Habitats

Kelp forests capture three quarters of the net carbon fixed in the sea   Kelp is a large brown seaweed that grows on rocks from the low tide mark to...

A seaweed that looks like coral   Maerl is a red coralline algae which builds a hard skeleton from the calcium carbonate (chalk) in seawater. Individual plants interlock to form...

Northern sea fans are colonies of animals that have a plant-like appearance.   They sometimes gather with sponges and cup corals to form rare communities on the seabed, fixed to...

Seagrass can absorb & store carbon 35 times more efficiently than a rain forest. Seagrass is a flowering plant (angiosperm) found in the marine environment. They form underwater meadows around Scotland’s marine environment.

These reefs are ridges of bedrock or stable boulders, colonised by a variety of marine life. They are home to soft corals, sea fans, sea squirts and sponges. They also act as coastal protection as they reduce the impact of waves.