Mouser supports advanced underwater harvester project for seagrass restoration
Mouser has announced its latest initiative supporting UK seagrass conservation. In a project led by marine conservation experts, components supplied by Mouser have enabled the development of an innovative underwater harvester prototype that aims to accelerate seagrass seed collection, making large-scale restoration faster, safer, and more precise.
Seagrass meadows are among the most valuable coastal ecosystems on Earth. They stabilise sediments and reduce wave energy, protecting coastlines from erosion and storm surges, while improving water quality by filtering pollutants and excess nutrients. These underwater biomes also serve as biodiversity hotspots, providing habitat and nursery grounds for fish, invertebrates, and endangered species that underpin global food security and local fisheries.
Beyond their immediate ecological benefits, seagrass meadows act as a powerful carbon sink, storing carbon up to 35 times more efficiently than tropical rainforests and accounting for around 10% of the ocean’s carbon, despite covering only 0.2% of the seabed . However, researchers have found that at least 44% of the UK’s seagrass has been lost since 1936, with up to 92% likely to have vanished over longer time spans – underscoring the urgency of conservation and restoration.
One of the greatest challenges in seagrass restoration is that manual seed collection is slow and costly. This project brings together engineers Sam Rogers and Edwin Towler from Tandem Ventures, with Mouser Electronics, to develop a prototype for Project Seagrass, a global marine conservation organisation. This pioneering system aims to collect seeds up to 100 times faster than manual methods, opening the door for larger-scale seagrass restoration worldwide.
Mouser supplied the project with a wide range of components, including the Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) EVAL-ADXL362 Evaluation Board, Espressif Systems ESP32-S3-WROOM-1/1U Wireless Module, STMicroelectronics LSM6DSOTR 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU), and connectors from JST and Hirose Electronics. The performance of these components ensures that the project’s requirements for high-precision sensing, data processing, and reliable operation in challenging underwater environments are fulfilled, helping to advance seagrass conservation efforts.
“We are very proud to be part of this endeavour, supporting the restoration of ‘underwater rainforest’ environments. It’s exciting to see technology helping conservation in such a tangible way,” comments Mark Patrick, Director of Technical Content, Mouser Electronics. “Mouser strives to demonstrate how innovation can accelerate ecological restoration without compromising scientific integrity or operational safety.”
To see the underwater harvester in action and learn more about this pioneering seagrass restoration project, visit: www.youtube.com
