NATIONAL Marine Weeks started on July 28 and Dorset Wildlife Trust is celebrating with sealife-themed shenanigans for all the family to enjoy.

With an event nearly every day of the week, these marine-mad activities include eco-friendly crabbing, rockpool rambles and kayak safaris and are a great way to start the summer holidays with the family come rain or shine.

Organised by wildlife trusts, National Marine Weeks run from July 28 to August 12, and celebrate the UK’s spectacular marine life such as basking sharks, dolphins, seahorses and starfish.

Dorset is home to some of the UK’s most famous marine environments from popular sandy beaches to the spectacular Jurassic coastline with its secluded bays and awesome tidal races and it has remarkable marine life to match.

Julie Hatcher, marine awareness officer at Dorset Wildlife Trust said: “In Dorset we are proud to have some of the best marine wildlife sites in the country, including Studland Bay with its enigmatic seahorses, the wonderfully rich seabed reefs of Lyme Bay and Kimmeridge, the top site for rockpooling. Marine Week is an ideal opportunity to introduce families to the best we have to offer.”

Events will be held in the Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve, Kimmeridge Bay.

Why not join a Kayak Safari using special clear-bottomed kayaks to spy sealife beneath the waves or learn how to crab the eco-friendly way?

The Dorset Wildlife Trust’s marine wardens will also be showing families what to look for in the rockpools and using nets, traps and microscopes to discover the marine minibeasts that inhabit our shorelines.

Eco-friendly crabbing and Marine Arty Crafty sessions take place on August 1 and 8.

Rock pool rambles will be held on August 2, 3 and 4.

Kayak safaris are on Tuesdays, August 7 and 14 for ages 12 and above, with a maximum of six people per session.