Beachcombing

 

Beachcombing probably originated as people gathered essential resources such as wood or simply picked up unfamiliar objects out of curiosity. Tropical drift seeds, or sea beans, for example, are carried across the Atlantic from the Americas by ocean currents. Our Marine Conservation Group has given it a more educational approach as we take groups for a discovery of the creatures that inhabit the intertidal areas and rocky shore as we walk towards the sea, study the geology of Polzeath, the effects of the tides on the mollusc population, identify the seaweeds, and analyse the ever changing structure of the sands.

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Everything that the sea casts up onto the shore has a story to tell. Some objects give us glimpses into the lives of marine creatures living nearby, others speak of long-distance voyages and a life on the ocean waves, or tell us about our own lives and careless habits. Plastic pollution for example!

 

Crab Moults, Mermaid's Purses and Cuttlebone are just some of the signs of our marine life that can be seen whilst beachcombing with us.

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The rocks of Cornwall also have an amazing story to tell.  At Polzeath they have unusual stripy slate formations in purple and greens, and contain minerals rich in tin and copper. Hear about the local rock formation history and see how the faults in the rocks have been exploited by all the different wave energies and check out the molluscs such as dog whelks and limpets that live on them.

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The beach is a much more interesting environment when you understand the life of our marine creatures that live there!

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For more information about booking, please see here.