Combesgate

Wonderful Wild West......

Coastwise members regularly make a visit to “foreign” shores, organised by Mavis Symons and under the guidance of marine experts Trudy Russell and Jason Birt.

This year over 20 of us went to beaches to the west of Padstow, Porth Mear and Trevone, during the weekend of 9-11 April, chosen for its good low tides.  

Wild weather including rain and winds of over 50mph were forecast but in the event largely spared us for some excellent sunny shore-time amidst spectacular seas during a visit we all  hailed a great success.

Our busy schedule included several hours at each location matched by coffee time poring over photos of our finds long into the afternoons, Treyarnon YHA & Trevone Beach Café proving to be tolerant hosts.  The Well Parc was the restaurant of choice for the evenings and rewarded us with lots of good food, but not before we had risen to the challenge of Mavis’s quirky quiz.

Impressive species lists at Trevone and Porthmear included some notable finds. At Porth Mear (2nd R) Trudy led us to fine arrays of Scarlet and Gold Star Corals (shown 5th R),

Jason showed us a Two-spotted Clingfish, and the rare Hermit Crab Clibanarius erythropus, which attracted much attention (3rd R) and which was discovered by Janice Whittington.

Nudibranchs featured at Trevone (Top R) - Goniodoris nodosa, Facelina coronata and the tiny Aegires punctilucens, spotted under the microscope later.   Jason’s determined efforts (4th R) with various keys ensured that all but the most intractable worms were identified.

A wonderful two days devoted to the shore was followed by Monday’s visit to Padstow Lobster Hatchery.  Education Officer Cat Wilding’s talk and guided tour provided plenty to stimulate our interest and left us wanting more – a suitable way to end a thoroughly enjoyable visit. 

Beautiful place, wonderful shores, and a great team in Trudy and Jason, no wonder this annual trip is such a firm favourite on the Coastwise Calendar and all credit to Mavis for making it so.

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