Country diary: Scanning for the brightest seagrass | Cal Flynn

Dingieshowe, Orkney: It's a sanctuary for juvenile fish, hermit crabs and other sea creatures - no wonder it is wanted elsewhereSt Peter's Pool, a wide bay lining the isthmus that connects mainland Orkney to its Deerness peninsula, doesn't look like much to shout about. In comparison with Dingieshowe, the glamorous, silk-sand beach it backs on to, it presents as a muddy-looking flat made untidy with worm casts. I've never paid it much attention before.But a few days ago, I joined three marine conservationists as they donned masks and wetsuits, and waded out into its shallows at 7am. They - Dr Esther Thomsen, Lyle Boyle and Nathan Tsang - are spending several weeks in our islands, snorkelling every day as part of the ambitious ?2.4m Restoration Forth initiative that will collect Orkney seagrass seeds for relocation to the more damaged Firth of Forth, 200 miles to the south, to help its ailing ecosystem. Continue reading...