Families urged to turn detective and learn about the seashore
Friday 18th February 2011
There’s much more to the seashore than seashells, and now there’s a new and fun way to find out what, with The Wildlife Trusts.
The Wildlife Trusts are enabling the UK’s families to turn detective and identify some of our most intriguing sea-life – sandhoppers, the crustacean with springing power, and the delicate brittlestar - with a new identification guide, aimed at beachcombers. The Seashore Detectives’ Handbook is published in partnership with educational publisher, Miles Kelly.
Animals that live around the seashore have the added mystery that they inhabit an underwater world entirely different to ours.
Everything from spotting the well-camouflaged shrimp to bright beach-loving birds is available in this handbook, which helps identify UK species, encouraging notes, sketches and record-keeping.
Naturalist, broadcaster, presenter and The Wildlife Trusts’ Vice President, Nick Baker, explains: “Leave your bucket and spade, ice cream and sandcastles behind and start exploring the shore. With rockpools full of life, the treasures of the strandline and the hidden world beneath your feet on a sandy shore - you’ll be amazed at what you can find.
“Despite having turned over rocks and dug around in the sand and the seaweed pretty much all my life; I still find something new every time I go exploring on the seashore.”
Watching nature in action is an amazing experience. And animals that live around the seashore have the added mystery that they inhabit an underwater world entirely different to ours.
As Dr Lissa Batey, Living Seas officer for The Wildlife Trusts, says of rockpools: “There is no more fascinating place to look for wildlife than a rockpool. Hermit crabs are diligently searching for their next home, some of them with a live anemone perched on the top of their shell.
“There are bright seaweeds, shiny blobs and chalky shells stuck to rocks all waiting for a keen detective to come along and identify them.”
The handbook is available to purchase from the Miles Kelly website and other online retailers http://www.mileskelly.net/products-.page/handbooks/.
Story by RSWT