SPECIES TO LOOK OUT FOR
Common whelk egg case
Known as ‘sea wash balls’, these spongy masses of common whelk eggs are regularly encountered along strandlines. Gathering together to spawn, each individual whelk will lay about 1,000 eggs in a small lensshaped pouch, before adhering it to others to produce the distinctive spherical ball. Only the first eggs in each pouch generally survive, as they succeed by devouring their siblings.
Common cuttlefish bone
Like their octopus cousins, cuttlefish are soft-bodied, but differ due to the presence of an internal bone, which is used to control buoyancy. They breed just once before dying and frequently only the bone survives long enough to reach the strandline. Collected bones, composed of calcium carbonate, often become a dietary supplement for pet budgies.
Slipper limpets
Originating from North America, slipper limpets are now locally abundant in the southern half of the UK. The pinkish oval shell has a distinctive white shelf on its underside, making it look like a slipper. Often forming stacks, only the largest mollusc at the bottom is female and those at the top are male.
Mermaid’s purse
The washed-up egg cases of a variety of sharks, skates and rays are anchored to the sea floor for up to a year while the embryo develops. Those belonging to the small-spotted cat shark (formerly the lesserspotted dogfish) have curly tendrils at each corner and are certainly one of the commonest along our strandlines.
Moon jellyfish
Being simple creatures that drift around in the sea, largely at the behest of the tides and currents, jellyfish are prone to mass stranding if driven ashore by strong winds. The moon jellyfish is common in UK waters and easily recognised by its transparent bell adorned with four pinkish-purple rings – these are the reproductive organs.