Tag Archives: Falmouth

Team Rock Pooling Near Falmouth

May 23, 2021 Heather Buttivant 14 Comments

It is going to be hard to top our last, sea slug filled rock pooling session at this beach, but we can’t resist popping back for another look. This time, we have reinforcements!

I have the best friends in the world. Not only do they obsess about rock pool creatures but Sarah has picked up pasties for Other Half and me, and Charlotte arrives bearing a gift of homemade cake. As this is the fourth day in a row of rockpooling in the biting cold, comfort food is going to be essential. Sarah’s partner is gallantly entertaining the kids for the day and we’re joined by our film maker friend, Greg who is looking for sea slugs – it’s the sort of mission we can all buy into.

Returning to a beach we visited only a few days before is a bit like a memory game: if we can just find the right pools and rocks, we should be able to rediscover some favourite creatures. Sure enough, Greg is rewarded for his enthusiasm by coming across what is probably the same fabulously colourful Facelina auriculata slug we found before.

Meanwhile, Sarah, Charlotte, Other Half and I are on a mission to record the incredible diversity of species at this site.

There is so much here, it is hard to know where to start. I make the most of my waders and explore the pools and overhangs which would otherwise overtop my wellies. Some species are unusually common here, like the Anthopleura ballii anemone. Its brown and white speckled pattern gives it something of the look of a 1970s pub carpet. The distinctive lines of crimson spots on its column make it instantly recognisable.

Among the sand are occasional pieces of maerl, a red encrusting seaweed with a calcareous skeleton which forms bright pink living sculptures. Offshore in this area, these slow-growing structures can cover the seabed, building up in layers to provide shelter for many small creatures and young fish. Nationally and internationally such maerl beds are scarce.

The new spring growth of the rainbow wrack is everywhere, sprouting into great bushes of turquoise and iridescent greens and blues that seem to change constantly. Around their thick, branching forms, dense colonies of encrusting animals form and I spend a long time staring into their tiny worlds of densely packed sponges, starry sea squirts, feathery hydroids and busy crustaceans.

Sarah finds our little Palio nothus slug, still powering through the same giant goby eggs. I spot another, larger one nearby and Charlotte discovers yet another near the end of our session. None of us had seen this species before this week and now they are everywhere.

We seemed destined to find slugs this week. All of us keep spotting more and I can hardly keep up. The largest is this great grey sea slug, Aeolidia filomenae, which is hunting for anemones under a rock. Judging by its size and pink colour, it has been feeding well.

Great grey sea slug, Aeolidia filomena, hanging upside down under a rock.

Among the thick, velvety branches of the codium seaweed there are a few solar powered sea slugs, Elysia viridis. These remarkable little slugs feed on the seaweed and retain the plant’s chloroplasts in their bodies. The chloroplasts carry on photosynthesising and provide the slug with energy.

Elysia viridis – the solar powered sea slug.

While I am exploring the seaweed, an isopod swims over and rests for a moment on my finger. These little crustaceans are relatives of woodlice and come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. This one is a Dynamene bidentata, so-called because of the two little prongs on its back (bidentata means two-toothed).

The slugfest continues apace, with one of my favourites. Limacia clavigera, the orange-clubbed sea slug, is a species I often find, but it’s always a delight. Like many sea slugs, it looks like it has been let loose in a dressing up box. Its slender white body is splendidly adorned with long yellow and orange appendages, sticking out in every direction. Greg finds one so large that it looks like two slugs.

The tide is turning. I am so cold I should probably have left a while ago. I have to shake my hands and windmill my arms around my head to try to restore feeling in my frozen fingers, but I can’t bear to miss a thing.

We see plenty of sea hares and their spawn, and count around a dozen Geitodoris planata slugs, but some tiny finds are the most exciting of all.

Sarah calls me over. She has located some possible slugs on a rock, but they are so small she is doubting herself. Bracing myself, I put my hands in the water once again.

It’s hard to operate the buttons on my camera and hold it steady enough, but I’m sure she is right that there is something here. There is a faint pale mark on the rock that could be spawn and something alongside it that is just a speck.

