Aberystwyth University's new boats for marine research

Prof Elizabeth Treasure and Dr Pippa Moore on board the new catamaran

Aberystwyth University has bought two new boats to increase the number of marine research projects undertaken in Mid Wales.

They include a rigid inflatable boat and a purpose-built Cheetah catamaran.

The vessels will be used for projects such as mapping shallow water seaweed to research its potential for climate change mitigation.

Other uses include exploring the biodiversity of Cardigan Bay and using robots to map underwater habitats.

They were bought with cash from the Welsh Government Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.

Dr Pippa Moore, scheme coordinator of the marine and freshwater biology degree, said: "The boats will allow students to undertake trawls for fish, deploy pots for mark and recapture studies of lobsters and crabs, and grab sampling to identify organisms that live in the sand.

"We also plan to get kit for acoustic sampling of, for example, dolphin activity. We are getting a full diving set-up so we anticipate incorporating scientific diving into our teaching in the future."