Category: Wildlife

Random Rockpooling and a Sad Sight

“Let’s go rockpooling.” It’s a familiar cry in our house, but for once it’s not me saying it.

It’s a luxury to live within walking distance of the beach; a luxury I pined for when I moved away from Cornwall for work in my twenties.

Now I’m back and any time the tide is low I can wander down to the shore and rummage in the kelp and pools. Often, though, life gets in the way. Even when conditions are perfect, there are jobs to be done, people to see, deadlines to meet and the rest of the family to consider. They enjoy rockpooling, but I sometimes suspect they maybe don’t love it to the same extent I do. (more…)

August 26, 2014
Boiling Seas and Shipwrecked Sailors

There’s no mistaking a change in our rock pools this week. There’s a new chill in the Cornish sea breeze. The shrill cries of swallows swooping over the water and children jumping the waves will soon fall silent as the days shorten and the autumn gales brew. The seas, however, are bursting with life.

A fish stranded in a Cornish rock pool

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August 24, 2014
Where have all the Common starfish gone?

Sometimes it’s what you don’t see.

Common starfish

It’s been a great summer for finding starfish. All season I’ve been taking snaps of giant spiny starfish and watching brittle stars walk across the sea bed. I’ve placed cushion stars into eager palms, enjoying the giggles as children feel tickly tentacle-feet for the first time. (more…)

August 20, 2014
UK rarity, the Crystal Jellyfish turns up in Cornwall

Check out these amazing photos of the rare Crystal Jellyfish (Aequoria sp.) taken by Claire Lewis of Cornwall Wildlife Trust in a rock pool on Looe Island.

Crystal Jellyfish, Photo by Claire Lewis. Looe Island.

Crystal Jellyfish are common in the northern Pacific Ocean but are rare in UK waters. (more…)

July 30, 2014