We’re super excited to announce the first SeaScapes Summer School! If you are aged 14-18, live in Sunderland or South Tyneside, love the coast & want to learn about marine life, then join our SeaScapes summer school starting Monday 29th August until Friday 2nd September. In this week-long summer school, you will be able to […]

The Our Coast, Our wildlife project is working to better understand coastal butterfly and day moth populations along the coast in order to be able to help them thrive. Our coastal clifftops, meadows and beach banks provide a rich habitat for many different species whilst at the same time enabling us to enjoy the views […]

In partnership with Arbeia Roman Fort we completed the second in our series of walks exploring the coastal heritage of South Tyneside. The walk started with a tour of the lighthouse Souter Lighthouse and the Leas then we made our way down to Trow Rocks, exploring the geology of the area along the way. We […]

When it’s low tide during the school day, we can be found on the rocky shores with a group of excited children, exploring and discovering coastal wildlife. Today, we were with Easington Church of England Primary School and found moon jellyfish, hermit and shore crabs, beadlet anemones, and lots of sea snails.

Sea Change Lab is one of the first projects delivered by SeaScapes Co/Lab this year. A series of creative workshops run by three different artists: Dawn Felicia Knox, Tracy Thomas, and Jo Howell. Sea Change Lab explored questions around personal connection to the coast with young people from Horden through sessions focused on visualising and […]

BE THE SEA is a project commissioned by Sea AIR, part of SeaScapes Co/Lab the creative engagement project for SeaScapes. Listen to this recording https://soundcloud.com/charlotte-steele-2/be-the-sea?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing by student Lottie Steele (MA in Radio at University of Sunderland), created for Spark Radio to learn about the process, participant feedback and experience. It is a collaboration between Louise […]

SeaScapes and SeaScapes Co/Lab is excited to offer a funded artists commission that collaborates within and across different communities in Sunderland to explore the positive influence diverse and migrant cultures have had on our local food traditions SeaScapes Co/Lab: ‘Coastal Cuisine’ will support a socially engaged glass/ceramic artist/maker based in the North-East, to explore links […]

Our Hartlepool Beach Tots had a fab session on the beach, exploring rockpools to find sea snails and hermit crabs. We also collected shells, sea glass and pebbles to make saltdough beaches to take home. Interested in joining us? Visit www.durhamwt.com/events

Some of our Volunteer Beach Clean Leaders along with Vicky and Dee from the SeaScapes team spent an afternoon on Crimdon Beach with Matt from Marine Conservation Society learning to record microplastics on our beaches as part of the #bigmicroplasticsurvey. After learning about different types of micro- and meso-plastics we hit the beach to practice […]

We are celebrating our first birthday on World Ocean Day with two beach cleans in Seaham and Whitburn. In its first year, SeaScapes has produced remarkable results, connecting 5,000 people with the ocean between the River Tyne and River Tees, while more than 1,300 bags of rubbish have been removed from beaches across the North […]

The theme for 2022 World Ocean Day on Wednesday 8 June is “One Ocean, One Climate, One Future – Together”. We couldn’t think of anything better to focus on, and we will be doing what we do best – making sure our beaches are clean for everyone to enjoy. Help us on the 8th June […]

Tees Archaeology, in collaboration with SeaScapes, are digging deeper into the significant role that the North-East coast played in strategic UK sea defences during war time and the story of the gun batteries at Roker is an important part of this story. Cliffe Park is now a pleasant grassed area on the cliffs at Roker. […]

We are looking for individuals to join the Volunteer Little Terns Warden team at Durham Wildlife Trust. No previous experience is required, just a willingness to learn how to monitor and protect the Little Tern and other coastal birds. Volunteer opportunities are available weekdays, evenings and weekends and full training will be provided. This is […]

A number of the children had not visited the beach before and we heard comments like; ‘this is the best day ever’. This is just one amazing comment from Broadway Junior School, Sunderland, which took part in an intergenerational project with Living History North East, working alongside partner Banyan Arts. During the workshops the children […]

It’s all systems go at Seaton Carew as volunteers from Durham Wildlife Trust prepare the nesting site for the return of the little terns. Weighing the same as a tennis ball, these rare seabirds are making their way from West Africa to Seaton Carew to nest on the shingle. Their nests are made in shallow […]

A couple of weeks ago the Beneath the Waves team headed west to give a hand to divers taking part in the project with 3D modelling in the classroom. What a day it was! Many models were produced, some of which will be showcased over the next few weeks. We’re looking forward to putting these […]

Our Volunteer Beach Clean Leaders spent a morning on a training course delivered by Matt Barnes and assisted by Niamh from the Marine Conservation Society. They are now fully trained and set up to conduct their own marine litter surveys which are vital to gather important information on the state of our beaches. We surveyed […]

SeaScapes CoLab invites Queer people, as well as their family and friends, to be part of a series of workshops ran by artist, performer and writer Lizzie Lovejoy. Queer Shores and Seas is a project designed to explore the stories of the Queer people around our North East coastline, from the North of the Tees […]

Our seas are resonant, musical places. Did you know that below the waves sound moves five times faster than in the air? The Be the Sea project was interested in using this acoustic ecology to map the soundscapes that exist where the land meets the sea. The Be the Sea project invited participants to attune […]

This week we started getting the beach ready for the return of the little terns at Seaton Carew. It was great to be working with Stephanie from Hartlepool Big Town Tidy Up and a lovely group of volunteers. We managed to collect 8 bags of rubbish from the beach – just in time for the […]

We’re super proud of our Intertidal Survey Volunteers who did their first official Shoresearch surveys! They identified over 30 different rockpool species, and all the data collected will be submitted to the The Wildlife Trusts national citizen science project and ERIC North East If you’d like to help us at our next survey just email […]

Our arty beach clean at Crimdon was great fun during the Easter holiday. We collected litter from the beach and saved the more unusual items to use back at the Dunes cafe with artist Maria. The litter was used to create shapes with paint and decorate t-shirts like in the photo here. What can you […]

It was a bee-autiful sunny day at Crimdon for our Royal (Queen Bee) Ramble! We found Queens from six different bumblebee species, plus seven other pollinators, including the bee fly. One participant said “Thanks Rachel and Dee for leading a very informative and well led talk and walk this morning for all ages and abilities…we […]

Crossing disciplines and biomes, the Be the Sea project is interested in soundscapes and acoustic ecology to map where the land meets the sea. What are the sounds of the coastline that first come to your mind? Can you imagine how you’d map them? Commissioned by Sea AIR, part of SeaScapes Co/Lab the creative engagement […]