🎉 What a year! 🙏 Thank you to all that have supported us and nature's recovery of the seabed throughout 2025. 😉 Sea you in 2026 to shine an even BRIGHTER light on nature's journey to recover our Sussex seabed and the life it lost...what will we see return below the waves next year?!

As today is officially 'The First Day of Christmas', we once again want to wish all our fantastic supporters a very Kappy Kelpmas! May all your days be merry and bright, and that all the seabed recovers wild! 📹 Thank you again to @coolboxfilms. To watch visit: www.instagram.com/sussexkelp/

📣 Great news! Today one of our research team members, Alice Clark passed her PhD defence! With the support of the @sussex.ac.uk, Alice has spent years researching the impact of the trawling exclusion zone in Sussex, using DNA and video monitoring beneath the waves! Congratulations Dr Clark!

Happy Kelpmas!🌿 From Blue mussel beds spreading further and wider across the seabed, to an increase in Black sea bream, there are exciting signs of recovery for our Sussex underwater world. Big thank you to CoolBox Films for making this beautiful reel. To watch visit: www.instagram.com/sussexkelp/

They think it's all over...well it is soon! Kelp's made a big splash in Sussex this year...Kelp Wrapped 2025 👉😉😆 #SpottifyWrapped #Kelpwrapped

The Sussex IFCA Nearshore Trawling Byelaw, was enacted to allow the large-scale natural recovery of our seabed (from the devastating effects of bottom-trawling) and therefore the recovery of essential fish habitats...and fish stocks! 'You can't have fisheries unless you have fish.' 📸 Dan Smale

Congratulations to @sussexwildlife.bsky.social on winning a vital court case and protecting our local marine ecosystem. Watching @sussexkelp.bsky.social and Sussex Underwater the recovery since the trawling ban has been remarkable. Long may it continue. 👏🏽👏🏽 share.google/eFck7RuP8O0G...

🐟Dive into The Ocean Symposium and Marine Exhibition 2025 Come and say hi to the SKRP Team 👋 #TakeaKelpie at our stand. A fantastic opportunity to connect with academics, policy makers, community leaders & ocean enthusiasts. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-ocean-...

What an evening for our Ocean! Thanks to Colin Butfield (co-author of Ocean with Sir David Attenborough) and Sean Ashworth (formerly of Sussex IFCA) for a wonderful evening celebrating the film and book of 'Ocean' AND the wonder and importance of our seas for all life. Storytelling at its very best!

👻 Shut your portholes! Hide under the mussel carpet! Beware of the Gurnard's ghostly grunts!🎃 It's Halloween!! 👹 What's the spookiest creature you've spotted beneath our waves? Was it an eerily iridescent blue-rayed limpet? A ghostly white nudibranch? Or a terrifying SKRP researcher? 😉

Catch up with last night's Wild Live session on blue carbon and seabeds, featuring @sussexkelp.bsky.social's George Short with @craigbennett3.bsky.social and an expert panel. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2APd... #Nature #Carbon #NetZero

TONIGHT! Hear from our own George Short, @sussexkelp.bsky.social Project Coordinator.

⚡ Kelp Recorders ASSEMBLE!⚡ With the weather turning and storms on the horizon sign up now to our Citizen Science programme and become a Kelp Recorder. If you're on a beach in Sussex and want to contribute to our research (whether you see kelp or not), follow the link in our bio to find out more.

People behind the Project. 'Roll out the Researchers' - Madi Bowden-Parry, a CDT SuMMeR PhD Researcher at the University of Exeter. Madi is a marine historical ecologist investigating the history of Sussex kelp habitats. Madi's favourite kelp creature...the small-spotted catshark. 📸Andy Jackson

⚡ RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT⚡ Alice Clark, PhD research student at the University of Sussex is our Sea-SI investigator! She is involved in 2 areas of biodiversity research: Baited Underwater Remote Video systems (BRUVs) & Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis & so far has found more than 80 species in our seas!

🌏 Why was the #KelpSummit2025 so important? Hear from some of our key speakers: Cat Wilding @thembauk.bsky.social, Erin Lawes (Environment Agency), @rodneyforster.bsky.social, @grockesibl.bsky.social & @pippajmoore.bsky.social To view more from the Summit, visit the link in our bio.