The image takes shape on my screen. There are two slugs and it looks as though they are busy spawning. Their chunky cerata are prettily speckled with white and they have red lines on their heads. There are lots of similar species, but I’m fairly sure these are Trinchesia foliata (a name I remember as the ‘three-cheese foliage slug’).

The two Trinchesia foliata slugs with their white spawn in the background.

You need to look carefully to spot slugs! The Trinchesia foliata slugs with a finger in shot for scale.

I have only found this species once before in Looe, so it’s fantastic to see two spawning like this.

Charlotte calls me to look at a slug she has found and doesn’t recognise. It’s another tiny one with a colour pattern I have never seen before. The tide is coming in fast now and the wind is picking up, making it hard to find a sheltered patch of water to observe. I kneel in a pool and place the slug on a small stone to view it better.

Each long cerata on the slug’s back is decorated with a red spot at the tip, like a cherry on the cake. It has a wide moustache-like pair of oral tentacles on its head as well as tall browny-orange rhinophores with white tips. It is these that make me think it might be a Favorinus branchialis, but it seems to lack the distinctive onion-dome bulges that I associate with that species.

It is only when I get the photos home and onto a large screen that I can see all the features, including the the slight curve in the rhinophores and decide that it is F. branchialis after all. The bulges are less pronounced in juveniles than in the adult slugs. This species is often found feeding on the eggs of other sea slugs.

While Charlotte returns the slug to where she found it, I take a look at a stalked jellyfish that Other Half has spotted on some sea grass. The jellyfish and the frond of seagrass are swaying in the current, making it hard to take a photo.

Haliclystus octoradiatus stalked jellyfish on seagrass.

Back in Sarah’s pool I discover even more slugs. A ‘feathered Bertha’, Berthella plumula, is under one rock, while another Limacia clavigera is feeding near the pair of Trinchesia foliata. Charlotte finds another little Palio nothus slug.

The tide is gushing into the lagoon, flowing around the spot where Other Half is still trying to photograph the stalked jellyfish. After a couple more minute he gives up and wades out, sitting on the rocks to take off his boots and wring out his socks.

Greg spots a yellow blob, which I find almost impossible to focus on, probably because my fingers now have no feeling at all. The sandy-looking spots on this sea slug show that it is a Doris ocelligera. This is a species that was very rarely recorded around our coasts in the past, but which I have found frequently in recent years, possibly due to warming waters.

With the sea lapping at our heels, we finally admit defeat. I’m not a great fan of tea, but I have never been more grateful to the inventor of the thermos flask than now, sitting at the top of the beach, cradling my hot drink and feeling my fingers gradually become reacquainted with the rest of my body.

As always, I have seen new things today and learned more about the creatures on the shore from glimpsing their world. It is incredible to me that anything can survive here and yet there is enormous richness in this ecosystem. Charlotte and I will make sure that everything we have found is recorded with our local records centre.

Recording the species we have seen helps to monitor changes in the wildlife over time and to inform conservation projects and policies. Online systems such as ORKS and i-Naturalist make it easy for anyone to submit their finds.

It will be another month before the tides are this good again – time that I will use wisely warming up and eating cake!

Yellow star ascidian with patches of the non-native red-ripple bryozoan Watersipora subatra.

Velvet swimming crab hiding in the sand.

Fish, Starfish, Urchins and Sea Cucumbers

Birthday Rock Pooling

March 27, 2019 Heather Buttivant 3 Comments

It’s that time of year again. Amazing spring tides, ideal conditions and, of course, it coincides with Other Half’s birthday. Lucky him! What else could he possibly want to do but come rock pooling? To be fair, he needs no persuading that it beats a day in the office and, as a birthday treat, I offer him an evening out afterwards – watching me give a talk at the Cornwall Marine Recorders’ event in Gwithian (with a bar and nibbles).

We pile into the car ridiculously early in the morning to make sure we make it to Prisk Cove in time to meet our lovely friends and their twins to explore as the tide rolls out.

This beach is a little off the beaten track, but worth the walk. We find it empty of people and the tide so far out that the kelp hangs limply in shallow pockets of water in the bay.

