Dive into the ocean…pink?

What colours would you expect to see when dipping beneath the waves off the coast of Cornwall? Perhaps the calm blue of the waves, or the soft greens and browns of the seaweeds.

Few people would expect the rose pink of a maerl bed – the Barbieland of the underwater realm.

These slow growing, fragile beds of rare pink calcified seaweeds form the basis of marine food chains in the area, and as well as being breathtakingly beautiful, are hugely important for the local ecosystem.