Created 20/08/2020 Updated 22/12/2022
20 Aug
2020

Experts from Scotland, Portugal and France analysed oarweed from 14 areas across the northern Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists have discovered kelp off the coast of Scotland, Ireland and around Brittany in France that has survived since the last ice age around 16,000 years ago.

Experts from Heriot-Watt University’s Orkney campus, the University of the Algarve in Portugal, and Station Biologique de Roscoff in France analysed the genetic composition of oarweed from 14 areas across the northern Atlantic Ocean.

Three distinct genetic clusters were found – one along the eastern seaboard of Canada and the US, one in central and northern Europe, and a compact population around Brittany.