Marine algae

On our shores you will find one of the oldest groups of plants on the planet still thriving - and how.  We call them marine algae but you might prefer to call them seaweed.  The shore is one of the most brutal habitats on earth, pounded by ocean storms or drained by the tide leaving its inhabitants to be baked by the sun, dried by the wind and subjected to water often changing rapidly in salinity.  No place for a primitive plant you might think.  But marine algae fill every niche washed by the sea and provide a habitat and source of food for many of the animals we find on the shore and extend through our shallow seas down to the point where the light finally fades.   

Kelp

Familiar around our coastline, kelps form dense underwater forests, which are just as valuable for wildlife as woodlands on land.

Wig Wrack

Unlike most seaweeds, it is not attached to rocks, but just rolls with the gentle tides, like tumbleweeds in desert winds.

Stone wort

There are 33 species of stonewort in the UK, but they are highly sensitive to pollution, and, as a result, many are now rare,

Maerl

Living maerl is a beautiful purple-pink hard seaweed that forms spiky underwater 'carpets' on the seabed