Pink sea fan (Credit Paul Naylor)
This area is important for the rare pink sea fan. Each sea fan is actually a colony of anemone like animals which fix themselves to the seabed.
Over time honeycomb worms have created reefs from their protective tubes of sand and gravel here.
Located within the Lyme Bay and Torbay Special Area of Conservation (SAC), the northern boundary of this site follows the mean high water mark from Seven Rock Point to just west of Devonshire Head.
This is a shallow area, with depths of around 10 metres and is characterised by the rocky and gravel habitats found here as well as the reefs created by the honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolata. These worms create tubes out of sand and gravel, which over time build into large reefs, providing important habitat for species such as crabs, blennies, winkles and mussels.
This area is also important for the rare pink sea fan. Each sea fan is actually a colony of anemone like animals which fix themselves to the seabed, filtering their food out of the water.
This recommended Marine Conservation Zone is ON HOLD at the moment as it was recommended as a Reference Area.
This site was put forward as a Reference Area (a highly protected MCZ). Defra are reviewing the designation of these sites. The Wildlife Trusts will be contributing to this review. We remain highly supportive of the protection offered to habitats and species in this area by the closure of the Lyme Bay Reefs to bottom-towed mobile fishing gear and welcome the results of monitoring that shows recovery of seabed communities on the reefs and sediment habitats between them.
Other nearby MCZs
Location map
Lyme Bay recommended MCZ is located in the map below.
Contains UKHO Law of the Sea data. Crown copyright and database right and contains Ordnance Survey Data Crown copyright and database 2012
Downloads
| Filename | File size |
|---|---|
| Lyme Bay.pdf | 545.64 KB |