Change in itself is not unusual, it has been going on forever and marine life has adapted accordingly. Despite the so-called Anthropocene period in which we find ourselves now and defined by impact on the global environment since the beginning of the industrial revolution, in the southeast of England we are still feeling the effects of the last ice age that has determined the form of the coastline and the habitats created for our coastal marine life. The past history of our marine flora can be traced back only about 400 years but even this tiny period in geological terms gives us an opportunity to look back in time and think about change especially in the context of those we are experiencing today.
In 1633 the apothecary Thomas Johnson travelled to Margate in Kent to collect plants as medicinal cures and described and illustrated them in a book called ‘The Herball or Generalle Historie of Plantes’. Eight were seaweeds, all of which still occur on the seashore at Margate which would suggest that things haven’t changed a lot. The pink Coral Weed, Corallina officinalis, was thought to cure people of worms! The green Sea Lettuce Ulva fenestrata was fed to livestock to reduce flatulence! Very important today as methane generated by livestock is a significant greenhouse gas affecting the world’s climate; even now scientists are investigating adding seaweed meal to livestock feed. Johnson also recorded two species of kelp at Margate, oarweed, Laminaria digitata, and sugar kelp, Saccharina latissima. For the latter species he gave a recipe used by locals on how to prepare it as a vegetable dish. At that time kelp must have occurred abundantly as there was a local industry that gathered and burned it to make potash which was exported to the Netherlands for glazing pottery.