Marine Conservation Society

Positive ocean news 🌊

With COP30 commitments, legislation banning wet wipes containing plastic, species discoveries and restoration of superhero species like oysters and seagrass, it's been a great month for ocean wins

Dive into the full stories 👉 mcsuk.org/positive-ocean-news-november-25

If we had one minute with the PM, what would we ask for? Find out in our guest Rewilding The World Podcast with Ben Goldsmith

COP30: What about the ocean? COP30: What about the ocean?

COP30 wrapped up last week - but what about the ocean?

From bold commitments to gaps that still need action, we dive into how the ocean featured in climate negotiations and why it’s central to the fight against climate change 🌍

Read the full insights: https://www.mcsuk.org/news/cop30-insights/

It was a fantastic opportunity to show the power of community-led ocean action. A huge thank you to The Prince for taking the time to visit, and for being such a strong advocate for our seas 💙🌊

Yesterday we welcomed The Prince of Wales to Colwyn Bay. The Prince met Youth Ocean Network members and volunteers from our Hiraeth Yn Y Môr project to hear about their work on ocean literacy, coastal heritage and wellbeing.

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The Bathing Water results for England are out 🌊
- 93% Bathing Water sites in England met at least 'Minimum' Bathing Water standards
- 66% also meet the highest ‘Excellent’ standard
- 7% were rated as ‘Poor’

Read more on our blog 👇
https://www.mcsuk.org/news/bathing-water-results-2025/

A big thank you to Ben Goldsmith for inviting us on the Rewilding the World podcast.Ben and our CEO @oceansandy.bsky.social discuss our Atlantic Coast project, which aims to restore vital species & habitats like seagrass meadows, kelp forests & native oyster reefs

Out now! The Winter 2025 edition of Your Ocean, our award-winning members' magazine is here!

Take a sneak peak of what's in store and become a member today (plus it's the perfect gift...)

👉 https://actmcs.org/OctopusProfile

@naturetravels.co.uk thank you so much for your wonderful support! 🐟

It's a normal function for the oysters, it's how they feed, they are natural filter feeders. It's not harmful to them. There are strict rules in the UK on legislation around oysters grown for human consumption, however.

Did you know oysters are tiny water treatment plants? 🦪

Every single oyster can filter up to 200 litres of water a day, improving  water quality and tackling ocean pollution. 

With just £9.72, you can help us grow a dozen oysters so they can clean up our ocean 👉 actmcs.org/oyster-hero-bsky

3 compass jellyfish swim in bright blue water. Large white text reads 'we're hiring' and our Marine Conservation Society logo is in the bottom right hand corner.

Dream job alert: Social Media Manager

A fantastic opportunity to bring our conservation stories to life, collaborate with brilliant colleagues and grow engagement and action for our seas.

Full-time, remote, supportive team, great benefits: https://www.mcsuk.org/work-for-us/current-vacancies/

Did you know that turtles visit UK and Irish waters? This year, we received 12 reports of marine turtle sightings: 1 loggerhead, 9 leatherbacks and 2 unidentified 🐢

Read our full #WildlifeSightings report here 👉 mcsuk.org/what-you-can-do/citizen-science/sightings/dive-into-the-data

Seagrass, mussels, kelp, and native oysters filter pollutants, capture carbon, and protect habitats. They are the League of Unlikely Ocean Heroes! But they’re facing dire challenges, from dredging to climate change.

By donating today, they can thrive again 👉 actmcs.org/oyster-hero-bsky

Introducing... The League of Unlikely Ocean Heroes! 🦸 Seagrass, mussels, kelp and native oysters filter pollutants, capture carbon and protect habitats. But they’re facing challenges from dredging to climate change.

Help them thrive again by donating today 👉 https://actmcs.org/oyster-hero-bsky

Reloop has been working with @mcsuk.bsky.social to produce three short films that show how Europe is leading the way with deposit return and reusable cup systems.

Join us on 25 November to see the first film and hear from our expert panel.

www.reloopplatform.org/events/film-...

It’s #WorldJellyfishDay! To celebrate these ocean superstars, we’re sharing the findings from your #JellyfishSightings over the past year. We received a whopping 1327 reports 🙌

You can check out the full report here -> mcsuk.org/what-you-can-do/citizen-science/sightings/dive-into-the-data

Join our webinar on Deposit Return & Reusable Cup Schemes with @reloop.bsky.social's Jenni Hume

25 Nov 2025 🗓️
12:30–13:30 GMT ⏰

Register now 👉 actmcs.org/ReloopWebinar

#DepositReturn #CircularEconomy

📷: Karen Mason/Marine Conservation Society/Reloop

Great work guys! Thanks so much!

Positive Ocean News 🌊

In need of a mid-week pick-me-up? Our latest round-up of good news stories has you covered.

Dive into our blog for some ocean optimism 👉 mcsuk.org/news/positive-ocean-news-october-25

This year’s #GreatBritishBeachClean shows the power of people protecting our coasts and seas. 🌍

Read the results 👉 https://www.mcsuk.org/news/great-british-beach-clean-2025-the-results/

@acemyrddin.bsky.social thank you so much! Good luck from all of us at mcsuk! 🐳🦭

Great job everyone!

A vibrant underwater scene featuring multiple starfish and brittlestars on a maerl seabed, surrounded by a tranquil greenish-blue sea and seaweed in the background.

CAMPAIGN WIN! Scottish Government has announced new fisheries management measures which will protect over 176,000km2 of Scotland’s Marine Protected Areas from bottom-towed fishing gear!

We're looking back on the 20yrs it took to get here👇
www.mcsuk.org/news/scotland-offshore-mpas-protection-win

Do you eat fish or seafood? Want to make sure that your choosing #sustainable options? We can help 🐟

We’ve just updated our #GoodFishGuide with the latest research that shows what fish to avoid if you want to protect our ocean

Take a look https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide

For a more indepth dive into our policy on deposit return schemes, you can find our policy paper here -> s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/media.mcsuk....

Deposit Return Scheme Fan Club This page highlights organisations and community groups who are also excited for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to begin; helping to reduce litter in the environment, increase recycling rates and mov...

Everywhere that has a deposit return scheme (DRS) has less litter - so of course we are big fans! If you are a fan of DRS then why not join our DRS Fanclub? www.mcsuk.org/ocean-emerge...

UK must learn from the world's first city-wide reuseable cup scheme In Aarhus, Denmark a successful scheme which collects and washes cups for a small deposit has stopped more than one million so far from being binned

Brilliant piece by Nada Farhoud on learnings from Denmark and Latvia to help the UK move towards a circular economy. We're excited for the UK to join Denmark and Latvia in having a deposit return scheme for bottles and cans in October 2027
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Result! After a decade of collaboration, consultation and campaigning, Our Head of Policy & Advocy, Calum Duncan is delighted to share that Scottish Parliament Rural Affairs and Islands Committee supports proposed fisheries management measures for Scotland's vast offshore Marine Protected Areas 🙌

We did it - the #GreatBritishBeachClean 2025 is complete! What an incredible 10 days it's been 🙌 A massive thank you to everyone who came out to help us show our coastline some love - your passion for protecting our beaches and ocean has been incredible. We couldn’t have done it without you! 💙