The beach’s sheltered position between the Helford and Falmouth Bay, combined with the huge numbers of loose boulders, makes this habitat perfect for many marine species. Despite his initial certainty that he won’t find anything, Junior’s friend is first to find a spiny starfish. Its long tapering arms set with thick spines have an attractive purple hue.

Spiny starfish at Prisk Cove near Falmouth

We watch its many tentacle feet reaching out to explore the rocks.

The asymmetric heads of flat fish always intrigue me, so I am delighted when we find the first little topknot, then more and more of them. Some are sticking to the rocks, even clinging on when completely upside down, using their fringing fins to mould themselves to bumps and imperfections in the surface. Their mottled patterns can make them hard to spot and they stay completely still to avoid detection.

Flatfish like this topknot have their mouth set on one side of their head.

Under a large rock we find a large edible crab that makes the other twin shriek. She soon overcomes her nerves when I move it out of the way so that we can look at the fish, which are also sheltering here.

Everyone crowds round to see the stunning colours and impressive headgear of the tompot blenny, and the kids are amazed by the smoothness of the rockling’s eel-like skin.

Other Half holds the edible crab for a quick birthday photo before we pop everything back where we found it.

Out among the furthest accessible rocks, the twins’ mum is not being outdone. She brings some fish over to show me, among them a beautiful goldsinny wrasse. It’s not a fish I often see on the shore, but it is easily identified by its two dark spots, one at the front of its dorsal fin and the other at the top of its tail.

It has wide orange eyes with a flash of blue and the wonderful pouting lips of the wrasse family.

Goldsinny wrasse - a beautifully coloured fish — Goldsinny wrasse – a beautifully coloured fish

The finds flood in and I struggle to keep up with taking photos of everything to ensure that I can submit records afterwards. On one area of the shore I find a large patch of Wakame.

Wakame stipes

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This invasive non-native seaweed is easily identified by its corrugated-looking stipe and thin, floppy fronds. Originating from China, Japan and Korea, it has spread widely in Europe and can out-compete native seaweeds.

White painted top shells, an improbably hairy purse sponge and an interesting anemone all catch my eye before the tide turns.

An especialy hairy purse sponge - presumably just a variant of Sycon ciliatum — An especialy hairy purse sponge – presumably just a variant of Sycon ciliatum

Painted top shells are usually pink, but this beach had many of the white variety

I also discover half a dozen shark eggcases of the Greater spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus stellaris) attached to the rainbow wrack of the lower shore pools.

When it is in the water, Rainbow wrack is wonderfully iridescent

All too soon it seems, the tide is flowing in. At first it is a faint current, but it turns quickly into a churning river through the tight gullies and we retreat to enjoy a birthday picnic.

A lovely little Lamellaria snail, likely Lamellaria latens

Limacia clavigera sea slug at Prisk Cove

An especially small anemone growing on rainbow wrack.

Beaches, Conservation, Wildlife

Secret Beach Day

June 28, 2018 Heather Buttivant 1 Comment

Although no beach in Cornwall is a complete secret, there is no shortage of inaccessible bays, without car parks, cafes and many of these are perfect for rock pooling. The extra effort of walking (in my case sliding) down a steep field and hauling back up it at the end of the day pays off. This secret beach, one of several between Falmouth and the Helford river is a complete gem, just as diverse as I remember it.

Cornish Rock Pools Junior’s friends who appeared on Countryfile with us have joined us today. Unlike Portreath, the north coast beach we filmed at, it’s incredibly easy to find creatures on this sheltered shore.

Our first discovery is that a population of St Piran’s hermit crabs has established here, probably new since my last visit several years back. I spot the tell-tale red antennae poking out of a shell.

St Piran's hermit crabs reappeared in Cornwall a few years ago after a long absence. The red antennae and chequerboard eyes make it instantly recognisable. — St Piran’s hermit crabs reappeared in Cornwall a few years ago after a long absence. The red antennae and chequerboard eyes make them instantly recognisable.

