The images and texts of this site supplement and complement available keys and guides to marine algae and are intricately linked to the Natural History Museum "Seaweeds of the British Isles" series produced under the auspices of the British Phycological Society. The development of this web site is an ongoing project aimed to create an interactive colour photographic guide with text to illustrate a wide selection of the marine algae of the British Isles to be made available both on the Internet and eventually in CD format.

The authors of the site are Francis Bunker (MarineSeen), James Perrins (exeGesIS SDM), Christine Maggs (The Queens University of Belfast) and Anne Bunker.

The desirability of a colour photographic guide is obvious to those using available identification keys. Most guides are based on either line drawings or black and white photographs. Availability of colour photographs, especially where specimens can be photographed in their natural habitats provide an additional tool for confirming identifications. Microscope and laboratory based images are also used in this publication.

The initial focus of collecting images has concentrated primarily in two areas:

• Illustration of the 200 or so species listed on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee Littoral and Sublittoral Habitat Forms.
• Illustration of the species on the Countryside Council for Wales Sarn Badrig and Skomer monitoring check lists and species of conservation concern found in Wales.

Images are the copyright of the author (unless otherwise stated).