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'Protected' seagrass meadows aren't necessarily healthy, because pollution doesn't stop at the shoreline
- April 19, 2026 at 7:30 PM
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I spent last summer wading through seagrass meadows across Northern Ireland, from the sheltered waters of Strangford Lough to the exposed coast at Waterfoot Bay. I was collecting seagrass leaves and testing them for nitrogen pollution. Every meadow I visited sits inside a marine protected area—a stretch of sea that's been given legal protection to safeguard the wildlife living there. And every single one was polluted beyond the limit for healthy seagrass.
Originally published at Phys.org