We haven’t gone far before we come across a lovely long pool with plenty of loose boulders to provide protection to sea creatures. As I turn a rock, Junior spots a large fish that shoots out and noses into a clump of seaweed at the edge of the pool to hide. I put Other Half on the case. He skillfully coaxes it into a corner of the pool in the hope it will swim into his big bucket, which it obligingly does.

The underside of the rock I’ve turned is crowded with life. There are colourful patches of sponges and sea squirts. A clutch of yellow eggs coats part of the surface.

Close up of Cornish clingfish (Lepadogaster purpurea) eggs showing the eyes and spotty tails

These are clingfish eggs and the parent will be nearby. Within them, the babies are developing fast. A pair of eyes gazes out of each egg and the tails, wrapped tightly round the little heads are visible too. Something close by catches my attention, a colourful slug.

The slug’s long, yellow-tipped cerata sway like hair in the current, giving it a puffed-up appearance. It’s an attractive animal, a pale blue colour when it catches the light. This slug, Calma glaucoides, specialises in eating fish eggs, and especially likes those of the clingfish.

Calma glaucoides sea slug, found near its favourite prey, clingfish eggs.

Meanwhile, Other Half and Junior are excited about the fish in their bucket. Junior reckons it’s a giant goby and I think he may be right. I try to pick it up to try to confirm the species by taking a look at the fin under its belly, but the fish is very lively.

Junior deploys his best trout tickling skills to persuade the fish to lie still in his hands, which it eventually more or less does. The sucker-fin underneath has a thick, pointed lobe at the front.

The fleshy sucker fin underneath the giant goby has a point at the front - but the fish isn't keen on staying still for me to get a better photo. — The fleshy sucker fin underneath the giant goby has a point at the front – but the fish isn’t keen on staying still for me to get a better photo.

The fish has the small eyes and the salt-and-pepper colouring typical of a giant goby and lacks the yellow band on the top of the first dorsal fin which identified the more common rock goby. Its fins are tipped with grey instead. This fish is highly protected and it’s important not to disturb or trap them without a licence, so, Junior carefully lowers the bucket into the pool allowing his goby friend to swim straight back to its favourite hiding place.

Other finds come in so fast, it’s hard to keep up with them. We come close to catching a huge mystery fish, which thrashes through the seaweed but escapes without being seen. I find a small yellow slug which I initially assume is Jorunna tomentosa, which I often see on the shore. It’s only when I look at the photos at home that I realise my mistake. This slug has lumpy protrusions all over its body that have a sandy, almost warty appearance.

Doris ocilligera - a species I've never seen before, but which seems to be having a good year in southern UK and northern France. — Doris ocelligera – a species I’ve never seen before, but which seems to be having a good year in southern UK and northern France.

I’ve never seen anything like it, the reason being that this slug has only rarely been recorded in the UK. Doris ocelligera tends to occur further south but seems to be becoming more established in the south of the UK and northern France, with several records coming in over the last few weeks. An exciting find and one I’ll have to look out for more carefully in future.

Thanks go to David Fenwick of Aphotomarine for confirming this slug’s identity.

One of Louis’s friends finds this fabulous spider crab.

It's hard to tell that this is a spider crab and not a lump of seaweed! — It’s hard to tell that this is a spider crab and not a lump of seaweed!

It’s a female which has decorated herself in so much seaweed that, unless she moves, it’s impossible to tell she’s not just another rock. We have a good look at her amazing stalked eyes and spiny shell before returning her safely into the seaweed.

The children’s mums aren’t to be outdone. They get stuck in and bring me all sorts of lovely things. This Ophiothrix fragilis common brittle star has a wonderful bright orange centre.

Brittle star with a lovely orange central disk - Ophiothrix fragilis — Brittle star with a lovely orange central disk – Ophiothrix fragilis

Another mum finds brilliant yellow Berthella plumula slugs, paired together under a stone ready to spawn.

This white-ruffed sea slug (Aeolidella alderi) was another lovely find.

Aeolidella alderi - the white-ruffed sea slug — Aeolidella alderi – the white-ruffed sea slug

The rocks of the lower shore are covered in all sorts of colourful wildlife. Ciona intestinalis sea squirts tipped with bright yellow rings, blue star ascidian sea squirts and lots of variegated scallops decked out in marbled patterns of brilliant orange and pink.

