In Victorian England. Our very own Sarah Hotchkiss, herself a professional phycologist, gave us a very interesting talk today about Victorian women who studied seaweed and made amazing collections and in some cases wrote books about seaweed. In Victorian times,
What Makes a Citizen of the Sea ?

………is what PhD student Pamela Buchan wants to find out. She's had a long love affair with the sea, starting with a Marine Biology degree, and research into ragworm perception of night and day. A period with the British Science
The Last Few Minutes………

of geological time is the way Dr Jenny Bennett describes her particular interest in the last 2.7M years – the Quarternary Period. This period held the latest of a long line of glaciations, and has shaped the landscape that surrounds
A Guide to Rockpooling…….

…….is the name of Stevel Trewhella and Julie Hatcher's new book. There's no shortage of identification guides, but Julie and Steve share their huge experienece of finding and identifying the contents of rockpools with Coastwise members. There's a lot of
Puffin Island……….

…..translates in Old Norse to 'Lundy', the island on the horizon. A wildlife haven, it is protected by several measures, including Statutory Marine Reserve, Marine Conservation Zone, and Special Area of Conservation. Sian Scott spent three year there as Assistant
Alien Attack Awareness……

DWT's Coral Smith helped Coastwise members to understand the dangers of invasive or alien species on our shores. 'Invasive' means with human assistance, which might mean spreading in ships' ballast water, on nets or through the aquarium trade. Coral works
A Difficult-to-Sea Horse……..

……as Becky Lofts, of the Seahorse Trust told Coastwise members. She is an experienced diver and found these little fish, of sizes from 2.5cm up to 32cm, very difficult to spot underwater, which may have contributed to their reputation for
Not So Extraordinary Encounter……
…..mainly because Coastwise invited it ! Coastwise invited the Festival to include Heather Buttivant's book "Rock Pool – Extraordinary Encounters Between the Tides", some having been privileged to read it in draft form and been delighted by it. The Festival
Variety Act..ion…
The Coastwise Autumn Programme has been finalised, and there's some thing for almost everybody (unless you sit on a sofa all day watching television shopping channels). There's Sea Horses, aliens, desert islands (well, sometimes), remote beaches, museums, geology, lots of
Pressing Issues……

Who knew seaweed-pressing could be so much fun? Clearly many Victorian women did, and it was the growing interest in these collectors that prompted member and seaweed expert Sarah Hotchkiss to lead a special and very successful Coastwise Seaweed Pressing