Seaweed collecting

Seaweed collecting is the process of collecting, drying, and pressing seaweed. It became popular as a pastime in the Victorian era and remains a hobby today.[1]

For the process of collecting seaweed for food, see Seaweed farming.
The title page from an 1848 Seaweed collection by Eliza A. Jordan of Brooklyn.

History of seaweed collecting
People collect seaweed for fertilizer off the coast of Portugal
People collecting seaweed for fertilizer off the coast of Portugal. image courtesy of {{joseolgon}}

Collecting seaweed can be traced back to at least the 17th century with the pressings found in Hans Sloane's Herbarium.[2]

The pastime became increasingly popular during the Victorian Era, where it played to the burgeoning interest in natural history and collection in general. It was especially fashionable with young women, as it allowed a greater level of personal freedom.[3] Indeed, it was so in-style that, as a young girl, Queen Victoria created her own seaweed album. The materials needed for the hobby became readily available at seaside shops.[4] These activities also afforded women the opportunity to display their understanding and appreciation of the natural world.[5]

Anna Atkins, thought to be the first female photographer, published the first book using photographs as illustrations. This was Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions and contained pictures of seaweed.[6]

The actions of some of the collectors earned them recognition and admiration from their male, professional counterparts.[7]

These Victorian collections form valuable historical resources[8] for morphological studies and from which genomic DNA can be extracted.[9]

Seaweed collecting equipment

In his 1881 book, A.B. Hervey recommended the following equipment for collecting and pressing seaweed.

You should have a pair of pliers; a pair of scissors; a stick like a common cedar "pen stalk," with a needle driven into the end of it, or, in lack of that, any stick sharpened carefully; two or three large white dishes, like "wash bowls" botanist's "drying paper;" or common blotting paper; pieces of cotton cloth, old cotton is the best; and the necessary cards or paper for mounting the plants on.[10]

See also

References
  1. Shady, Beth (April 20, 2011). "The Process". SeaweedArt.com. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  2. "The Sir Hans Sloane Herbarium". Natural History Museum. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  3. "Mystery surrounds Victorian lady seaweed collector". Whitby Gazette. Johnston Press plc. October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  4. Logan, Thad (2001). The Victorian Parlour: A Cultural Study. Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture. Vol. 30. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521631822. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  5. Laura Massey. "Nature Domesticated: A Victorian Seaweed Scrapbook". Peter Harrington, London. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  6. "Catalogue of Photographically Illustrated Books". The British Library. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  7. Olsen, Penny (2013). Collecting Ladies: Ferdinand Von Mueller and Women Botanical Artists (1 ed.). National Library of Australia. p. 15. ISBN 9780642277534. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  8. Moore, P.G. (2008). "A 150-year-old seaweed collection returns to Cumbrae" (PDF). The Glasgow Naturalist. Glasgow: Glasgow Natural History. 25 (1): 3–8. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  9. Huxley, Rob; Bryant, Jenny. "How to Prepare Seaweed Specimens" (PDF). The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  10. Hervey, A.B. (1881). Sea Mosses: A Collector's Guide and an Introduction to the Study of Marine Algae. Boston: Estes and Lauriat. p. 19.
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