One variegated scallop opens its shell and swims away in jerking side to side movements, like a leaf falling from a tree.

A variegated scallop prepares to swim away

Before we know it, the tide is pushing in and we slip and slide our way across the seaweed-covered rocks back to the sand. The time between the tides is short, just enough to give us a glimpse into this extraordinary marine community before the sea rolls in to cover everything once more. We sit and watch oystercatchers, herons and even a pair of swans fly across the sea, while the children set off into the distance with a metal detector, onto new adventures already.

Visiting a beach like this is an extraordinary privilege. We make sure to leave everything unharmed, to pick up any litter we see and to leave nothing behind. I’m already looking forward to my next visit.

Light bulb sea squirts - and some mystery orange eggs — Light bulb sea squirts – and some mystery orange eggs

Beaches, Wildlife

Sneaky Rockpooling at Bream Cove

March 25, 2018 Heather Buttivant 4 Comments

I wasn’t supposed to be rock pooling at all. It was Other Half’s birthday and we were joining my parents for a walk and lunch to also celebrate my dad’s birthday from the day before. To add to the celebration list, my parents were in the middle of their golden wedding anniversary break at the beautiful Meudon Hotel near the Helford river.

I did well at first, catching up on my parents’ late-night dash across the county to reach the hotel before the snow arrived, while we wandered in the gardens. We stared into the lush ponds and spotted a couple of newts and lots of tadpoles (because it was a family event, nothing like rock pooling).

As we wound our way down the valley we could see the remnants of the snow nestling among the fronds of the tree ferns. We could also see something else glinting in the distance. The sea.

Junior and I picked up the pace. We both knew there was a beach at the end of the path. He was clutching his spade ready for action and I had my camera in my pocket, just in case you understand…

Examining the geology in the cliffs at Bream Cove (I'm already drifting towards the pools). — Examining the geology in the cliffs at Bream Cove (I’m already drifting towards the pools).

While I was talking to Mum on the beach, we happened to drift ever-closer to the rock pools and, well… I couldn’t help myself!

At Bream Cove, like other beaches in this area, the folds and channels in the rocks create lovely gullies and pools. There was no shortage of wildlife to be found on the overhangs and in the sand at the base of the pools.

Each time we approached a new pool a flicker of movement caught my eye. At first I assumed it to be prawns or perhaps small blennies scooting out of sight, then I spotted the tubes.

Fanworm tubes built from sand among the topshells at Bream Cove.

The Acromegalomma vesiculosum fanworms that build these constructions to camouflage and protect themselves are extremely hard to photograph. On the end of each long feathery arm of their fan, they have a dark eyespot. As soon as they sense a change in the light, they retract back into their tubes at lightning speed.

I treated mum to a Cornish Rock Pools comedy spectacle as I crawled about on the rocks attempting to approach them from all different angles. No matter what I tried, the fan worms nearly always retracted before I could get close enough to focus and then stayed stubbornly inside their tubes.

Acromegalomma vesiculosum fan worm - my best shot — Acromegalomma vesiculosum fan worm – my best shot

This beach has a wonderful collection of anemones; the whole area is great for them. In a single pool I found snakelocks anemones, beadlet anemones, a dahlia anemone and a daisy anemone. Like the fanworms, the daisy anemones do a quick disappearing trick when disturbed.

My favourite find of the day was this Harbour crab. All the books tell me it’s a common species, but this was the first one I have ever seen.

Harbour crab (Liocarcinus depurator) at Bream Cove

Like other swimming crabs they have flattened back legs, which act as paddles. In this crab the paddles are a bright blue or purple. Best of all were the eyes, which bulged out like yellow lamps. As I watched the crab demonstrated how it could swivel each eye separately in all directions . A great party trick.

The distinctive blue paddle on the back leg of the harbour crab (Liocarcinus depurator).

Nearby, Other Half (who had wisely decided the only way to get my attention on his birthday was to join me in the rock pools) found this mystery blob. It was around 10cm long and seemingly attached to the seaweed.

