Native Oysters are a staple of our seas and our plates - but our love of their taste has lead to a sharp decline all around the UK.

This brightly coloured and easily recognizable fish is one of three gurnard species found in UK seas. Collectively, gurnards are known as sea robins.

Sugar kelp is the crinkly belt like kelp that can often be found in deep rockpools on the lower shore or washed up on the beach after rough seas.

If you spot a crawling shell next time you're at the seaside, take a closer look… it might be a hermit crab!

One of the most colourful fish in UK seas, the cuckoo wrasse looks like it belongs in the tropics. Don't be fooled though, it's very much a native species.

Seabass is a seafood favourite, appearing on menus throughout the UK. But it's in trouble in UK seas, with much of the seabass we eat imported from European fish farms.

The herring gull is the typical 'seagull' of our seaside resorts, though our coastal populations have declined in recent decades.

The common whelk is the largest sea snail found in UK seas, though you're more likely to find the dry balls of empty whelk egg capsules washed up in strandlines.