The importance of Maerl beds on Scotland's west coast
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Many people who have wandered along the shorelines of Skye and other west coast locations may have come across maerl beds, fragments of coral as best described here:
'Living maerl is a purple-pink hard seaweed that forms spiky underwater ‘carpets’ on the seabed, known as 'maerl beds’. As a type of 'coralline’ algae, maerl deposits lime in its cell walls as it grows, creating a hard, brittle skeleton.
Maerl beds are a priority marine feature in Scotland's seas.'
Professor Jason Hall-Spencer has recently been in Wester Ross studying maerl in the Wester Ross Marine Protected Area and gave a presentation to the local community in Ullapool.
Watch the 30 minute YouTube video at the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gQTR4SwEcI
