Members of the public are being invited to join in a scientific research project on Ardrossan’s beach next week as part of a project that aims to examine the area’s seaweed.

Taking place on Monday, July 25, the event will start with an indoor training session in the Frank Sweeney Centre for Enterprise before going to the South Beach shoreline to survey the seaweed.

The project is run by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and the Natural History Museum in partnership with RSPB Garnock Connections as part of the Big Seaweed Search, and is one of several events taking place throughout Scotland this summer.

Amy Pilsbury, citizen science lead at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “It’s easy for anyone to get involved in Big Seaweed Search Week – you don’t need to be a seaweed expert or live near the sea, just one visit to the coast will do.

“Studying seaweeds can tell us a lot about wider ocean and environmental conditions and the information supports real scientific research.

“Seaweed is a real ocean superstar, helping to buffer the effects of climate change, absorbing and storing carbon and protecting our coasts from waves and storm damage.

"The more data we gather with our Big Seaweed Searchers, the more knowledge and influence we have to protect our ocean, and seaweeds, for the future.”

Participants are asked to search for and record 14 of the most common seaweed species on the beach.

The MCS and the National History Museum will then be able to use the information gathered to determine the impact of environmental changes in oceans and what course of action will be best to protect them.

Prospective attendees can participate in the survey as an individual or as a group and it can be carried out on your mobile, tablet, or laptop.

Juliet Brodie, merit researcher at the Natural History Museum, said: “It’s inspiring to see how the Big Seaweed Search is developing.

“We’re using the data submitted for our scientific research to build distribution maps which means we can track seaweed species as they respond to environmental changes over time.

“We’ve also been able to use over 1,000 submitted records in our work on a Red Data List of British seaweeds – which evaluates indigenous species and how endangered they are.”

Seaweed is vital to marine ecosystems as it provides a home for other species to stay in, as well as playing a major part in food chains as it is a great source of nutrients for animals like crabs and sea urchins.

Additionally, marine plants like seaweed, which are called phytoplankton, provide at least half of the oxygen we breathe and absorb carbon more effectively than trees.

With kelp (large brown seaweed) populations declining, the ability of marine ecosystems to absorb carbon is being hindered.

You can register for the event at Ardrossan beach here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ardrossan-big-seaweed-search-tickets-375117054207?fbclid=IwAR2ZnSkBaVBhzLnALJN08T5WhmY65EgWjug1ZXR5omJFIwvxi2zZCtCmpJQ

More information about The Big Seaweed Search can be found here: https://bigseaweedsearch.org/