Back in late July, I had the pleasure of attending my very first intertidal survey at Lepe Beach with Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Already having a background in Marine Biology, from being mid way through my studies at the University of Plymouth, I was extra excited for occasion!

Whilst I had knowledge of the seaside locals from Devons coasts, I was really looking forward to seeing the differences between the two locations, doing my bit for the marine life back at home, and meeting new marine enthusiasts too!

When I say this survey delivered on all accounts… it DELIVERED! July 24th was the lowest tide of the year at Lepe Beach, giving us the best opportunity to find as much interesting (and cool!!) marine life as possible! This survey brought around 30 marine enthusiasts of all ages together, we were briefed by the wonderful Caitlin, who gave very clear instructions on how to gather the most useful (and useable) data and what the plan for the survey was.

We split into groups and delegated positions to all team members: Photographer, scribe and the rest being ‘identifyers’. Then, it was explained that the shore would be split into three zones: the Upper, Middle, and Lower zones, separated by coloured buckets. We would begin the survey on the Upper shore, going down shore with the tide. As a group, we were to record any living organisms that we found in each zone, being sure to photograph and scribble down the names after IDing from the guides!

Caitlin and her team handed out all the equipment we needed – ID guides, clipboards, data sheets and pens/pencils, everything was supplied! Many returning volunteers and enthusiasts brought their own kit including ID guides, magnifying glasses, tupperware (to look more closely at the organisms and then return them to the shore) and more! After that we were good to go, so we took the short walk from the car park to the shore and began our search!

As a group, we found all sorts of wonderful organisms, a lot that we expected to see such as Green Shore Crabs (Carcinus maenas), Pacific Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and Leathery Sea Squirts (Styela clava) as well as some rarer side organisms too, such as Olive Squat Lobster (Galathea squamifera)!! It was so interesting! The highlights for me had to be the Olive Squat Lobster, Four-Horned Spider Crab (Pisa tetraodon), Hairy Hermit Crabs (Pagurus hirsutiusculus) and multiple species of Sea Spiders!! One of the best things about the survey, is that there are no expectations.

People with zero hours to hundreds of hours experience show up, and everyone helps each other out. If anyone is ever unsure, there are people around – Trust leaders, volunteers who have attended previous surveys and more, you are never alone!

The data collected goes towards local projects such as the Solent Seascape Project – the photos and names are paired by volunteers, who then submit all the data from all groups towards the project.

I had a truly fantastic time searching the shore, chatting to others, and learning about their backgrounds. I find it fascinating how the ocean can bring so many people from such diverse backgrounds together. Thank you so much to the Trust for the wonderful event, it was amazing! I would recommend this to anybody who enjoys being outside by the sea.