The Kelp and seaweed habitat which rings Tanera and The Summer Isles was photographed as part of the Seasearch & Sea Change September Survey 2018 (exquisite photographs of this habitat are courtesy of Rob Spray who dived as part of the 2018 team to re-survey Frances Dipper’s Sublittoral survey of habitats and species around the Summer Isles: Ross and Cromarty (1981) and do a comparitive study of the biodiversity from 1981 with 2018. Rob Spray’s photos leave no doubt about the importance of kelp and other seaweed habitats in supporting juvenile fish as well as a multitude of other species within the wider ecosystem. Protecting these precious habitats and allowing them to restore is essential. The recent idea of mechanical kelp dredging (which also harms the life kelp supports) does not belong in a world already facing rapid biodiversity loss and a climate change crisis.
