Jo Stewart Smith discovers how seaweeds on the shoreline struggle for survival

By [rrothery]

I JOINED a North Devon Biosphere festival event with Pip Jollands from the Hallsannery centre and several families on Abbotsham beach at the western edge of Westward Ho!

As we set off, carrying what looked like white plastic window frames it was clear this was no ordinary rock pool ramble. Pip wanted us to begin to understand why animals and seaweeds are where they are.

Seaweeds? My daughter Holly and I were thinking more exotic: crabs or anemones maybe. Yet, I found myself being sucked into their amazing story. It's seriously tough being a seaweed on the upper shore. Like any plant, to survive and grow they need to reach up to the light. Yet when the tide is out, they're forced to spend several hours each day, flat on their backs, in danger of turning to a crisp.

Pip showed us Channel wrack, which holds water within a channel and Spiral wrack, which twists around itself, to try and stay wet. Then as the waves batter them, they hold fast. The minute they relax, they find themselves several feet underwater and somehow they've got to reach the light (hence the air filled bladders on Bladder wrack).

But half the time, just as they're all set to photosynthesise, night falls! So seaweeds tend to be olive green, or rusty-brown, because red and brown pigments work better in dim light.

It's a great trick of Pip's: understanding what these plants are doing, really helps identify them. And just in case we'd fallen asleep, out of her rucksack she produced a reviving flask of coffee. Not coffee actually, hot water, which she poured over a tiny frond of seaweed, magically turning it bright grass green. Proof that underneath the less stable brown pigment, the green pigments are doing their bit. Wow! Her appreciative audience clapped.

As we headed gingerly seawards (when you know what a struggle it is to survive you really don't want to crunch someone underfoot), I confided that I never expected to get into seaweeds. Paula Ferris of Coastwise told us that in Victorian times, virtually every resident of Westward Ho! knew their seaweeds. Some gathered them for food or fertiliser. But for the upper classes and holiday-makers, seaweed pressing became the big thing. Funny to think, that knowing your seaweeds was right up there, like knowing the latest music styles or celebrities today.

We found hundreds of limpets, clinging tight, waiting for the tide. Pip showed us the homing scars of long-gone limpets carved into the rocks. A bit like people carve their names into trees: 'I was here'. It's tough clinging to slippery rocks, so over the years each limpet slowly chisels itself a perfect safe harbour. Proof if any is needed, that animals should be put back from whence they come.

If it wasn't for Pip, showing us a tiny, purple topshell recognisable by a hole that looks just like a tummy button, I would have happily told my children that all the little colourful spiral shells were periwinkles. By giving us one simple nugget of information, Pip was gradually cajoling us into believing we could tell three species of periwinkle, two topshells and Dogwhelks apart.

So as we reached the tide edge, Pip declared us ready to put our white squares (or quadrats) down and identify and roughly quantify everything within them. To actually be able to identify the wildlife within a square was incredibly satisfying for total novices like us and a reminder of the purpose behind the fun.

Pip helps run Shore Thing monitoring the effect rising sea temperatures have on our wildlife. Some animals have already begun moving north to cooler waters and others like Toothed topshells are spreading from the south. The danger is that some animals or plants which can't move or adapt easily, will become extinct.

Hallsannery is working with Seas 4 Life. Children from four local schools have been out on the coast getting to know their shorelife and interpret it through some fantastic art. They'd love to get more schools involved and on July 13 there's a display of their work (www.hallsannery.co.uk).

Paula Ferris started Coastwise, a membership organisation, "to champion North Devon's marine life". They're busy gathering information (from history to wildlife) to profile our wonderful beaches. Next beach visits are July 8 at Croyde, and July 24 at Tunnels, Ilfracombe (www.coastwis enorthdevon.org.uk).

On July 22, biosphere volunteers will be helping to protect the sand dunes at Northam Burrows. (www.northdevon biosphere.org.uk).

All four projects would welcome more volunteers. No experience necessary but booking essential. With Pip and Paula spreading their enthusiasm for seaweeds and sea slugs maybe rock pooling will become as popular as it was in Victorian times.