MARINE life is teaming in the waters around Porlock Bay, with many rare species recorded during the area's first underwater survey for more than 30 years. Sea hares, sun starfish and stalked jellyfish were among the initial sightings recorded in a scientific study commissioned by the Wildlife Trusts to foster a better understanding of the marine environment and help protect it for the future. It will also support Somerset Wildlife Trust's Living Seas initiative to raise awareness of Somerset's marine environment. The trust is working in partnership with a range of organisations, including the National Trust, to develop projects that highlight the importance of coasts for wildlife. The four professional divers and marine ecologists taking part in the Porlock Weir study found two different and diverse sea bed habitats - a boulder reef north of Gore Point and a sand and shell plain in the centre of Porlock Bay.  They recorded rare stalked jellyfish, bunches of cuttlefish and squid eggs, squat lobsters hiding in crevices, many crab and fish species, brittle and sunstar starfish plus many sea hares, which are large and exotic looking marine molluscs. Many sponge species were found living on the sand and boulders during the two dives, including numerous branching and hedgehog sponges.  Dominic Flint, marine scientist and leader of the dive team, said: "This survey complements the extensive inter-tidal, seashore, marine mammal and birdlife records collected by the Somerset Wildlife Trust members, volunteers and staff. "This now provides a more complete picture of the fantastically diverse marine environment of the Somerset coast, which has been somewhat under-appreciated in the past." Somerset Wildlife Trust's marine ambassador, Nigel Phillips, said he was delighted the survey had shown just how diverse marine life was in the area: "Our beach survey work has shown that this coast is far richer in wildlife than many would expect despite murky water and fast-moving tidal currents, which made this a very frustrating place to survey. "The Wildlife Trusts' support enabled a team of divers to carry out the sea bed survey at Porlock Bay, which is so important to the future of marine species in Somerset." The Government is currently designating a network of Marine Conservation Zones in English waters - sites where the sea bed will be protected from damaging activity.  This, in turn, will protect the species and habitats within, allowing marine life to thrive.  The trust said survey work in poorly understood areas, such as Porlock Bay, would build knowledge of the sea bed and help inform decision-makers about additional sites which needed protection.