Galloway Seaweed Search

Welcome to the Galloway Seaweed Search

Help us monitor the effects of environmental change on Britain’s coastal wildlife by exploring the seashore and recording the living seaweeds you find on the Galloway coast.

This project has a focus on the coast of south west Scotland to add to the Big Seaweed Search which is a partnership project between The Natural History Museum and the Marine Conservation Society.

Discover common seaweeds found on the shore with this short introduction.

Solway Firth Partnership has published a seaweed guide to help you identify species found on rocky shores. The guide has a focus on the Rhins of Galloway Coast Path but the seaweeds featured appear on rocky shores around the UK.

Take Part

Contribute to real scientific research by searching for the target seaweed species at any Dumfries and Galloway seashore and recording them at the Big Seaweed Search.  You will need the Big Seaweed Search guide and recording form, a pencil and a camera or smartphone.  Do a survey at any time of the year and as many times as you like.

The project aims to encourage people to gather records on the distribution of target species to establish data on the impact of rising sea temperatures, arrival of invasive seaweeds and acidification of the ocean. Records gathered by participants will be submitted directly to Natural History Museum and the data will be used for future research.

The Galloway Seaweed Search project is funded by Kilgallioch Wind Farm Community Fund, administered by Foundation Scotland and is part of the Rhins of Galloway Coast Path project managed by Dumfries and Galloway Council.