We've found a crayfish!

Yes, what luck! We have been on a lovely walk along the Forge Valley trail today, which runs down towards a small river.

In that river, just minding it's own business was a small White-clawed crayfish! Must've been about 4" long. We couldn't catch it, but we did get some grainy pictures (maintains the elusive character, you see :P).

We plan a future trip to this river now, armed with some extra knowledge that a ruddy-faced fisherman gave us. We shall attach some bacon to the net, and submerge it slightly in the silt bottom of the river for 30 mins or so. Hopefully, a crayfish will be caught, then we can get some better pictures.

Still pretty amazing though! The small black area on the middle of the picture (top) is the crayfish. You can just about make out its claws.

Steve

Day trips

There was a little change in the order of our day trips, but ah whaddya gonna do?!

On Monday we took a trip to Peasholm Park, in search of butterflies. I can report that the search went very well, and so did the photo-taking! Peasholm Park is a lovely place, and the long grass is perfect for many species of butterfly. The mini-waterfalls make for great hpto opportunities too.

On Tuesday we went to Scalby Beck, hoping to catch a rare White-clawed Crayfish. Sadly, we never found one, but we did get some good pictures of freshwater fish, as well as some lovely scenic shots again. The weather has been so kind to us, and has really made these trips worthwhile.

Today (Wednesday) we went to Cayton Bay in search of fossils. Apart from a few small Belemnites and a few Devil's Toenails, we did't find much. Again, the views and scenery were perfect, so more snaps! We also found plenty of Carnelian stones in nearby Cornelian Bay.

To view a picture slideshow of the last three trips, please visit my Youtube channel...

http://www.youtube.com/user/CUTIEP1388

Feel free to browse around the other marine life videos too!

Steve

Cayton Bay

Yes that's our destination on Tuesday. Slightly further south than Cornelain Bay; we have the option of catching a bus, or having a nice walk (I know which one I'd plump for).

As it is a new site, we don't know what to expect. We have a plan if it doesn't live up to expectations, and that is to just keep going south on to the next bay. You never know, we might end up in Filey before we're satisfied!

So, after Tuesday, I'll have a memory card full of pictures of a wide range of marine organisms, and perhaps a few scenic pictures too.

I look forward to posting them,

Steve

Future trips

Well now that the end of doing coursework is in sight (finally!), we can start thinking more about having days out.

Next Tuesday, we will be off on a rockpooling trip, thought I'm not sure where yet. If we are ambitious enough, then we might try a new site further south of Cornelian Bay, otherwise it'll be somewhere familiar.

The crayfish hunting will be later next week, hopefully the dry weather will hold.

With the youtube channel getting some much appreciated attention (thanks secretpenfold!), we hope to get an even more extensive video catalogue of marine life found.

I'll post the date of our crayfish trip as soon as possible, in the meantime...

...watch this space!

Steve

Cornelian Bay

Hello!

We visited a new site on Friday, and although it didn't really fulfill our expectations, it was close enough to wonder to nearby Cornelian Bay.

Last time we went there, we got trapped by the tide, and had to wade through waist-high seawater! This time, we paid a little more attention!

We found a huge diversity of life again, and another lobster! This one was pretty small if I'm honest, but nevertheless, he was a beaut!

I took my macro lenses down with me, so I managed to get some nice close-ups of Porcelain Crabs, and glass prawns.

We were out for a good 6 hours, and needless to say, I got a little sunburnt. All in all though, it was an excellent day!

A quick note on the coming weeks:

We are on study leave at the moment, and this is a good thing, because on the days that we aren't studying, we can have a day out (weather permitting).

A primary site of interest is Scalby Beck, a freshwater river. We hope to catch the rare White-clawed Crayfish. They are few and far between now due to the invasion of Signal Crayfish from America. they have forced out the White-claws, and have also brought a crayfish plague along with them, which affects the white-claws more than other crayfish species.

Happily, they have been recorded in Scalby Beck, and our aim is to find one and take a photo!

In the not to distant future, these crustaceans are likely to become extinct, so getting a photo of one now is essential!

Here's hoping,

Steve

Diversity

Hello!

Last nights rockpooling really trated us to a vast array of organisms, from Annelids, to Echinoderms, to Chordates, to Crustaceans, we found all-sorts!

It was a mixed night from a lumpsucker point of view. The good news is that we found 4 lumpsuckers, but the bad news is that one was found dead, and another one was found stranded in a small and shallow rockpool. Thankfully, we released the stranded fish into a much deeper rockpool, so hopefully we have given it a chance of survival. The really low tides can be pretty deadly to fish as large as the lumpsucker, as they can easily get trapped in small, draining rockpools.

Now for something new, Plaice! Two small juveniles were found last night, one just 15mm long, the other a less microscopic 60mm (pictured).

The most abundant organisms on the rocky shore last night were the crustaceans! There were Velvet Swimmer Crabs in almost every rockpool, with Shore Crabs and Palaemon elegans (prawn) also found in simialr abundance.

We are taking advantage of our day off on Friday to check out a small new site, and with the weather currently playing ball, we have high hopes for more exciting finds!

Watch this space!

Steve

Finally caught a lobster! (re-post 2nd May 2008)

Hello!

Yes at last we have caught the previously elusive lobster! It wasn't even a proper rockpooling trip - we were just heading back from town the beach way, and were walking across the rocks with the tide going out, and James spotted the lobster crawling on the bottom of a small rockpool.

45 minutes later, after I had gone back for all the equipment whilst James kept watch, we managed to get him out for some richly rewarding pictures!

The colours really are striking!

Steve

Fish, fish, and more fish! (re-post 1st May 2008)

Hello again!

With the weather getting warmer, it's no real surprise that we have been encountering more fish of late. A couple of pregnant fish too; a rockling and another lumpsucker.

The female lumpsucker found today is the biggest fish we have caught here in Scarborough. She was 50cm long, 20cm wide, and 25cm high, really incredible dimensions for a fish found in a rockpool!

We have also seen butterfish, eels, and shanny's, as well as the lumpsucker and rockling.

Steve

Lumpsucker (re-post 22nd April 2008)

Hello!

What a find tonight! The first ever lumpsucker that we have seen was caught last night. At the time, we had no idea what it was, until two members of The Weather Outlook Community suggested that it was a lumpsucker the following morning. A quick check on marLIN confirmed that it was indeed a lumpsucker!

The fish was a male, and was probably protecting eggs. They come further inshore during the spring months, which is why we had seen nothing like it over the winter months. The fish was 35cm long, 12cm wide, and 14cm high. The two striking things about the fish was the colour; a really bright red/orange; and the sheer size, it's a really chunky fish!

I'm really looking forward to what we might find over the rest of spring, and indeed summer.

Steve