Wembury Marine Centre
Encyclopedia
Wembury Marine Centre is situated in the small village of Wembury
, near Plymouth
. Run by Devon Wildlife Trust
, it holds rockpool rambles throughout the summer months, educating some 20,000 people each year about the importance of marine life and the need to protect it.
The area is designated a Special Area of Conservation
and a Voluntary Marine Conservation Area
.
Wembury Marine Centre lies at the heart of the Wembury Voluntary Marine Conservation Area and stretches for four miles from Bovisand
in the west to Gara Point in the east.
, beadlet anemone
, shanny and the common limpet
,
Wembury
Wembury is a village on the south coast of Devon, very close to Plymouth Sound. Wembury is also the name of the peninsula in which the village is situated. The village lies in the administrative district of the South Hams within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The South West...
, near Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
. Run by Devon Wildlife Trust
Devon Wildlife Trust
The Devon Wildlife Trust is a member of The Wildlife Trusts partnership covering the county of Devon, England. It is a registered charity, established in 1962 as the Devon Naturalists Trust, and its aim is to safeguard the future of the county's urban, rural and marine wildlife and its...
, it holds rockpool rambles throughout the summer months, educating some 20,000 people each year about the importance of marine life and the need to protect it.
The area is designated a Special Area of Conservation
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...
and a Voluntary Marine Conservation Area
Voluntary Marine Conservation Area
Voluntary Marine Conservation Area is a designation in the United Kingdom for areas of coastline which are of particular wildlife and scientific value that enjoy a level of voluntary protection....
.
Wembury Marine Centre lies at the heart of the Wembury Voluntary Marine Conservation Area and stretches for four miles from Bovisand
Bovisand
Bovisand is a natural coastline on the east side of Plymouth Sound in Devon, England.Despite the steep cliff paths and rocky surrounding, Bovisand features two beaches, a holiday park, privately owned bungalows and a diving centre at Fort Bovisand...
in the west to Gara Point in the east.
Species to look out for
Low tide gives the best chance of seeing the rockpool creatures. Some of the likely suspects include the shore crabCarcinus maenas
Carcinus maenas is a common littoral crab, and an important invasive species, listed among the 100 "world's worst alien invasive species". It is native to the north-east Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea, but has colonised similar habitats in Australia, South Africa, South America and both Atlantic and...
, beadlet anemone
Beadlet anemone
The beadlet anemone, Actinia equina, is a common sea anemone found on rocky shores around all coasts of the United Kingdom. Its range extends to the rest of Western Europe and the Mediterranean, and probably as far as the coast of West Africa....
, shanny and the common limpet
Limpet
Limpet is a common name for a number of different kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails ; it is applied to those snails that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snails.The name limpet is most...
,