Storm Dennis update, Wednesday 19th February 2020

The effect of two storms in less than a week are now being seen along the coast.

Monday saw what appears to be a Short-beaked Common Dolphin, recently dead, washed up on the beach, [any marine mammal experts out there let me know if my ID is wrong] and nearby a Guillemot, this weekend one of our rangers, Oliver, will be carrying out the annual winter Beached-Bird Survey, if there is more to report I'll post in a blog.

Short Beaked Common Dolphin?

The occasional storm casualty is to be expected even amongst those animals designed for a life in the ocean as such death is part of the natural cycle of things.

Today however was a sight that I have not witnessed before, probably 100's of thousands of the Common Otter Shell,  Lutraria lutraria, either dead or dying washed up along Cefn Sidan. The empty shells of this large, up to 15cm long, marine bivalve (bivalve= a mollusc having a hinged double shell) are a common feature of the beach so where have all these fresh intact individuals appeared from.

The Common Otter Shell lives buried deep in the offshore sand banks, spending all of its adult life in spot attached to the substrate by a very weak foot, and is susceptible to being dislodged from its hole. It is very likely that the sandbanks have been damaged by the recent storms resulting in this mass stranding.

Common Otter Shell, showing extended siphon

The discovery of the vast amounts of ready meals on the beach as a result of the stranding has resulted in thousands of Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed, Common and Black-headed gulls descending on the beach to pick up a free meal.

Great Black-backed Gulls 

My personal advice is to avoid collecting and eating the shellfish yourselves, I'd rather leave it for the birds.

Elsewhere, there are signs that Spring is nearby, with Lesser Celandine flowering, it's usually one of the first true woodland flowers to appear, the Great Tits making a lot of noise plus my favourite the Song Thrush just getting it's voice back.