Sunday 13th February 2022 - Winter Beach Walk

It was grey with a steady breeze this morning; a fairly typical winter’s day. With rain forecast later, we took advantage of the dry conditions and went for a leisurely mooch, with Barney, westwards along the beach. Although the area below the promenade rarely yields anything of significance, when walking west or east we usually see items of interest, whilst picking debris washed up on the tides as well as rubbish left behind by those less considerate of the environment. Today, there were just a couple of bits of debris – the way it should be. I am going to follow on with a few photos with a section of narrative under each one.

The beach is ever changing with winds and tides influencing both the levels and materials. Today, there was a random mix of flints, shingle and sand and as can be seen, an area of stones mounded up against a section of the revetments.

No prizes for guessing what we can see here, beyond the groynes. Yes, it’s a seal, nose up, having a snooze in the sea. We first spotted this grey seal pup on the beach, where it was well camouflaged against the stones.

A common sight at this time of the year; a mass of whelk eggs. Amazing when you think, subject to survival, each egg will develop into a gastropod encased in a shell. For some they are a savoured seafood but I find them far too chewy to be enjoyed.

Thinking this to be a small piece of plastic, I started to lift this pink mass up with my litter picker, that was until I noticed it was a group of eggs. Instead I left it on the beach for the next tide to return it to the sea. At home, after searching on the internet and thumbing through my book covering sea creatures, I have failed to identify as to exactly what laid these eggs. I am open to suggestions on this one.