{"id":2052805,"date":"2026-07-20T05:12:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2052805"},"modified":"2026-07-20T05:12:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:12:41","slug":"how-picking-seagrass-seeds-can-help-to-combat-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2052805","title":{"rendered":"How picking seagrass seeds can help to combat climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/390c\/live\/3ce677c0-82e3-11f1-b976-0b9c15b0ccfc.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Seagrass seeds are found in pod-like structures called spathes<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Forget the worm, this early bird was after the seed – and a very special one at that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It meant an 04:00 BST alarm and, for some of the other 20 or so volunteers I joined at Calshot Beach near Southampton, even earlier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A particularly low tide in the Solent meant the sea would reveal a crop on which conservationists are pinning their hopes to rebuild a depleted coastline.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Seagrass seeds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Just like trees and plants, seagrass has a superpower – it can absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The same area of seagrass can absorb 35 times the amount a tropical rain forest can.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It locks in carbon and releases oxygen back in to the environment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Seagrass also creates structure and habitat for thousands of species. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The UK has lost more than 90% of its seagrass meadows over the last century. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Disease, disturbance and pollution have meant vast swathes of once vibrant green seabed have been left bare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Volunteers made the most of an exceptionally low tide to sift through the seagrass meadow looking for seeds<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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After a briefing in a nearby car park, we troop down to the water’s edge clutching white plastic buckets to begin the hunt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Leading the morning’s fingertip search was seagrass supremo Tim Ferrero, from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Seagrasses are the only marine flowering plants,” he explains as we slowly work our way through the seagrass meadow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“They do everything that a plant does on land. They flower, they pollenate, they set seed, all underwater basically. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“So, what we’re doing is, we’re collecting seed from an existing seagrass meadow so that we can then plant that seed somewhere else to recreate seagrass meadows.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Sophie Whitemoor was one of about 20 volunteers gathering seeds at Calshot<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For the experienced seagrass seed collectors, buckets soon begin to fill with the tips of stems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For those new to the low tide trawl, they are few and far between to begin with.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Finding the right part of the plant, with seeds at the right stage for picking, takes a little while to get your eye in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The pod-like leaf called a spathe is slightly rounder and paler than the darker, flatter blades of seagrass.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The seeds, when ready to pick, sit neatly in a row, slightly raised from the surface.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Handfuls of picked seagrass are transferred into rotting tubs, which separate the seeds from the stems<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“Sometimes, it’s just about feeling around and you can kind of feel these short stems that feel like they’ve got a pack of Tic Tacs in them,” says volunteer Sophie Whitemoor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Crouching alongside is fellow volunteer James Harper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I’m still building on my personal technique,” he says. “It’s just a case of looking for the most round stems, really.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The group are incredibly upbeat, considering the time of their early morning search.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s just a passion for me, really,” says Jackie Mellan. “Any opportunity I can come out and help with restoration projects then I do.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For the next hour or so, the volunteers sift through the seagrass as it lays flat on the shore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But it is a race against the clock and a turning tide means the small army of people gathering the harvest eventually beats a retreat to the shore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The buckets are gathered back in the car park and the crop is carefully placed in a barrel of cool seawater to be taken for processing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The seagrass seeds are taken to the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Marine Sciences at Eastney.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Placed in large blue tanks of seawater, the spathes begin a process which will release the seed from the stem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We call it rotting out,” says Fererro, now wearing a white laboratory coat as he adds handfuls of seagrass to the Calshot tank. “It takes about between eight to 12 weeks to complete.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The decayed plant turns black and is caught in a sieve, allowing the seeds to fall to the bottom of the catching tub.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Once separated, the seed goes into storage in high-salinity water tanks for the winter, kept at a chilly 1-3C (34-37F).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Come the spring, volunteers will again be setting their alarms, this time to sow their precious crop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cd69qdg7l95o”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/390c\/live\/3ce677c0-82e3-11f1-b976-0b9c15b0ccfc.jpg”] BBC Seagrass seeds are found in pod-like structures called spathes Forget the worm, this early bird was after the seed – and a very special one at that. It meant an 04:00 BST alarm and, for some of the other 20 or so volunteers I joined at Calshot Beach near Southampton, even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2052805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2052805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2052805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2052805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2052805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}