Happy #WorldArtDay! 🖼️ Thank you to the Year 4 children at St Paul's School in Brighton for these 'kelptacular' pictures! 👩‍🎨 The children were inspired by @sussexkelp, and as part of their annual art exhibition, created these underwater masterpieces! 📸 Paul Boniface 📸 St Paul's School, Brighton

Sugar Kelp, found around the globe, is one of the four different species of kelp in our Sussex waters. It's a scaly, frilly single blade seaweed, which can grow up to 5m long! A sweet golden beauty! 💛 📸 Images take from Cocklawburn Beach, Northumberland (c) Nikki Oliver/Sussex Wildlife Trust

🎧️ Whistlestop Arts has created free short podcasts, a film and a downloadable activity pack about the Arun Valley Line, from Gatwick to the coast. They highlight walks, wildlife, history and community projects. Catch us on the Littlehampton podacast(series 2) whistlestoparts.org/arunvalley

With Easter on the way, we thought we'd share some very special eggs with you...those of the glorious cuttlefish! Cuttlefish eggs are often called sea-grapes, you can see why! Cuttlefish attach the eggs to static objects, like kelp. Happy Easter and enjoy your eggs! 🪺 📸 Olle Åkesson 📸 Barry Yates

5 years of the @sussexifca.bsky.social #NearshoreTrawlingByelaw 🐟🪸Protecting 304 km² of seabed, safeguarding habitats, and supporting sustainable fisheries for species, ensuring healthy seas for the future. #Sussex_IFCA #SustainableFishing #MarineConservation #inshorefishing @sussexkelp.bsky.social

March News from the Blue 📰 🌊 👉️Visit our Latest News (link in bio) to see what's been keeping us busy throughout March.

Follow us as we continue to celebrate 5 years of seabed protection in Sussex and nature's rewilding of our underwater world. 🦐🐚🦭🦞🐬🐟🐙🦑🦀🪼

Last week we celebrated #TheBig5Sussex: 5 years of recovery of our Sussex seabed and life beneath the waves. Follow us and follow the recovery of the Sussex seabed 👉 📹 Paul Boniface/Sussex Underwater

Spring is here, and the days are getting longer☀️ On land, this signals the start of the season, when flowers begin to bloom.🌻🌺 Beneath the surface, the same increase in sunlight reaches seagrass meadows like Posidonia, helping fuel photosynthesis and support marine life.🩵

To end our week of celebrations of #TheBig5Sussex in style, we doth our rods and swim hats to #WorldRewildingDay. In Sussex, it is likely that we will see this rewilding process begin with the recovery of ‘ecosystem engineers’ on the seabed such as kelp, mussels and chalk reef-dwelling piddocks.

5 years of seabed protection and ripples of recovery are evident in the waters off our Sussex coastline. Local divers from @sussexunderwater provide a window beneath the waves showcasing the early ecological signals emerging - subtle but significant shifts that hint at what could one day return.

Happy 5th anniversary to the Sussex IFCA Nearshore Trawling Byelaw and Sussex Kelp Recovery Project #TheBig5Sussex. 5 years ago, the marine life in Sussex was granted a reprieve and the ‘keys to the seas’ were returned to nature to rewild the seabed. Watch the full film here: youtu.be/VqwEJkQbYNE

Tune in to BBC Radio Sussex tomorrow morning to hear from George Short, SKRP Project Coordinator, as we celebrate five years of seabed protection from bottom-trawling (thanks to the @sussexifca.bsky.social Nearshore Trawling Byelaw) and the ripples of recovery we are witnessing beneath the waves.

Tomorrow we will be celebrating the #TheBig5Sussex: Sussex Kelp Recovery Project was launched 5 years ago to champion and study the recovery of the seabed. 🌿 Follow us this week to learn more and visit the link in our bio.👉️

This week we are celebrating #TheBig5Sussex: Five years of seabed protection from trawling - thanks to the protection afforded by the @sussex_ifca Nearshore Trawling Byelaw 2021 - is giving Sussex’s marine habitats like kelp, mussel beds and chalk reefs the space they need to recover. 🌱

This month we will be celebrating #TheBig5Sussex: 5 years of ground breaking seabed protection in our Sussex waters, thanks to the @sussexifca.bsky.social Nearshore Trawling Byelaw (2021). 🎉 AND 5 years of Sussex Kelp Recovery Project (SKRP). 🎉 📸 Sussex Wildlife Trust/SKRP

Need we say more? If Sir David Attenborough says it’s so... 📸 Dan Smale/Big Wave TV

The seabed's Crabby Crusaders! Often seen scuttling under rocks or sheltering beneath seaweed, crabs are a familiar sight along the shoreline. Acting as recyclers, predators & prey, crabs play a dynamic role in maintaining balance in our coastal seas. Visit the Latest News via link in bio for more.

On #WorldBookDay, let’s hear it for the inspiring book which is 'Ocean', written by Sir David Attenborough and @colin.butfield.It not only showcases earth’s kelp forests and the often-overlooked benefits of kelp to our planet, but it also shines a bright light on Sussex’s own kelp story.

On #WorldWildlifeDay, we'd like to thank @sussex_ifca for their work to protect our underwater world from the damaging effects of bottom-trawling, allowing life to slowly recover beneath the waves. Thank you for being true guardians of the Sussex sea. 📸Big Wave TV & Paul Boniface/Sussex Underwater

Are you a woman interested in a life in marine STEM? George Short, SKRP Project Coordinator and Marianne Glascott, SKRP researcher recently shared their thoughts on gender parity in marine STEM with Oceanographic. Read the article and listen to the podcast oceanographicmagazine.com/news/if-you-...

This is a colonised ARMS plate - Autonomous Reef Monitoring System - which was deployed on the Sussex seabed and left there for over a year...and almost 2000 individual animals made these ARMS plates a home! To read more, visit the Latest News section on our website www.sussexkelp.org.uk

🌿 Meet the kelp spore: tiny, speedy, and on a mission Kelp forests may look calm and rooted, but their beginnings are anything but still. Every kelp forest starts with a microscopic swimmer: the kelp spore. Visit our Latest News page on our website (see link in bio) to read more on our blog post.

Happy #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience to all our talented, inspiring and supportive women in the SKRP.👭 Without you, our seas and our smiles would be empty. 💚 #WomeninScience #Whorunstheworld #GirlPower

🌊💙 Small but mighty! Mussels are one of the vital species to the seabed's recovery. The sea’s unsung heroes — engineering new habitats, quietly filtering seawater and boosting biodiversity under the waves. To find out more about this ecosystem engineer, visit links in our bio. #EcosystemEngineers

Congratulations to the totally fabulous Eric Smith (Sussex Underwater) who has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the @sussex.ac.uk for his dedication and passion to protect the sea in Sussex. Not all heroes wear capes...some wetsuits! 🤿

Tune into BBC Morning Live today at 9:30am to hear from our Kelp Recovery Coordinator, George Short, on how healthy marine habitats, such as kelp beds, can help protect our coastlines from erosion. 📸 Paul Boniface/Sussex Underwater

🎉 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