Algapelago

Great to see us featured on the Ecosystems Knowledge Network directory, alongside some brilliant nature restoration initiatives. 🌊 📩 If you'd like to get involved in our upcoming Blue Forest Programme - you can get reach to: info@algapelago.com

How can farming seaweed and shellfish, restore biodiversity? 🐚 🦀 We’ve been collecting valuable data, about marine life on the farm, to find out. Check out these two innovative pieces of kit: 1) Acoustic monitors - can listen in on dolphins and porpoises. The sound bites will be sent to our marine science team - who will analyse this activity. We’ll learn more about how they feed, play, and interact with the farm. 🐬 2) PEBL CIC cameras - these take 1 minute videos on the sea bed every hour. This helps us understand what species are recovering, as the farm grows. 🦀 #Biodiversity #OceanRestoration

Ever wondered what happens at the bottom of the sea? 🌊 Check out what species made an appearance on a little patch of the farm! Hundreds of hours of footage like this is being sent off to our marine science team very soon. We'll be revealing what species are living on the reef. The data will be used to monitor biodiversity on the ocean farm. (Thanks to PEBL CIC for their SUBCAM equipment.) 🎥 Ocean enthusiasts and scientists, what do you see? 👀 #Aquaculture #RegenerativeFarming #Seaweed #Biodiversity #OceanRestoration

Heading up to London for the Blue Earth Summit. On 16th - 18th of October! 🌊 The UK holds potential to have a thriving blue economy. Investment and funding is crucial, as well as collaborating and sharing knowledge. Last year it was super energising - meeting people innovating and putting nature first. This year, we're equally excited. Who else is joining? 🌎 #BlueEarthSummit #SustainableInvestment #BlueEconomy

Meet Elise! Elise Quarrington is an ocean photographer and videographer. She has been capturing our ocean farm journey - using drones and cutting-edge under water cameras. 🎥 We're building something new, 5 miles out to sea. Ocean storytelling is an integral part of this. 🌊 Footage of the kelp lines, deployment days and marine wildlife - helps to generate interest in what we're doing here at Algapelago. Over the coming years, we'll be scaling up the farm - so there's still lots more to be recorded! 🎥 #OceanVideographer #SeaweedFarm

We were thrilled to find mussel and scallop spat settling onto the lines. 🦪 When local mussel and scallop populations reproduce they release millions of tiny larvae into the water column, which drift around for several weeks. Once these larvae attach to a hard substrate (surface) they are known as spat. This is a great example of the development of a living reef on farm infrastructure. Once in the water our ropes becomes colonised by a wide array of species - lines become a habitat, shelter and a food source. Shellfish are not only delicious, they’re nutritious and regenerative too - as they filter ocean nutrients and provide a habitat for marine life. 🌿🐟🦀🪱 We will be running a shellfish cultivation trial for both these species next year so it’s great to see the evidence of prime growing conditions here in Bideford Bay.  #regenerativefarming #aquaculture #scallops #mussels

Much of the magic happens underwater, so as it's harvest season, we wanted to share the seaweed journey - from rope to boat. 🪢 🌿 At this scale it is a hands-on process: seed lines are disconnected from the farm grid, hauled in by hand and kelp fronds cut off with a sharp knife. The team then loads the kelp into big buckets, ready to be processed! This works well for our pilot farm whilst we're growing. But at scale, what could harvesting look like? Harvesting at scale will require larger boats, a bigger crew (a boost for aquaculture jobs in the region) and automation to mechanically haul in lines and strip the growth. We are developing a processing system to process kelp at sea, preserving biomass immediately after harvest for the best quality product. #SeaweedFarming #Kelp #Seaweed #Aquaculture

This underwater camera is capturing a hidden world down on the sea bed... 🎥 We sunk this PEBL CIC SUBCAM on our ocean farm, where it is recording multiple videos a day, capturing the variety of species living on the sea bed on our site. 🐚🦀🪱 The footage will be sent to marine scientists, to be analysed over the next few months - it will be used to establish a baseline dataset. As we grow the farm, comparing against this baseline will demonstrate the impact of seaweed and shellfish cultivation on seabed biodiversity, over time. 🌿 Who wants to see what we capture? 👀 #Biodiversity #OceanRestoration #ReWilding #SeaweedFarm #Shellfish #Aquaculture #RegenerativeFarming

Can cultivation play an important role to marine conservation? 🦀 We firmly believe the answer is yes, and feel inspired to see the research from University of Plymouth. A vast area of historic biogenic (living) shellfish reefs have been lost in the last century, and this study shows the positive impact cultivation can have in re-introducing these crucial habitats. 🐟 🐚🌿 It's very encouraging for the crew here at Algapelago, as we kick off our shellfish cultivation trial in 2025. https://lnkd.in/egRA6JY6

Harvest season has begun! 🌿 Our spring kelp lines from February had some fantastic growth and were ready to be cultivated. This batch of sugar kelp has now been sent off to the lab to be transformed into 'bio-stimulants,' which will help protect food crops from disease and ultimately return the nutrients back to the soil... 🌱 #SeaweedFarm #Harvesting #Aquaculture