Seasearch in Cornwall

What is Seasearch?

Seasearch is a project for volunteer sports divers who have an interest in what they're seeing under-water, want to learn more and want to help protect the marine environment.

The main aim is to map out the various types of sea bed found around the Cornish coast as well as the species that live there. We can then use the information to identify the richest sites for marine life, the sites where there are problems and the sites which need protection.

Seasearch Training

There are two types of Seasearch training courses currently available:

Seasearch Observer - This is a one-day course aimed at giving divers new to the project and new to marine recording a basic grounding. During the course you'll learn about Seasearch - its aims, history and achievements, a basic introduction to the variety of marine life in UK waters, recognising and classifying marine habitats, position fixing, and how to fill in the Observation Form. The day concludes with a 'video dive' and an opportunity to fill in a form without even getting wet!

The course includes a splash-proof course pack, a dive slate for recording underwater and a waterproof identification guide - everything you'll need to go ahead and start Seasearching.

Seasearch Surveyor - The Surveyor Course is aimed at experienced Seasearch Observers and others with a good background knowledge of marine life and marine recording. The aim is to enable you to complete the Seasearch Survey Form which is used on most of the expeditionary Seasearch dives and which gives much more detailed information for future conservation purposes.

The course lasts two days and includes a dive on the second day. The Course content is an expansion of the Observer Course and covers a much wider range of marine life and habitat classification.

We hope many of the Observers previously trained will want to go on and take the two day Surveyor Course this year.

Seasearch diver

Seasearch Recording

The Observation Form - a straightforward form which can be completed after any dive. It provides information about the main habitat and seabed cover types you found on your dive as well as some of the main species of marine life.

The Survey Form - more detailed level of recording which requires more time and knowledge of marine species and habitats, but provides us with much more information to use for conservation purposes.

Details of how you can obtain recording forms and guidance notes are listed below.

Seasearch projects

With help from the SITA Trust, Cornwall Wildlife Trust will be embarking on its pink sea fan surveying project this year. We are calling all divers and photographers to help us survey pink sea fans around the coast.

	Click here for details about our Pink Sea Fan Survey
	Click here for details about our Eelgrass Survey
	Click here for details about our Pipefish and Seahorse Survey

You can download the recording forms and guidance notes which are available in the formats indicated. Items that are indicated as being available by post can be obtained from our headquarters, free of charge, but a donation would be appreciated.

Description	Available by post	Adobe Acrobat
Seasearch summary report 2006		507kb
Seasearch summary report 2007		8,059kb
Seasearch Observation Form		42kb
Seasearch Observation Form Guidance Notes		330kb
Seasearch Survey Form		177kb
Seasearch Survey Form Guidance Notes		118kb