Scarborough Rockpooling
rockpool fauna
News - OCTOBER 2009 (updated 19th October)
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Photos will be uploaded tonight (19th October), we got some pretty rad photos and video.
As a taster for what you can expect with future videos and photos, here is a short video of a lobster we found at last Saturday's low tides...
No other updates at this time.
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Another quick update...
We have good news and bad news. I'll start with the good news, like any good announcer. We have all the equipment we need, including an underwater camera, and a video camcorder, ready for the next low tide! Incidentally, the next low tide is this Saturday, with a low tide of 0.82m at 09:32am. The weather looks good, and it should be a great trip.
The bad news is the mega-site update has been put on hold due to illness throughout this week and last weekend. The plan was to catch up a bit last Saturday and proceed from there, but I've been suffering pretty bad flu symptoms since last Friday that only abated on Tuesday this week, so we are now further behind.The November deadline is out of the window, so you can expect the site to be full updated before the new year.
Stay tuned for some spectacular underwater photos!
Steve
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October plans...
A new month brings new tides. We have been thrust right back into a full-time uni programme, so things are getting busy. Hopefully we will be able to manage one or two low tides this month (18th and 19th perhaps). By then I will have an underwater camera, and a video camera to record the findings. We were hoping to go out on Monday to video some common sealife critters, but a combination of weather, illness, and university lectures put paid to that idea.
Next year we hope to visit Filey Brigg for the first time. I went there yesterday with the university and found a worm pipefish which we saw a few of down in Devon. The shore is very different to Holbeck and Scalby, with a thick silt/sand/muddy seabed and extensive mussel beds. Diversity seemed lower, but there is potential for new species there, such as a pea crab. Definitely worth a look next year during spring.
The big site update is going well. I am a few days behind currently due to a busy beginning to the week. However I have caught up with it today, and should be fully on target come the weekend.
In the meantime, enjoy this autumnal week!
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A quick update
Hello again. Eagle-eyed readers will notice a new page has suddenly appeared on the site. This is the 'Species List' page, and features a list of everything we have seen amongst and in the rockpools in Scarborough, excluding algae and some common upper-shore organisms. Go on, have a butchers.
The secret BIG update has begun! Going by current pace, which is a happy balance between fast and slow, I will have the update complete and online by November 23rd, give or take a couple of days.
I got my new JVC Everio MG275 standard definition camcorder on Tuesday, and I plan to try it out on Saturday, videoing edible crabs, shore crabs and the like. All weather permitting of course!
That's pretty much it! I shall continue with the updates, and you can look forward to an exciting change come the end of November!
Steve
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Looking Ahead
Hello there from Steve, the other half is probably sleeping or something boring (childish James I know :-P). I have some exciting revisions to make to this site over the coming couple of months, with everything completed before Christmas (fingers crossed on that one).
There will be a big revision during this period, but it will not change the site in any way until it's happened (ie, when the change comes it'll happen all at once rather than a slow process which disrupts everything). It'll take a while, but I'm determined to get it done. What is it you say? Well I can't possibly say; it's a surprise until it's done!
Shortly after I've published this homepage update, I will add our first jellyfish to these pages. Specifically to the 'Other Species' page as it is a member of the Cnidarians, so does not fall into any of our other categories. It is a moon jellyfish (we are not 100% sure, but we are pretty confident it isn't anything else :-))
By Christmas time, I will hopefully have updated some of our pictures with true underwater photos. I am soon to be purchasing a Vivitar underwater camera, a cheap 8.1MP jobbie that goes to a depth of 10m. It's not the most quality piece of kit, but it is ideal for rockpools.
I will also have a new camcorder in my possession soon too, which will get excellent SD footage of as many rockpool critters as possible, and all videos will be uploaded to the SeaScarborough youtube channel (see the contact us page for more)
Our next tides are between the 16th and 19th of October, but the likelihood is we will not be able to make some of those tides due to study and part time work constraints. Hopefully we can rockpool on one or two of those dates though.
That's all,
Ciao!
Steve
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New Species Found!
Good afternoon! Last weekend we went rockpooling on three separate occasions, and the finds came thick and fast. Six definite new species were found, with a few more yet to be identified.
Here's a taster, with the rest of the new species to be added in the relevant pages.
A squat lobster, Galathea nexa
It is similar to Galathea strigosa, without the prominent blue markings on the carapace. G. nexa has large hairy red-tipped chelipeds that distinguish it from G. squamifera
The second new species for Scarborough is the Sea Hare, Aplysia punctata. We saw at least three, all of which were 2cm long at most. They can grow as large as 20cm long. They were found amongst green algae on the middle and lower shore.
The other new species that have been identified will be uploaded to the relevant pages today, along with a few other species that for one reason or another have not made it on to the site (Corkwing wrasse for instance).
Small revisions to the site over the coming couple of months include a new mollusc page, seen as we are accumulating plenty of mollusc pictures. The more common molluscs such as periwinkles and limpets will also be added to this new page.
Also, a complete species list page will be added, so you can see just what we have found on our rockpooling trips.
Finally, a special Devon page will be added, as in July we visited the SW coastline to rockpool for different organisms. We think a page is deserved for our finds down there!
Shreddies!
Steve
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Facebook & Twitter
Hello there. Because we are now on Google and therefore popular, we have decided to extend our barnacle encrusted claws to Twitter and Facebook, which are social networking sites or something.
Anyway, you can share things like our amazing site on Facebook, and also see our frequent twitter updates by following us!
