Living Seas

Dorset's marine habitats are more than a match for their celebrated terrestrial counterparts - ranging from the sheltered seagrass meadows in Studland Bay, to the fiercely tide-swept massive rocky ledges of Portland Bill and St Albans Head. 

The rockpools of Kimmeridge Bay, part of Dorset Wildlife Trust's Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve, are easily accessible - here you can come face-to-face with blennies and colourful sea-anemones, but much of our rich marine heritage remains out-of-sight. 

Dorset Wildlife Trust is working to find ways to "peel away the sea" to reveal these hidden treasures - see a live underwater video at the Fine Foundation Marine Centre, Kimmeridge (and soon, Swanage Pier), visit Dorset Seasearch photo gallery to see what volunteer divers have been recording or visit the studio of local underwater artist, Antonia Phillips, winner of the Dorset Wildlife Trust/Society of Wildlife Artists Underwater Wildlife Art Award 2008. 

Perhaps the biggest advance in our knowledge of the undersea world will come from DORIS - an ambitious collaborative project, funded by Viridor Credits, to map Dorset's seabed habitats in detail.  This is supported by Dorset Seasearch  - any suitably qualified diver can get involved in finding out more about our marine natural heritage.

The data from DORIS will feed into a number of ongoing projects which will benefit marine conservation. Finding Sanctuary is a regional project planning a network of Marine Protected Areas in the southwest. C-SCOPE is a Dorset Coast Forum project developing resources for sustainable management of the Dorset coast, including marine planning and provision of coastal information and data.

Dorset Wildlife Trust and The Wildlife Trusts are campaigning for better protection for the marine environment, through the long awaited Marine Bill (now the Marine and Coastal Access Bill).  The setting up of a network of marine reserves, including highly protected marine reserves, around the UK will help to bring back some of the richness that our great-grandparents might have taken for granted - see Seas of Plenty
 

Kim Atkinson - Spider Crab