Brown crab (Credit Jason Armstrong)
Large brown crab, small nut crab, squat lobster, prawn and shrimp all find shelter in the kelp forests here.
Here you can find colourful marine life including cuckoo wrasse, leopard spotted gobie and cuttlefish.
There is a wonderful diversity of rocky seabed habitats lying off the south-west corner of the Isle of Wight, in the water below the lighthouse at St Catherine’s Point. Many species that occur here are not found farther east along the Channel, including the aptly-named black-footed limpet and Montagu's stellate barnacle.
There are lush seaweed forests of large brown kelp with an understorey of colourful sponges, anemones and soft corals living among some rare and delicate small red seaweeds. Large brown crabs, small nut crabs, squat lobsters, prawns and shrimp all find shelter in the kelp forests, rocky outcrops and ledges in this area. The colourful cuckoo wrasse and ballan wrasse, leopard spotted goby and tompot blenny are among the diversity of fish species that can be found here, alongside cuttlefish, starfish and sea snails.
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 inputting into this review.
Other nearby MCZs
Location map
St Catherine’s Point 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 |
|---|---|
| St Catherine’s Point.pdf | 328.45 KB |