Gardens and Forests of the Sea

Wellington Underwater Club and local mural artist Tam Kogler have teamed up to showcase the
significance of seaweed and celebrate Wellington’s marine life with the installation of a
seaweed mural at the Whairepo Lagoon.

The project highlights the importance of seaweed as a vital and productive coastal marine ecosystem
and showcases the beautiful and often unseen world that lies beneath our shores.
Information signs provide additional information about life in seaweed gardens and the important role of seaweeds
within our Wellington coastal habitats. Seaweed habitats face many threats, particularly in an urban setting.
Through the artwork we aim to inspire and gain support for seaweed habitat protection and possible restoration projects.

The installation of the seaweed mural was a fantastic opportunity to take Wellingtonians on a journey into
their marine environment without getting wet!
 A giant kraken and seaweed green mermaid joined us on the
waterfront to bring the mural to life and attracted the crowds. Intrigued visitors marvelled at the wide diversity of
seaweed species and our seaweed experts Roberta and Brenton had all the answers to questions and
more on hand! We also had the Oceansense Ltd Seachannel camera on exhibit, a system that enables real time
views under the waves from any smart device.
 Councillor Peter Gilberd joined in and had a great korero about
environmental initiatives with interested members of the public and representatives of the different community groups!


Overall a great day to celebrate seaweed and the 100+ volunteer hours that Club members had contributed to working
with mural artist Tam Kogler, creating the information signs and launching the mural!

The project was supported by a Wellington City Council Arts and Culture Fund.

Stay tuned for posts on seaweed and local marine life as part of the #Loveseaweed campaign and our
upcoming community event with Mountain to Sea Wellington on the 17th March!

If you are in town check out the mural on the bridge across the Whairepo Lagoon and post us your feedback #Loveseaweed!

read the Media Release: Seaweeds - gardens and forests of the sea (.pdf)
read the Info Signs:(.pdf) English / Te Reo
Listen to an interview with Nicole Miller by Jesse Mulligan on RadioNZ.

Read more about the Club’s citizen science initiative Project Baseline Wellington - Monitoring giant kelp
Check this page for the latest blog posts and follow #LoveSeaweed on social media. We’d love to hear from you!