People behind the Project: 'Roll out the Researchers': Alice Clark, a PhD student at University of Sussex whose research focuses on monitoring biodiversity along the Sussex coastline using Baited Remote Underwater Videos (BRUVs) and environmental DNA. Alice's favourite kelp creature...the stingray

🎉 Tomorrow marks 6 months since we held the UK's first conference on kelp ecology. 🗓️ Tune in then for a sneaky peak of how it all went, and to access recordings of the presentations from the conference. Time flies whilst the seabed recovers... 📸 Kai Hilton/Sussex Wildlife Trust

People behind the Project: 'Roll out the Researchers': Marianne Glascott, Doctoral Tutor in Life Sciences and PhD Researcher in Marine Ecology @sussexuni. Marianne's research is dedicated to understanding how environmental factors affect the health of marine ecosystems, particularly kelp forests.

The wonders of kelp have been known for some time... 📸 Sussex Wildlife Trust

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project: Francesco Marzano, UK Projects Assistant, Blue Marine Foundation. Francesco supports many marine projects involving statistical and spatial analysis & leads BMF's sturgeon project & Sussex potting surveys. Favourite kelp creature - the red gurnard 📸Bernard Picton/TWT

⚡ RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT⚡ Claude Annels, PhD Research student at @University of Brighton introduces her sediment core research project, which aims to identify the amount, source and date of carbon stored in our seabed. Sediment cores are sampled from the seabed, and analysed back in the laboratory.

People behind the Project: 'Roll out the Researchers': Claude Annels, PhD Research student at University of Brighton. Claude’s research is into the potential carbon sequestration of Sussex kelp species. 🌊 Claude's favourite kelp creature...the common cuttlefish! 📸 Paul Parsons

🤎 Kelp! (Yes, OK and sticks 🤣) In the brown algae/seaweed family (Laminariales), kelp are brown due to the abundance of the pigment, fucoxanthin, in their cells. The stickiness of kelp is due to alginates and fucoidan in its cells and microbes on its surface. 📸 Paul Boniface/Sussex Underwater

People behind the Project: 'Roll out the Researchers'-Valentina Scarponi, Assistant Prof in Ecology and Animal Biology at the University of Sussex. Valentina has a PhD in shark behaviour and physiology, so no surprise that her favourite kelp creature is the greater-spotted nursehound📸Peter Verhoog

⚡ RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT⚡ Dr Chris Yesson, SKRP Research Lead and Senior Research Fellow at @zslofficial.bsky.social introduces our ARMS (Autonomous Reef Monitoring Systems) research, used to assess kelp spore availability and the diversity of life on the seabed.

🔬 SKRP's pioneering research and monitoring program is the engine house of our project. Our researchers use many different survey (& analysis) techniques to examine biodiversity, sediment, ecotoxicology, kelp population genetics, etc within our Sussex waters. Follow us to find out more...

🌏 'Nature-led and science-based.' We believe that our seabed's recovery should be a natural one; allowing it a chance to REWILD in balance with the environmental conditions of that area and without human intervention/active restoration, will result in a more robust and resilient ecosystem recovery.

🌍 Our underwater forests go through seasonal changes, much like those on land. Shifts in the levels of light and nutrients and the weather, drive changes in our kelp forests. "In the cycle of nature there is no such thing as victory or defeat; there is only movement.” Paul Coelho 📸 Nikki Oliver/SWT

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project: Next up is Sarah Cunliffe, TV producer, CEO and Founder of Big Wave Productions. She has been involved with kelp since 2018 when she made the ‘Help Our Kelp’ film with Sir David Attenborough. Sarah's favourite kelp creature...the beautiful seahorse! 📸Paul Naylor

📺 Tune in to Coastal Adventures on Channel 5 at 8pm tonight (also available stream) to see JB Gill from JLS join SKRP partners, Sussex Underwater and Dr Ray Ward on our journey to rewild our Sussex seabed, following the removal of bottom-trawling by the @Sussex IFCA nearshore trawling byelaw.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project: 💚 Take your seats for the inspiring father-and-daughter team, Eric Smith & Catrine Priestley, Founders of Sussex Underwater. 🐟 Eric & Catrine's favourite kelp creature...more fans of the common cuttlefish! 📸 Paul Naylor

🌏 Kelp recovery across continents! We had the pleasure of meeting Maia Baillie from the Waiheke Marine Project - a collaborative community partnership project in New Zealand, which aims to protect and regenerate Waiheke Island’s marine environment through action-based 'kaitiakitanga' - guardianship.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project. Welcome to the fabulous Dr Ray Ward, Reader of Marine Sciences at Queen Mary University of London and the research lead for SKRP on carbon sequestration.. ⭐ Ray's favourite kelp creature...the undulate ray, of course 😉! 📸 The Undulate Ray Project

