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 […]