In other news, we have now completed two out of three rockpooling days this month, and we have seen a fantastic variety of organisms, some of which are new to us at Scarborough, so look out for updates next week.
Cheerio!
STEVE
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Greetings Traveler...
And a hello from me, James, the other half of this here rockpooling site. You haven't heard from me before, as Stephen thought I couldn't be trusted with the webpage, but I aim to prove him wrong. Look out for site updates over the coming week.
In other news, we are going out rockpooling tomorrow at Holbeck, to the right of are normal search area. We don't often go this far to the right of the beach, but that should work in our favour as it will hopefully be relatively undisturbed, and should have a good diversity of organisms. Low tide is 0.44m at 11.34 am.
Wish us luck!
James
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The lumpsuckers have arrived!
We visited out first daytime low tide yesterday, which was a respectable 1.07m at 11:21am. A variety of organisms were found, as is expected nowadays. Happily, our target of finding a lumpsucker was met, and here he is!...
Quite a decent size for a male, I think you'll agree. Unfortunately for this lumpsucker though, he was overshadowed by a new species, and it is our first ever..........cephalopod!
It was a little cuttlefish, scientifically know as Sepiola atlantica and we were exceptionally lucky to see it, as they spend the majority of their time buried partially or completely under the sand. He was just 2cm long, and you can see him here...
It was an amazing find and easily up there with the best, if not the best find ever for us. He even squirted ink for us before we caught him. Very adorable, I can assure you.
The cherry on top of the cake though, is the video we took when we released him back into the pool. He sank down to the bottom before burying himself under the sand, even using his wide-front tentacles to throw sand on top of his body. It was incredible to watch, and now you can watch him too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxq-BWCdkV8
Please click the HD link. In my excitement, I did get a little close and as a result the cuttle is always a little bit out of focus. If you watch it in HD, then you will be able to see the tentacles of the cuttle much better, and that's a good thing!
We may be going to Filey Brigg on Monday next week, so stand by for further reports on this home page.
Steve
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No lumpsuckers yet, but after Easter they should start coming inshore for us to
see and video in HD!!
Yes unfortunately for me, the rockpools duriung early March's low tides were lumpsucker free, but it wasn't until May last year when we saw our first, so it was a long shot.
AFTER EASTER
We will be away from Scarborough until April 20th, roughly. After our break, we shall be day rockpooling and travelling more often. In addition to this, we will have a camcorder with HD video capabilities, meaning great quality footage of Britain's rockpools and wildlife!! Awesome!
Personally I can't wait, but I am looking forward to being home for 3 weeks!
Steve
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With my accomplice away on teaching practice, it will be just me who rockpools this month, with one visit tonight at 23:30 low tide (0.49m), and one visit tomorrow morning at around 11:30am with the tide at 0.95m.
I am hoping to see a lumpsucker for the first time this year, as the warmer spring weather entices them into shallow water to breed. It wasn;t until May lasy year when we saw a lumpsucker, but hopefully I'll stricke it lucky this month!
Updates soon,
Steve - posted at 21:55 on March 12th
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February's stunningly low tides did not disappoint, and we have added a new
species to our ever-growing list.
We visited Scalby Mills twice, and Holbeck once, although strictly speaking our first trip was called off before the low tide occured, due to bad weather.
Our new species came at Scalby Mills, on the 10th February, with a low tide of 0.42m, our second lowest tide ever. The new species was......a painted topshell! I shall add it to the 'Other Species' page very soon, once I get hold of the scientific name.
At a rather snowy Holbeck, we experienced a low tide of 0.41m, making it our lowest tide ever. I was rather excited to find a pool right at low water, knowing I was never going to see it again after that night. I eagerly turned over rocks and indeed found a rich diversity of life, even a sea lemon, which is a first for Holbeck. A large shanny and several species of crabs also found (none new).
Slightly higher on the shore we found our second ever great spider crab, which almost felt like a new species, they are seen so seldomly!
To see a more thorough account of both trips, consult these threads...
Otherwise, enjoy the last icy growls of a particularly cold winter!
Steve
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[January]
Ahoy-hoy!
January's low tides proved to be as fruitful as expected, and we found a wide
range of organisms on four separate trips.
Our first two trips were to Holbeck, on the 11th and 12th of January. The 13th and 14th of January saw us visit Scalby Mills for the lowest tides we have ever experienced (until next month!)
We saw two lobsters in total, and surprisingly, both were found at Scalby. Holbeck was a little bit of a disappointment, with no new species seen and no lobsters, but Scalby made up that, and also gave us a new species...
The above fish is a Black Goby, and was found on the middle shore at Scalby. It was approximately 10cm long and was found underneath a stone in a shallow pool. A Long-Spined Sea Scorpion was also found in the same pool. rock Goby's do not commonly grow much bigger than 12cm, so it is likely that we caught a mature adult example of this attractive fish.
Here are the two lobsters that were caught at Scalby...
One of the most abundant invertebrates found on the four rockpooling trips was the Broad-Clawed Porcelain Crab, which was an extremely frequent find underneath stones on the middle and lower shore. 
You'll no doubt notice the large yellow/white blob next to the crab. It's the Return of the Sea Lemon! At Scalby we saw six Sea Lemons, compared to just the one last winter. The picture actually shows three Sea Lemons clustered together.
That is just a selection of finds that were photographed at Holbeck and Scalby in January. For further photographs and information, please visit my forum post here
Steve
