A healthy ocean means a healthy planet, yet decades of exploitation and pollution has meant that the ocean we all love is in crisis. With the ocean absorbing more than 90% of excess heat and 20% of annual CO2 emissions generated by human activity, it is vital that we recognise its role as part of […]

There are hundreds of shipwrecks lying on the seabed between the Tyne and Tees, with many wrecks and their stories still unknown. Over the next two years, the Beneath the Waves project will be bringing our hidden underwater maritime heritage to life by working with local divers and dive clubs to create 3D models of […]

With January being national ‘Dog Walking Month’ and many of us making New Year resolutions to lead a more active outdoor lifestyle, the beach is often seen as a perfect place to take your four legged friend. But did you know that much of our coastline has special status as a protected area because of […]

21 bags of rubbish containing hundreds of plastic bottles, wet wipes, ghost fishing gear. 10 tyres. 3 lobster pots. a Buoy. …and two very tired volunteers helping Louise and Vicky from the SeaScapes team. This is just from one hour on Red Acre Beach this afternoon. Whilst nature may have caused havoc it is our […]

Our Foodscapes project is exploring the changing coastal food practices, folklore and traditions of individuals, families, communities and industries all along the Tyne to Tees coast. Foodscapes is led by Suzanne Hocknell, a researcher at Newcastle University. Suzanne has, for many years, worked as a Chef and Co-ordinator in community food and well-being projects. On […]

What a great start to November! With the help of some great people we have collected over 30 bags of rubbish from the beach between Blackhall and Horden, and also at Seaham Hall Beach and Red Acre Beach. A group of Motor Mechanics Students from Official New College Durham along with Steve from Bunzl Greenham […]

Recently, Sea AIR artist in residence, Constance Humphries and Blue Wave participants: Lijie Zhang, Maggie Hsiao, Carol Wilson, Judith Burford, Sheila Hardwick, Griselda Pineda, and Naila Saleem delivered a performance at Roker Beach in Sunderland. The performance was the culmination of a 9-week community project designed to connect participants to the sea scape. The project […]

A big thank you to Tom Ward from Royal Haskoning DHV, Simon Hendry of Magnesian and Eric Wilton from the National Trust who led our walk and talk on climate change and coastal erosion during COP26. A hardy group walked from Souter to Marsden considering the impact that rising sea levels and more frequent and […]

What does it mean to be innovative? To think ‘outside of the box’? How can SeaScapes, a four year marine heritage programme, embrace innovation? All questions at the forefront of our minds at the start of our Northumbrian Water #Innovationfestival21 sprint. SOS: Save Our Seas challenged participants to dive deeper into the issue of plastic […]

The drizzle didn’t dampen spirits when a few of us met with the Rangers from Durham Coast & Countryside – National Trust at White Lea Farm at Easington Colliery. We walked and talked and gathered tree seeds; Hawthorn, Rose Hips, Blackthorn and Elderberry seeds were gathered. The Rangers will dry and dehusk the seeds, in […]

This morning was the first of our butterfly habitat restoration sessions with the Durham Coast & Countryside – National Trust Rangers based at White Lea Farm. It was a busy morning and we cleared a large patch of scrub so that the Rock-rose, Wild Thyme and Birdsfoot Trefoil have better conditions to grow. These wild […]

This past week, the Blue Wave Community Dance Project participants were back at Roker beach with Sea AIR artist in residence, Constance Humphries working on the choreography for their upcoming performance at 2pm on 27 October at Roker beach. About the choreographic process, Constance says, “We are connecting to the sights, sounds and smells of […]

Over the weekend, some of the team were out with a local dive group surveying shipwrecks between the Tyne and the Tees for lost fishing gear. Ghost fishing gear is abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear, with an estimated 640,000 tonnes of fishing gear such as lines, nets and pots lost or discarded into the […]

The late summer sun was a welcome visitor for our Reading the Rocks walk today. Professor Dave Roberts (Durham University) and Simon Hendry of Magnesian taught us how to read the rocks from Marsden to Trow Point, introducing geologic (stratigraphic) principles. We are now all more familiar with the rocks that shape our coast, which […]

Our SeaWatch Observers met Dee, our Intertidal Interactive Officer from Durham Wildlife Trust, for group survey training and were treated to a fantastic display of 15 Bottlenose dolphins surfacing and feeding just a few meters away. Thank you to Martin Kitching (NE Regional Coordinator for SeaWatch Foundation/North East Cetacean Project) for joining us and sharing […]

What shall we do on a cloudy Sunday morning, the volunteers said. We’ll go to the beach and leave our warm cosy bed. SeaScapes Louise needs our help! was the the cry. Everyone get to Seaham Hall beach – don’t be shy! We need to keep our beaches clean to help our seas. Picking up […]

Those attending our Coastal Plant walk at Crimdon learned how to identify 11 coastal plants, and discovered how dunes form, and the species found on each type of dune. We saw Wild Carrot, Bloody Cranesbill, Wild Mignonette and Mugwort on the fixed dunes. On the semi-fixed and mobile dunes we found Rough Hawkbit, Restharrow and […]

In collaboration with Durham Wildlife Trust and the ‘Intertidal Interactive’ project, SeaScapes is recruiting for Intertidal Survey Volunteers. SeaScapes Intertidal Survey Volunteers are trained to identify and record the wildlife on shores between the Tyne and the Tees using different survey methods. The data collected by this project will be shared nationally to ensure it […]

Due to lots of people asking how to get involved with the beach cleans, SeaScapes is excited to announce that we’re recruiting Volunteer Beach Clean Leaders! As a Volunteer Beach Clean Leader, you will be part of the Beach Care and Aware Project and support with the delivery and running of SeaScapes beach cleans along […]

Running from the 24th July to 8th August (actually two weeks!), National Marine Week helps us all discover and celebrate our wonderful shore and seas. An initiative of The Wildlife Trusts, National Marine Week is a celebration of all things marine. There are plenty of ways you can get involved, even from the comfort of […]

We’ve had a brilliant time ‘Reading the Rocks’ along the shoreline between Vane Tempest and Ryhope beaches with Geologists Professor Dave Roberts from Durham University and Simon Hendry. The fascinating stories of competing 500-metre thick ice-age sheets, sub-glacial deposits and the layering of Till from numerous ice-ages, 19,000-year old river beds, the disappearance and reappearance […]

We would like to say a huge thank you to Stewart and his amazing team of volunteers from the Hat and Feathers Wetherspoon in Seaham, and everyone else who joined in last weeks beach clean with Louise at Red Acre beach. We collected 10 bags of rubbish, including around 100 bottles and cans, 5 disposable […]

What a splashing start to #NationalMarineWeek today!! Dee from Durham Wildlife Trust began with an early cetacean survey at Roker Pier, then met our young volunteers, the Beach Rangers, who learned how to use hydrophones and recorded the sounds of rockpool wildlife. We listened to crashing waves, crackling seaweed, the fizzing and popping sounds of […]

The sun shone, the dolphins came to play, and fossils were found at the latest ‘Summer at the Shore’ series at Blackhall Rocks. Once again Professor McGoogle and his trusty aids, Mallory and her mum, led the Coastal Time Detective Team to discover millions of years of history beneath our feet in the form of […]