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How many different forms of marine life beneath a rock in Jersey can you see?

Turn over a rock and see what you discover.

Beneath one rock a world of mini-beasts and marine life survive.

Take a few minutes to try and identify what lies beneath.

Here is a a list of a few we identified:

Cushion stars

Brittle stars

Sea squirts

Chiton

Sea mats

Sponges in orange and cobalt blue

Crabs

Post-horn worms

Grey Top Shells

Lithothamnion

You can add any more you see (or correct us!) via our Facebook page.

All are easily missed as you wander by. This is a good reason to explore Jersey’s seashore and low water zone with a guide, so you  see more.

Remember: If you turn rocks over, always turn them back, so the marine life is not destroyed by the sunlight and heat, or becomes prey for other predators.

Space on Saturday 7th April: The two towers. at 1215pm

Some space on the Two Towers 7/4 and Icho 9/4 walks

Cobalt blue sponge "terpios fugax"

Turn over a rock near Seymour Tower on one of our guided “moonwalks” in Jersey and you never know what you may find. For anyone who is fascinated by marine biology in Jersey this is a great place to explore on the big low tides.

Today the sun was out and we had a small group of walkers so there was more time to explore beneath the rocks. 20 degrees in late March is pretty good for this time of year.

First find of the day was the Cobalt blue Sponge Terpios Fugax.

Then came a tiny black and white striped creature which took a while to identify but appears to be a Candy stripe flatworm, Prosthecraeus vittatus.

How does nature come to produce such remarkable life forms? This is described as the best looking of all the flatworms. Not being an expert on flatworms i’ll accept this description. It certainly looks impressive.

It is easily overlooked as it is only a few centimetres long. We only spotted it when we were checked the photos at home.

Candy stripe flatworm. What a wonderful name

Carnivorous, it feeds on small sea creatures such as sea squirts. Found in the south and west of UK.

Turn another rock and a couple of Chitons made an appearance. Chitons graze on microscopic algae on the rocks.

If you do turn over rocks always put them back so the marine life beneath the rock is protected form the sun and predators.

Time and tide was moving on and it was soon time for us to do the same.

Call 07797853033 to book.

A fan of bright orange to catch particles.

The worm lives inside a smooth tube of fine mud or sand particles held together with mucus.

The tube stands upright with the lower end attached to stones and the upper end protruding from the sea bed. When covered by water, the worm extends its tentacles out of the tube to feed by filtering out small food particles.

At low tide, it withdraws back into the tube which often appears grey and like a small plastic tube.

As a child I used to think the tube was a bit of gray electric cable lying in the mud.

(Sabella pavonina)

Eel grass on the big low tide near karame beacon

Jersey has some of the highest tides in the world. This 2 minute video shows how fast the tide can rise during the third hour of the rising tide.

Filmed at Seymour Tower 10 March 2012. Low water was just 0.2m above chart datum ( the zero calculation).

This was about 30cm lower than predicted due to high pressure (1036mb instead of the average of 1014mb) over Jersey. The high tide was 11.66m.

This makes a range of 11.46m which is a lot of water to move in around just 5 hours 36 minutes. The Proudman tide measurements for the 10^th and 11^th of March show just how far below the predicted low tide sea actually reached.

We were staying overnight in Seymour Tower so there was no worry about being cut off and stranded by the tide.

Low water goes below predictions as a result of high pressure

However, I was running late and arrived at Seymour slip at 1705. By the time I reached the tower at 1735 the inshore gullies behind me had filled. It was like watching doors closing behind you.

I was therefore quite surprised to see a few people wandering back for the tower at 1715 just a couple minutes before the gullies started filling with water.

This is a good reason why you should respect the tides around Jersey and be very careful once the tide starts to rise. Or, go on our guided “Moonwalks” in Jersey.

No time lapse involved.

Huge tides at Seymour tower Jersey from Jersey Walk Adventures on Vimeo.