ExoWhelk: Opportunities for restoring lost coastal habitats

Exo Engineering are constantly exploring opportunities to restore declining habitats across coastal and marine areas. In coastal areas, aesthetics is often a key consideration for clients. Balancing ecological value and aesthetics is one of the challenges we face when developing Nature-Inclusive solutions in coastal environments…

Natural coastal features are being lost as we continue to use hard engineering approaches to protect our coastline from erosion. This problem is only made worse by a phenomenon known as coastal squeeze, where natural habitats are “squeezed” between manmade sea defences and rising sea levels.

The ExoWhelk represents a striking example of what is possible with bespoke design. Offering a rockpool habitat to species which are vulnerable to drying out and therefore rely on naturally occurring water retaining features, this type of approach can be used to help combat the loss of natural habitats along our coastlines.

The unit in the video to the right is a prototype unit, but has already demonstrated huge potential for reshaping the way we think about coastal defence. No longer do the structures we put in coastal areas need to just achieve one goal of erosion protection, but can achieve this as alongside the restoration of crucial habitats.

Would you like to learn more about how bespoke design could be used as part of your project? If so, we would love to hear from you! Get in touch to discuss the opportunities for bespoke design today.