Beachcombing & The Polish!

I love getting down to the beach after a good storm and this winter I pretty much could have gone to the beach everyday and found loads of bits to sieve through. It always amazes me the variety of things that was up yet you hardly ever seen anything coming ashore.

When I started beachcombing as a kid I always wanted to find a Goose Barnacle Lepas anatifera in my Collins Guide to the Seashore they looked amazing and I always checked all the driftwood that I found just in case there was a few stuck on the other side. I had imagined turning over a lovely sea-sculpted piece of driftwood, low and behold I was somewhat let down when the first Goose Barnacles I found were smothered around a television! It was the most beautiful TV I have seen though!

Goose Barnacle - Lepas anatifera

Up close they are stunning animals but I still can't believe that in the past they used to think that Barnacle Geese grew out of these little chaps! There wasn't much else washed up and I couldn't find any dead birds when others had been finding lots. I am not sure if that was a good sign or whether the gulls had already cleared up any scraps along the strandline.

Polish Mute Swan - Cygnus olor immutabilis

Next stop was a quick scoot around Princes Park to see if there was anything unusual. The only thing I found of not was a 'Polish' Mute Swan. The Mute Swan above shows all the characteristics the unusual colour form called 'immutabilis', also known as Polish Swan. The mutation is sex-linked and recessive, and occurs in a gene located in the Z sex chromosome. Unlike most mammals, female birds have two different sex chromosomes (ZW), while males have two of the same kind (ZZ). If the female has the mutation, she will be white as a cygnet and will moult into an adult white plumage directly. A male needs to have two mutated forms of the gene to be a Polish Swan.

When a Polish Swan is a cygnet they are covered in totally white down as opposed to the usual grey down which Mute Swan cygnets are covered in. Gradually when they reach adulthood they lose all traits of being 'Polish' except for the colour of their feet.

Polish Mute Swan - Cygnus olor immutabilis

KEMP'S RIDLEY SEA TURTLE in Sussex!

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle - Lepidochelys kempii

The storm's which have been blowing on and off all year have finally begun to make beachcombing a) safe and b) worthwhile. Having had a good look at Littlehampton over the weekend I managed to find tons of stuff but more of that another day. Last night I got a phone call from PB to say that SM had found what he thought was a Loggerhead Turtle on the beach at Saltdean! By now it was pitch black and I had no chance til the morning.

After a while it suddenly dawned on me that this brilliant opportunity could be washed back out to sea at high-tide. I quickly went on the net and found that high-tide was at 00:18hrs. That meant I had to go tonight if I was to make sure it hadn't been washed away with the tide. I grabbed my camera and Dad and we headed off with some further instructions as to its whereabouts. Soon enough we had located the turtle and set about grabbing some photographs. As soon as I saw the animal alarm bells rang that it didn't seem to have a big enough head for a Loggerhead. Anyway I took as many photos as possible as I vaguely remembered that both the underside and top side were needed to ID some of the species.

Upperside

Underside

Front flipper

When I arrived home I began to do some investigation work and I was fairly certain it wasn't a Loggerhead Turtle. I had narrowed it down to a Ridley Sea Turtle however there are two species, the Olive and the Kemp's. Luckily help was on hand and MC who has some decent experience was able to help confirm the ID. Steven also contacted me and we had both come to the same result...it was actually the World's Rarest Sea Turtle - the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle. Truly unbelievable and I cannot believe that it was stranded on the beach at Saltdean. It is incredible what you can find along the beach after storms and this just goes to prove it. Following a big Loggerhead in Worthing in late December what is going to be next! Many thanks and well done to Steven for finding it and to Pete for letting me know about it in the first place.