The positive impact of the Vitamin Sea Project

One of the reasons Cal founded Seaful was to help more people connect to our ocean and experience the blue health benefits that this offers. 

She could see how disconnected so many people were from this vital ecosystem and was acutely aware that for more people to protect the ocean, they need to fall in love with it. 

In the years that have followed, Seaful’s team of volunteers have delivered dozens of Vitamin Sea sessions everywhere from the Isle of Arran and Ullapool in Scotland, to Lundy Island and Exeter in Devon, and even Chelmarsh Reservoir in Shropshire.

What’s beautiful about being part of these sessions is that we can see the difference we make to our beneficiaries in the smiles on people’s faces and the questions they ask while we’re on, in or near the water. 

But it’s harder for us to see the broader impact and how our beneficiaries carry that forward… Until now. 

Earlier this year, Abbie Kozlowska collaborated with us as part of her MSc Global and Planetary Health. Through her research project, she explored how connection to nature can foster environmental stewardship. 

Her insights are fascinating and help us see how our Vitamin Sea sessions have a long-lasting positive impact not only on our beneficiaries, but also on our volunteers. 

Abbie spoke to some of our volunteers, as well as to some of our adult beneficiaries, to find out how our Vitamin Sea sessions have an impact. She has since compiled her findings into her dissertation for Durham University.

Her key findings included:

1. Building a connection to the ocean in childhood is important for continued stewardship.

2. Being part of the Seaful community delivers mental health and wellbeing benefits.

3. The mental and physical wellbeing benefits of being connected to the sea drive stronger ocean connections. 

Another of the key findings from Abbie’s research is that being physically separate from blue spaces is considered to be a barrier to connection.

Breaking these barriers with access to blue space and helping people who may not otherwise have the opportunity to do so to spend time in, on or around water is one of the main reasons the Vitamin Sea project exists. 

Every year we see how valuable it is when children from inner city areas get to spend time on the coast. Or young people who perhaps live comparatively close to the sea are able to experience it in a new way.

This isn’t restricted to children either. We also see the joy on the faces of adults who try paddleboarding for the first time and perhaps connect with a local blue space in a way they never imagined. 

It’s also why Abbie noted providing activities to help bridge this gap may “lead to more meaningful connections”.

Another thread in Abbie’s research was the benefit and power of community, especially when discussing the challenges facing our marine environment. 

As one of the participants in her interviews put it, “It can feel overwhelming sometimes when you’re by yourself, looking at these issues and being confronted by them… when we’re working towards a common goal together, it’s a little easier.”

One of the elements that came out strongly was that both our beneficiaries and our volunteers see the Seaful community as a supportive space. 

Crucially, feeling supported helps everyone take steps to become stewards of our ocean in a multitude of ways that extend beyond the specific Vitamin Sea sessions we deliver. 

We’re hugely encouraged by Abbie’s findings and appreciate her recommendations for how we can make our Vitamin Sea project even more impactful going forward. 

We’d like to thank Abbie for choosing to collaborate with Seaful for her research and for generously allowing us to share findings from her dissertation.