Welcome To Wirral

The animals that live in this habitat need to be able to burrow to escape predators, many construct burrows and line them to prevent them from collapsing. The many small holes on the surface of the mud or sand are the entrances to these burrows.

The most likely animal you are to see evidence of is the lugworm. Look for a 'worm cast' on the surface and nearby a small hole or depression - between these two is a 'U' shaped burrow with a Lugworm living in it. The worm eats any food particles that fall into the depression and excretes the undigested sand out the other end every 40-50 minutes. It breathes by pumping water through the burrow in the opposite direction, over the gills on the side of its body. Other worms to see are Ragworm and Sand Mason Worm.

Another common animal to find is the Cockle. The small shells of this mollusc litter the beach, but the animal when alive lives burrowed in the sand, with only two tubes reaching up to the surface of the sand to feed and breathe with. It does this when the tide is in and can suck in food particles from the surface of the sand, or filter out plankton, microscopic animals floating in the sea. They also have a muscular foot, which can dig the animal into the sand should danger appear, e.g. a long billed bird like the Oystercatcher. The Cockle belongs to a group of animals called 'bivalves' so called because they have two shells surrounding their body. Other bivalves you are likely to see are: tellin, mussel, razor, trough shell, and sand gapers.

Another type of mollusc are the 'gastropods', or sea snails, which have only one shell which is often spiraled. The one you are most likely to find on the sand is the Laver-spire Shell, but at 2-3mm long you will have to look closely!

The Strandline

At the top of the beach you will usually find a line of debris or rubbish washed up and left by the last high tide. This is a good place to hunt for shells etc. but be careful and wear gloves.

One of the objects you may find is a 'mermaid's purse'. This is the empty egg case of a Skate or a Dogfish. Another common find is the mass of egg cases of the Whelk (a large sea snail), which looks like a bathroom sponge. Each mass will contain the egg cases of several female Whelks, and from each egg case will hatch 10-20 Whelks.

The sea potato is the empty skeleton of the Common Heart Urchin, a type of sea urchin that is adapted to burrow through sand. When alive it is covered in spines, some of these with spade like ends that it uses to dig through the sand.

Rock Pools

Pools, especially rock pools are perhaps the most exiting habitat on the beach to study. With the aid of a dip net you can catch a variety of fish, prawns and shrimps. Rock pools can be found anywhere along the coast where there is concrete or stone sea-defences.

The commonest fish you are likely to find are young flatfish, e.g. Plaice, Sole, Flounder or Dab. These are hard to see because they are camouflaged i.e. they look like sand, and they often partially bury themselves in the sand with just their eyes showing. Other fish to be seen are Sand Eels, Gobies and Blennies. Gobies are likely to be hidden under stones, and again the purpose is the same, to avoid being eaten by a bird or larger fish.

Two other animals you will see in pools are prawns and shrimps, shrimps preferring sandy-bottomed pools and prawns rocky-bottomed pools. These animals are 'crustaceans', a group which includes crabs and lobsters to barnacles and woodlice! Prawns can be distinguished from shrimps by their more pointed heads.

The crab is one animal that everyone associates with the seashore, and they may be found under seaweed or rocks The commonest one is the Shore Crab or Green Crab, and can be found up to 10cm across. Some of the crabs are very soft. These crabs have just molted (shed their shell) and the new shell has not hardened yet as it takes a few days. Many crabs appear to be dead but these are often just the empty shells left behind.

The rocks will be covered in a mixture of barnacles or seaweed. The seaweed, a highly evolved type of algae, uses the rock to anchor to and to prevent itself being washed up by the waves. The commonest seaweeds around these coasts are the 'wracks". You will find Spiral Wrack, Bladder Wrack and Serrated Wrack. These in turn are eaten by a sea snail called a winkle or periwinkle, which uses its sandpaper like tongue to scrape off bits of plant to eat.

If the tide is very low you may be lucky enough to find a starfish. These animals are slow moving but very strong with their many suckered feet they can pull apart a mussel shell, upon which they feed. Sea anemones can also be found attached to the rocks, these are animals that use tentacles with stinging cells to catch their prey.