyone else to help achieve their goal. 

They developed a tool called the Seagrass Spotter. It's a website and an app for iPhone and Android devices with the goal to empower you to identify the presence of seagrasses wherever you live/travel around the world. 

Listen for more details.

Project Seagrass Twitter

Seagrass Spotter App (iTunes)

Seagrass Spotter App (Google Play)

Enjoy The Podcast!!!

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Seagrass monitoring projects are crucial to the overall health of coastal systems as seagrass beds all around the world are habitats of great biodiversity...and biodiversity make habitats more resistant to degradation. Unfortunately, monitoring projects are hard to start and maintain because it's difficult to find people to do the work on a consistent basis and it's difficult to find money to pay for the program. In comes community programs, or Ocean Citizen Science Projects.

Fiona West is the manager of the Broome Community Seagrass Program in the Kimberley Region of Northwest Australia. Her program has been in place for 11 years (that's a lot of data) that functions based on the work of citizen scientists (locals and tourists) who want to take care of the environment in this part of the world. The program is part of the Seagrass Watch program, an international program that provide citizen science programs with protocols and analysis support for their region.

Fiona describes how the program works and how the Aboriginal People and the Australian government have bee working together to establish a great program monitoring trends in this part of the world. 

Listen as Fiona speaks passionately about Broome Bay and the people who protect it.

Enjoy the Podcast!!!

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This episode was brought to you by Octo (Open Communications for The Oceans). Check out their recent MEAM (Marine Ecosystem And Management) issue helping inform the Marine Science and Conservation field around the world.

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Richard Lilley and his co-founders, Benjamin Jones and Dr. Richard Unsworth, are working their butts off to make sure that you and I are talking about seagrass. I hope this interview will not only teach you about seagrass, but tell you about how much trouble they are in and why we need to ensure seagrass habitats are protected around the world.

The three scientists and co-founders created Project Seagrass as a way to facility education, research, and campaigns to protect seagrass habitats around the world. They are fairly effective at it too. Project Seagrass is everywhere: on social media; putting on conferences; and, leading in cutting edge research and conservation projects around the world. 

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Richard to discuss why seagrass habitats are so important and what they are doing about it.

Take a listen to the interview to find out.

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Do you want to talk about how you can pursue a career in Marine Conservation? Send me an email and let's chat.

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