Explore Your Shore
What Can We Learn About Our Ocean While Walking Along The Shore
Many people would think the beaches are just for swimming and enjoying the sun (when it appears). However, there is much more to the shore, and it was a wonderful opportunity to join the team at Clayton Hotel for a Clean Coasts beach clean and Rock Pool experience. We can learn so much about the ocean, by discovering some of the biofacts (and litter) that can wash up on the shore. On the day of the experience, the Aquarium introduced some of the concepts of ocean literacy. We talked about evidence of life in the ocean and found a wonderful native shark egg case to prove there is life in the sea. We discovered lots of Ray egg cases too.
Image 2. Bull Huss, (Scyliorhinus stellaris) egg case.
The egg cases and other examples of life in the Bay are often found washed up on the shore, we can tell a lot about the health of Sharks and Rays in the Bay by keeping a record of our discoveries.
We also found some ‘Fishermans Soap’, the washed-up Whelk egg casts.
The team from Clayton was amazed by the treasures that could be found on the shore, and it was a lovely day by the sea. We also completed a Clean Coasts #2minutebeachclean as the beach is cared for by many groups it was relatively tidy with only a small bit of litter to be taken away.
The Rockpool
After finishing our beach clean, we saved the BEST FOR LAST!! The Explore Your Shore rockpool experience offers much excitement, as we try and discover some of the life that hides under the rocks along the tide pools. As we ventured into the pools, we found some beautiful Blennies, Pipefish, Shorecrabs and Anemones.
Image 3. Blenny Shanny (Lipophrys pholis)
After our exploration, we gave ourselves a small break on the beach and just took in the ambiance of the shore. We rubbed our hands in seaweed to get some vitamin sea into our skin too.
It was a really chilled day, and while we did say the Rockpool can be hit or miss in discovering marine species we did manage to find some species after all. We removed some marine litter from the shore and learned about ocean literacy, a good day. The beach is a great place to explore with family and friends, and now we learned something new. If you are planning a break in Galway, why not check out the Clayton Hotel? The staff are really friendly and have a good awareness of the environment and can also offer you some new ideas about what to do by the shore. If you would like to visit the Aquarium, to see our own native marine life have a look at our website.
