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 […]

Great work by volunteers from Believe Housing Limited who joined Beach Care and Aware Officer Louise Harrington on 29th June. 19 bags of heavy rubbish were collected from Blast Beach. Thank you so much everyone. We are looking forward to seeing you again soon.

This time last week the Adaptive Surfing Roadshow visited South Shields to train up surf coaches. In the afternoon a group from St Oswald’s Hospice came down to try adaptive surfing, and had a great time.

Karen and Vicky went to visit the Little Tern protected nesting site at Seaton Carew Beach; it was amazing to watch them in action! After the initial nests getting washed away in the recent bad weather, the Little Tern Warden (Durham Wildlife Trust) shared that approximately 14 pairs of birds have just started to sit […]

Year 5 at St Cuthbert’s Primary School joined Dee for a North Sea Explorers rockpooling workshop this morning at Seaham Hall Beach. We were lucky enough to find lots of crabs and shells, as well as a shore rockling fish, and a well camouflaged shrimp. The highlight was probably a small pod of dolphins which […]

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Hawthorn Beach yesterday for ‘Summer at the Shore’ with the lovely artists from The Barn at Easington. We joined Mallory and her mum, and Professor McGoogle, and for a moment, became the Coastal Time Detective Team. The sun shone as we hunted for sea glass and used our buckets […]

Today [8th June] is World Ocean Day and the perfect opportunity to introduce the UK’s first marine Landscape Partnership scheme and brand-new project team in the North East: SeaScapes. Durham County Council secured National Lottery support via a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £2.8m, matched by partner contributions and volunteer time, for the exciting […]