beachcombing
I found a rope of these lovely Goose Barnacles at Brighton Marina. These filter feeding crustaceans are called Goose Barnacles because the stem and shell is said to resemble a gooses head and neck.
Indeed in very distant times it was thought that Barnacle Geese somehow hatched from these. These beauties are consumed in Portugal and Spain as a delicacy known as percebes.
Longshore drift and the prevailing winds mean that a lot of flotsam and jetsam collects against the west arm of Brighton Marina. Here is a romantically named Mermaid’s Purse- The egg case of a skate fish.
The small triangle of land by the west arm is designated a Site of Nature Conservation Interest because its a Vegetated Shingle Habitat. Vegetated shingle is an extremely rare habitat and associated plants and animals are often unusual and highly adapted to lack of water, exposure and high levels of salt.
I was delighted to see some very early stems of Sea Kale unfurling.
Unfortunately the tide does bring unwelcome cargos. This is an old and smelly lump of palm oil about the size of a car tyre.
There is a lot of it about this year- It makes dogs ill if ingested.
Horrendous amounts of plastic too.
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