Here’s something I’ve never seen before. While I was rockpooling, I lifted a stone and found this little variegated scallop, which is a smaller cousin of the scallops people eat. As I watched it began to open and I guessed it might take a little swim so I took this short video.

All scallops can swim but they don’t do it very often because it takes a lot of energy. I think this one was thought I might be a predator and wanted to swim back to the safety of a rock. It was surprisingly speedy.

Filmed at Hannafore Beach, West Looe, Cornwall on 31 August 2015 during a very low spring tide.