Over the past month, Hampshire Isle of Wight and it’s incredible team of seagrass champions collected over 100,000 seagrass seeds from meadows around the Solent as part of their seagrass restoration work. Having joined the Marine team as an intern at the beginning of June, I was fortunate enough to participate in their seed collection events at Seaview, Isle of Wight and Calshot, Hampshire. 

Having volunteered with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust in the past, I was already familiar with their seagrass restoration work and was thrilled by the opportunity to support the project as an intern. However, when the alarm went off at 4am on Saturday morning for the first seed collection session I was questioning my life choices slightly. 

By 5am myself and Ellie Parker, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s Marine Officer, were standing on the shore with eight volunteers, most looking equally bleary eyed but all smiling and enthusiastic. It had been dark when we set out but now the sky was glowing a brilliant orange-pink, reflected by the sea which is still and glassy. Everyone was excited to get in the water and after a quick briefing we headed down to the sea clutching netted bags, hi-vis tow floats and snorkels.  

As we waded through the shallows, the seagrass meadow became visible, swaying gently beneath the surface. This wasn’t my first time in a seagrass meadow, however, as I dipped my head below the surface I was taken aback by the clarity of the water and paused for a few moments to admire the soft, golden rays of the morning sun breaking through the surface and casting dappled patterns over the swathes of seagrass. I glimpsed a flash of silver and turned my goggled eyes towards the direction of movement. It was a mullet, one of the many species of fish that live among seagrass. As it darted out of sight, I turned my attention back to seed collection and began scanning meadow for flowering shoots. These are generally slightly lighter in colour than the rest of the plant and contain the seed-bearing spathes. 

For almost an hour, we floated over the meadow in our buddy pairs, gathering the spathes which contained mature seed (these can be identified by their plump, ‘tic-tac’ resemblance). I could have happily continued snorkelling all morning, but the tide was coming in and we were starting to feel the cold, so Ellie rounded up the group and we made our way back to shore. As everyone made their way up the beach, excited chatter broke out as volunteers discussed the marine life they saw and compared their seed hauls.  

Once everyone had dried off, teas and coffees were handed around and the buzz of conversations continued until gradually people began to peel off and go their separate ways. Many of the same volunteers came back to join us for the seed collection later that evening and throughout the rest of the week, as well as plenty of new faces too. Despite the early starts, there was always a wonderful, positive energy among the group, which couldn’t even be dampened by the rain!  

Over the coming months I’ll be assisting the Marine team with the processing and storage of seed in the laboratory over winter, in preparation for planting in the Solent next spring and there will be many more opportunities for volunteers to get involved. 

So if you’re interested in seagrass restoration, check out the Solent Seagrass Restoration Project. Alternatively, you can reach out to the Marine team at marine@hiwwt.org.uk.