THEY STOPPED DRAGGING CHAINS. THE SEAGRASS ERASED 94% OF THE SCARS.
Ten traditional chain moorings were replaced with eco-moorings that move with the tide instead of scraping circles through the seabed. Five years later, the damaged patches had shrunk by an average 93.6%.
A five-year study at Studland Bay found that seagrass anchor scars shrank dramatically after boaters switched from chain moorings to seabed-friendly eco-moorings.
WHAT HAPPENED
University of Southampton MSc researcher Kira Dunn analyzed annual monitoring from 2021 through 2025 at Studland Bay. Across 39 damaged seabed areas, every anchor-chain scar showed recovery once repeated disturbance stopped. In the original area where 10 eco-moorings were installed in 2021, bare patches shrank by an average 93.6%, about 57 square metres per year. A second area that retained chain moorings until 2023 showed no significant change before the switch, then its scars shrank 65.4%, about 15.9 square metres per year. The bay now has 87 eco-moorings.
WHY THIS IS HOPESLOP
The fix is almost comically modest: a helical screw in the seabed and an elastic riser that moves with the tide, instead of a heavy chain grinding the same circle every day. Stop repeating the damage, and an underwater meadow starts doing the restoration itself.
ORIGINAL SOURCENational Trust / Studland Bay Marine PartnershipRead the original report
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