Shoresearch Week 2017

Shoresearch week 2017 was held between October the 6th and 10th during the largest spring tides of the autumn, and despite being slightly later in the year than in previous years we were very lucky with the weather and we had a great team of surveyors join in! This is a five day rockpooling mission taking in all five of Cornwall's Voluntary Marine Conservation Zones - St Agnes, Fowey, Helford, Polzeath and Looe. Here are some highlights in photos:

Happy Shoresearch crew on the shore at Readymoney Cove Fowey

Anthea with sea scorpion Taurulus bubalis,

Tiny cushion star, Asterina phylactica  found by Heather at Readymoney, Fowey  Matt Slater

Dahlia anemones -  Polzeath -  Adele Morgan

Blue Rayed Limpet - Matt Slater 

Celtic Sea Slug, Onchidella celtica, Readymoney, Fowey  Adele Morgan

Cocks Comb weed Adele Morgan, Prisk Cove

Pterocladiella capillacea - St Agnes Matt Slater 

Gem Anemone Aulactinia verrucosa Matt Slater

C

Checking a fish trap

Giant goby 22cm long found at Prisk Cove by Sue Scott 

Giant goby  at Hannafore - found by Niki Clear

Matt and common prawn

Spiny Starfish, Marthasterias glacias

Juvenile Montagu's blenny Coryphoblennius galerita Matt Slater 

Devonshire cup coral Carophyllia smithii

Cancer pagurus - the Pasty Crab  Matt Slater

Polyides rotunda - red seawed Matt Slater 

Sea Lemon, Doris pseudoargus Hannfore point, Looe  photo Matt Slater 

Common Shanny Photo Adele Morgan

 Common Shanny shows its impressive teeth! used for biting the legs off barnacles! 

Sphareoma serratum -  Photo Matt Slater

Sphareoma serratum  - an isopod which rolls in a ball when disturbed! Was abundant amongst rocks on the high shore, Prisk Cove.

Velvet swimming crab Polzeath 

Tompot blenny, St agnes photo Matt Slater 

To celebrate the end of Shoresearch Week Adele made this delicious vegan chocolate cake! 

Stars of the shore

Star Ascidians - Botryllus shlosseri 

These amazing creatures are relatively common on Cornish shores but they come in an incredible variety of beautiful colours and forms. Close up photography on our shoresearch surveys this September and over the years have produced some incredible images of these beautiful communal animals whose colours rival any tropical corals.

Gold arrows - found at Hannafore Looe Sept 2014 - Photo Matt Slater

Golden Star ascidian found growing on the stipe of a bushy Cystoceira seaweed, Prisk Cove, Helford September 2014 - photo by Matt Slater

Purple and white -  Marazion night rockpooling 2014 - Photo by Matt Slater

Yellow Star ascidians found at Poleath 2012 Shoresearch - Photo Matt Slater

Sometimes star ascidians carpet overhangs and continue to grow - in this slow motion dripping effect! Photographed at Polzeath during September Shoresearch 2014- Photo Matt Slater

 Star ascidians are colonial sea squirts that live by filtering sea water and removing plankton
Unlike most sea squirts which are solitary creatures star ascidians grow in large colonies in which many individuals (zooids) are joined together in a soft rubbery layer (test) attached rock or seaweed. Look closely at the colony and you will see that 3 - 12 individual squirts are arranged in a circle. Sea squirts are a sack like creature with an inhalent opening through which they draw plankton rich water and an exhalent opening through which filtered water and faeces pass. In the case of a star ascidian each squirt has its own inhalent opening but all of its neighbors share the same communal exhalent opening. Taking communal living to an extreme!

Star ascidian growing on seaweed Hannafore Lagoon 2013 september Shoresearch - Photo Matt Slater

Star ascidians are rubbery and beautiful but they do have their predators! Cowries feed on them by squirting digestive juices into them and then sucking out the juice! Look for cowries in the same habitat as star ascidians - over hanging rocks and boulders on the extreme low shore (only exposed on a spring tide!)

Cowrie, Trivia Monacha, photographed on the shore at Battery Rocks Penzance by Matt Slater

Night Rockpooling at Marazion!

Midnight Madness at Marazion! Photo copywrite Alan Barker

 What an amazing experience! Despite light drizzle our volunteers only Night Rockpooling session at Marazion causeway was far better than expected! Setting out in our wetsuits and high viz vests and head torches anyone looking on must have wondered what we were up to! Crabs were out and about everywhere and seemed very surprised to be disturbed by crazy humans with torches!
Standing in the shallows our torches attracted hoards of tiny mysid shrimps, prawns and juvenile fish. We were soon joined by inch long adult atlantic cuttlefish. these guys are absolute beauties and although we had seen some on the day time survey we were treated to far more sightings on the night rockpooling!

The survey highlighted once again the incredible diversity of life on this shore and proved that night rockpooling allows you to build a much more full picture of the species present. Particularly species that are more active at night such as fish, crustaceans and cephalopods!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KAGnqnXGWs&feature=youtu.be

Shore crab in Torch light, Matt Slater 

Atlantic or little Cuttle Sepiola atlantica (approx 20mm total length), Matt Slater 

Star Ascidian Bottryllus shlosseri - a colonial sea squirt (each star approx 5mm across), Matt Slater

Dahlia anemone glowing blue in LED torch light, Matt Slater

A tiny baby tompot blenny found beneath a large boulder. (length approx 2 cm). Matt Slater

A beautiful sea slug Eubranchus farrani found by Jake Meyers and Trudy Russell. (Length approx 10mm), Matt Slater

Decorator crab Macropodia spp (Width approx 4cm), covered in sea weed for camoflague. Matt Slater

Shoresearch Hannafore point Looe 22nd September 2013