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project. Please welcome Dean Spears, Head of Sussex Bay at Adur & Worthing Councils, supporting nature recovery and coastal regeneration across 100 miles of coastline. Dean's favourite kelp creature...the common cuttlefish! 📸 Paul Naylor

🌍 What are the areas of concern for kelp forests across the UK? 👨‍🏫 We asked @pippajmoore.bsky.social from @newcastleuni.bsky.social about the state of the UK's kelp forests and what are the areas of concern. #sussexwildlifetrust #bluemarinefoundatio #kelp #sussexkelp #sussexkelprecoveryproject

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project. Announcing Peter Jones, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Governance, Department of Geography, UCL. Peter’s research focuses on the governance of human uses of marine ecosystems. He is also chair of the Sussex IFCA. ⭐ Peter's favourite kelp creature...kelp!

Sharks found along our Sussex coastline may not be the ones which take he spotlight in blockbuster movies, but we love - and need them - them all the same. 📸 Alexander Mustard/2020Vision; Barry Yates; Andy Jackson; George Balchin (Sussex IFCA)/University of Plymouth; Paul Boniface/Sussex Underwater

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project. We'd like to introduce you to some of the people who make up our little kelp forest. Hello to the fabulous Sam Fanshawe, Senior UK Projects Manager at Blue Marine Foundation. 🐟 Sam's favourite kelp creature...the colourful cuckoo wrasse! 📸 Darin Smith

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project. Next up, the fantastic Emily Bulled, UK Conservation Engagement Coordinator at Blue Marine Foundation. Emily leads research, policy work and stakeholder engagement across UK MPA and fisheries projects. Her favourite kelp creature? Common cuttlefish! 📸 Paul Parsons

🎧 Want to hear about our our project from those wonderful folk at ‪@oceanographicmag.bsky.social‬? Have a listen to their podcast: 'UK marine life BOUNCING BACK after kelp recovery - The Ocean News Podcast' here (or from wherever you get your podcasts): open.spotify.com/episode/5tS6...

🌊 Not yet watched Sir David Attenborough's Ocean film? Read a first hand account from Sussex Underwater on their involvement in the Ocean book and their experience at the film premier. Lucky things! Read the article: sussexkelp.org.uk/news/celebra... 📸 Sussex Underwater

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project: George Balchin, Conservation & Research Manager at Sussex IFCA. George is responsible for the research & monitoring that informs the development & review of Sussex IFCA's fisheries byelaws. Favourite kelp creature? The tope shark! 📸@Sussex_Ifca@plymuni shark tagging work

New episode out now! In today's episode we discuss all things kelp and rewilding the seas with Nikki Oliver from Sussex Kelp Recovery Project. Check it out here or wherever podcasts can be found: tinyurl.com/9y5btsy4

👗 Paris Fashion Week has begun, you say...we can match that with our own kelp fashion show. 😜 📸 We'd love to share your kelpy-themed outfits! Join our kelp-walk, tag us in your photos and we'll share! 👢 Work those algae threads!. 😂 📸 @SussexWildlifeTrust 📸 @bigwavetv 📸 @BrightonPictures

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project. The turn of Rob Pearson, Chief Fisheries and Conservation Officer, Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA). Rob has worked for 17 years in fishery management and conservation. Rob's favourite kelp creature...the blue-rayed limpet! 📸 Paul Naylor

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People behind the Project. Welcome the awesome Dr Chris Yesson, SKRP Research Lead & Senior Research Fellow at Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Chris is a researcher and MSc course director at ZSL. ⭐ Chris' favourite kelp creature...the common brittle star! 📸 Paul Naylor

"Not only could there be no fish without fisheries; there could be no fish without kelp." An excerpt from the chapter on Kelp in the new book 'Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness' by Sir David Attenborough and Colin Butfield, which was released to accompany the film (now available on Disney+).

🌏 "If we save the sea, we save our world." Sir David Attenborough.🌊 #OceanFilm #WorldOceanDay @sussexwildlifetrust @sussexunderwater @bluemarinefoundation @sussex_ifca @qmulgeography @sussexuni @uniofbrighton @offical zsl @ucl @bigwavetv @adurworthingcouncils

💚 On #WorldEnvironmentDay we'd like to send a big kelp SHOUT OUT to the environmental heroes who are involved in the recovery of our Sussex seabed. 🌏 There are too many people to mention - or to post a picture of - but from us and all that live in our Sussex seas, thank you on #WorldEnvironmentDay.