Seasearch History

Seasearch was devised by Dr. Bob Earll (then Head of Conservation at the Marine Conservation Society) and Dr. Roger Mitchell (then Head of the Marine Science Branch of the Nature Conservancy Council) in the mid-1980s. Both of them realised that there was a great deal of enthusiasm and knowledge amongst the growing number of non-professional divers, which could be harnessed and put to good use. It also drew on previous volunteer recording projects which had been pioneered by the Marine Conservation Society.

The project was run during the 1990's by the Marine Conservation Society on behalf of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the government agency based in Peterborough as part of their Marine Nature Conservation Review. This culminated in the production of the Coastal Directories Project (Coast and Seas of the United Kingdom). Dr. Bob Foster-Smith at Newcastle University developed the project further and wrote an introductory booklet which was published by Scottish Natural Heritage.

During this time much of the recording was done on Seasearch expeditions, many of which were in the West of Scotland. There were active local projects too in Wales, Sussex and Dorset

Since December 1999, a National Seasearch Steering Group has been developing the project on a national basis. The Steering Group is comprised of statutory conservation bodies, NGO's including MCS, diver training associations and independent experts (see Who is Involved).

In 2001 we piloted new recording forms with Seasearchers old and new and these have been refined in the light of feedback from participants. We have also developed a data management protocol so that the data collected will be available on the national and local marine life databases for use by all.

In 2002 we piloted a new training programme and that too has been refined after feedback from those who took part

Seasearch had a big boost in 2003. With new funding from The Heritage Lottery Fund and other supporters (see the Who is involved page for a full list) we now have a National Co-ordinator for the first time and a number of new local co-ordinators. There are many more training courses, dives and other events taking place than ever before.

The Official Launch of the new Seasearch Project for 2003 was on Wednesday 4th June in London and all Seasearch courses and dives have continued all over Enlgand, Wales and Scotland ever since.

Seasearch Contacts

Seasearch Shop