“The Pink Seaweed” is a story about maerl and the sea created by the well known traditional storyteller George Macpherson to celebrate the birth of Wester Ross Marine Protected Area. It was told to the children of Badcaul School by George in the spring of 2016 just before Wester Ross Marine Protected Area was born.
George lives in Glendale, Skye and has told many stories about the sea in his books recording the ancient oral tradition of the Gaelic speaking people. His story of ‘The Pink Seaweed’ refers to the ancient belief embedded within the oral tradition that the Sea is alive in the respect it is part of the field of consciousness which underpins matter. As Max Planck, one of the greatest pioneers of quantum physics said, ”I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness”. The indigenous people who hold the ancient wisdom traditions know this, in intuitive rather than scientific ways.
Nevertheless, The Pink Seaweed is a story made up especially for the occasion in order to convey the fact that maerl is a special life-supporting seaweed and the dangers of damaging the ecosystem we are so intricately entangled with.
Maerl is protected under international and Scottish law within the Wester Ross Marine Protected Area. Scientists discovered that maerl, a fragile coral like seaweed, supports many fisheries as well as other life forms. George kindly made up the story to celebrate this new protection for maerl beds. See link below – please hover the curser over the link here https://vimeo.com/288742865
