The children spent quite some time playing on the sand and in the dunes before deciding to do some paddling and beach combing.
We ended up walking quite a long way along the beach at the shore line and found many things of interest to look at and discuss.
We found lots of sea gooseberries that had washed up with the last tide, these are not technically jellyfish they are a marine invertebrate. They tend to only live a few months and die after spawning but just in case any were washed up by accident and were still alive the children decided to return them to the sea.
Finds like this usually inspire the children to learn what they can about the life cycle and this link leads to a wonderful website called Arkive where you can find out more about this creature and see photos of it in the water if you choose to.
My daughter also found a fish head and some dog whelk shells which were slightly worn away to reveal the beautiful inner spiral.
Our disappointing find of the day was some rubbish and lots of old fishing line and hooks which we decided to collect and take to the nearest rubbish bin as we were a little concerned that someone or one of the beach combing sea birds could have been injured. It is important to keep our wild spaces rubbish free and safe for all, it only takes a second.
I am amazed by the sea gooseberry, I have never seen one in my life - or never knowingly seen one at least - despite having lived near the sea my entire childhood and spending at least a day every week on the beach! what a lovely find, and thank you for drawing my attention to it.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, the children love beach combing and are often spotting things washed up by the waves :)
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