Firestone Bay Plymouth has become the latest location of the UK-wide initiative.
The Big Rock Pool Challenge is a community-driven initiative combining citizen science with coastal exploration, to protect and celebrate marine biodiversity, based around monthly free local community events called BioBlitz Battles delivered across hub sites within the UK.
The new Firestone Bay BioBlitz Hub is a collaboration between Plymouth Sound National Marine Park (PSNMP) and The Rock Pool Project, joining nine hubs nationwide and supported by dedicated volunteers.
The aim of the project is to collect data which can be used to help monitor the impact of environmental stressors on rock pool ecosystems, as well as be an engagement tool for connecting the wider public and volunteers to the local marine environment and marine conservation issues. Events like this also help improve people’s wellbeing through nature connection and an opportunity to socialise with new and familiar faces.
Plymouth is already home to a growing BioBlitz community, including an established group at Mount Batten, which made headlines earlier this year after discovering a rare sea slug species typically found in warmer waters
Funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Plymouth City Council has enabled PSNMP to expand initiatives such as this. Events within the Marine Park offer accessible, inclusive opportunities for people of all experience levels to explore, learn, and contribute to marine conservation. Each session brings new discoveries, with verified data feeding directly into scientific research and biodiversity monitoring via iNatiuralist.
Councillor Tom Briars-Delve commented;
Community engagement is at the heart of Plymouth Sound National Marine Park. Enabling Plymouth’s wonderful marine life sightings to form part of national data is another fantastic way for Plymouth residents to be part of these important citizen science-based projects.
Sound like fun? For more info about this weekends challenge visit our event page;
The Big Rock Pool Challenge – The Rock Pool Project – 16/05/2026 – Plymouth Sound National Marine Park