It looked vaguely familiar but I didn’t have a clue why. The only white jelly-like blob as big as this that I could think of was squid eggs, which normally come in big clusters, but it looked all wrong.

With the miracle of modern technology, I soon had the answer. The amazing Seasearch Identifications Group on Facebook are poised at their keyboards any time of day of night, ready to identify anything that’s found, no matter how obscure.

Within minutes of posting, I had the answer. Mystery blob was a syphon from a large bivalve mollusc, probably a razor clam or otter shell.

Solved - this is the syphon of a large clam shell, e.g. Razor shell. — Solved – this is the syphon of a large clam shell, e.g. Razor shell.

Quite what it was doing tangled in seaweed halfway up a rock, I’ll never know, but as soon as I saw the answer I knew why it had looked so familiar. Huge thanks to David Fenwick who runs the brilliant Aphotomarine species identification site, which is also well worth a visit any time you’re struggling to identify something.

Another great little crustacean find was this St Piran’s Crab.

St Piran's Hermit Crab (Clibanarius erythropus) showing its equal-sized claws — St Piran’s Hermit Crab (Clibanarius erythropus) showing its equal-sized claws

Since they reappeared in Cornwall a couple of years back, they’ve been popping up everywhere. I only saw one, but with plenty of empty shells around, I’m sure there must have been others.

St Piran's Hermit crab on the move with its black and white eyes sticking out. — St Piran’s Hermit crab on the move with its black and white eyes sticking out.

The tide was falling beautifully and I could see more pools emerging. I had to accept, though, that if I wanted my family to ever speak to me again, I’d better tear myself away from the rock pools for the birthday lunch.

Bream Cove, like so many others on this wonderful stretch of coastline between Falmouth and the Helford, is firmly on my return visit list. There aren’t any facilities at the beach, but you can always pop up to the Meudon Hotel for a luxury cream tea!

I’ll leave you with a few more photos from my sneaky rockpooling excursion.

A striped venus shell (Chamelea gallina). There were lots of these living in the sand.

The moult of a Hairy crab (Pilumnus hirtellus) — Hairy crab (Pilumnus hirtellus)

Painted topshell from above - the patterns make my eyes go funny! — Painted topshell from above – the patterns make my eyes go funny!

Dahlia anemone with tentacles partly retracted - the column is sticky so is covered with fragments of shell. — Dahlia anemone with tentacles partly retracted – the column is sticky so is covered with fragments of shell.

An overcast Bream Cove looking towards Falmouth.

Beaches, Wildlife

Rockpooling With Mum

September 24, 2014 Heather Buttivant 5 Comments

My mum will be seventy this year, but she cuts a sprightly figure as she steps across the rocks at Castle Beach. In a rare, precious moment we have time together, surrounded by glittering pools and a wide open bay.

Mum exploring Cornish rock pools. — Rockpooling with Mum, Castle Beach, Cornwall.

These are the moments we hoped for not so many years ago when Mum was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to a blood transfusion to give her the strength to make it through her cancer operation. Continue reading Rockpooling With Mum →

Beaches, Books

The Selfish Shellfish – The story of a Cornish Rock Pool

August 2, 2014 Heather Buttivant Leave a comment

It feels like we’re living out a scene from the children’s picture book about a Cornish rock pool, The Selfish Shellfish.

I’m with the author, Grandma Paint Pot (Donna Painter), on Castle Beach in Falmouth, where her story is set. The tide is rising fast and we’re slithering about on a wet rock while we watch limpets, top shells and anemones coming to life as the waves push in. Continue reading The Selfish Shellfish – The story of a Cornish Rock Pool →

Events

Summer Holiday Rock Pooling Events in Cornwall 2014

July 22, 2014 Heather Buttivant 6 Comments

Rock pooling with the experts is a great way to explore the shore this summer. Below is a full list of events where you can find amazing rock pool creatures and learn all about them.

Have a fantastic summer!

Please check the full event details with the relevant organisation page before attending in case of changes and cancellations. Continue reading Summer Holiday Rock Pooling Events in Cornwall 2014 →