Iveragh’s Seashores
We may associate the seaside with sunny holidays, but Iveragh’s long and varied coastline is worth exploring whatever the season. With long sandy beaches, sheltered coves and rugged rocky shores, Iveragh’s coastline has so much to explore.
While we enjoy the coast as a place to walk, or as a backdrop for a dramatic photograph, it’s easy to forget the diversity of plants and animals that make their home in that ever-changing space between the high and low tide marks. These hardy species put up with an awful lot – waves bash them, the wind chills them, the tide covers them with cool salty water and then leaves them exposed to the drying warmth of the sun and the saltless rain. To live in these extreme conditions, seashore species have developed some ingenious ways to survive. These seashores are home to plants and animals that glow in the dark, sparkle like disco balls, eject their stomachs to digest prey too big for them to eat, drill into each other’s shells, cement themselves to rocks and drift freely in the ocean.
One of Iveragh’s many south-facing sandy coves with a view of the Beara peninsula.
Sandy Shores
Iveragh has some beautiful sandy beaches, from the long expanses of Rossbeigh, Reenroe, and Inny Strand to the many cosier bays including at Ballinskelligs, Derrynane Harbour, and Castlecove. They are great places to spend a day, but they are very difficult places for wildlife to live.
Very few plants can live on sandy beaches because there’s nowhere secure to hold on to and very few nutrients in the sand. Those plants that do live on sandy beaches and dunes have adapted to surviving in the dry, salty conditions.
Sand moves around a lot, especially during storms and high swells, so the animals that live on sandy beaches tend to make burrows where they can hide from predators and the weather. You might see signs of some of these animals - lugworms leave ‘casts’ on the surface that look like little twisted sand sculptures; razor shells and other clams leave holes at the surface and when the tide comes back in, they emerge to filter the water and feed on whatever is floating past.
Other animals remain well hidden until a storm comes along and pulls them up from their sandy burrows. You might find the delicate white shells of heart urchins, also known as sea potatoes. When they’re alive, sea potatoes are covered in short brown bristly spines. When they die, these fall out leaving the very fragile shell. Masked crabs also have very fragile shells. They use their back legs to bury themselves in the sand so they don’t need to have strong shells like most crabs that must be able to withstand the force of waves and predators. When they’re buried, the masked crab fuses its two long antennae together and uses them to pull down water so that it can breathe. Look for their shells washed up after storms.
Of course, one of the most familiar residents of sandy beaches are sand hoppers. They can jump many times the length of their bodies, but they have very little control over their destination. We often think of them as a nuisance but they clean beaches by eating washed up seaweed and they are eaten by birds and other larger animals, so they’re an important part of the seashore food web.
Pebble Shores
Pebble shores such as those at Reencaheragh, Knightstown, Waterville, and near Loher, are also difficult places for most plants and animals to live. Often the best place to look for signs of life is along the high tide line where the sea deposits seaweed, shells and other interesting bits and bobs. It’s always fun to look for mermaid’s purses, which are actually the egg cases of some of our sharks and rays. They are often attached to bits of seaweed and are well camouflaged. You might notice that some have what looks like a curly bit of fishing line on each corner, these usually belong to one of our small dogfish species.
If there are clumps of seaweed living and attached to some of the stones, carefully lift the fronds and see if there might be a small crab sheltering underneath. Remember to always put things back as you find them!
Pebble shores are great places to go beachcombing and to look for seashore plants such as this sea beet at Reenard. Unfortunately, they are also often places where litter accumulates.
Pebble shores are a sign that the shore is quite sheltered, which also means that it’s a good place to look for coastal plants that might get washed away in more exposed locations. Sea beet, which is an edible plant related to beetroot, often grows among cobbles. It has really shiny leaves and long spikes of green flowers in the summer. Sea mayweed is a cheerful looking plant with a large daisy-like flower.
Rocky Shores
Rocky coastlines are excellent places to explore because this is where you find the best rock pools. Rock pools high up the shore are rarely covered by sea water and only get a small amount of splash from waves. This isn’t enough to keep the water clean, full of oxygen, and of course, salty. So, if you want to explore pools that are full of life, wait for tide to go out and explore the pools closer to the low tide mark.
Rocky shores are full of life. These rocks at Derrynane are covered in barnacles, and seaweed and rock pools provide places for many animals to live.
There are three types of algae – green, brown and red. One of the most beautiful to look out for in pools is coralline algae. These are seaweeds that coat themselves in a chalky layer that is very similar to coral. They are usually pink or dusty red and they look like miniature tufty shrubs. Also, see how many different types of sea snails you can find. It’s common to find quite a range of them on one shore. The most common are usually periwinkles, top shells and dog whelks.
You are almost guaranteed on every rocky shore to find barnacles. In many places, these completely cover the rocks between the high and low tide marks. In their early life, they float about with the plankton. If they aren’t eaten by something bigger, they wait until they have found a good rocky shore to settle down. When they have found the perfect spot, usually with other barnacles nearby, they never move again. They cement themselves headfirst to the rock and build their volcano-like shells. When the tide comes in, they stick out their feathery legs to catch food in the passing water. When the tide goes out, they close their shells tight to stop themselves from getting dried out.
You are also likely to find beadlet anemones in rockpools all around Iveragh. They are usually a deep red colour but can sometimes be green. When the tide is out, they just look like blobs of goo hanging from the rocks, but when the tide comes in, they wave their many tentacles in the water hoping to sting and catch some passing prey. Their stings aren’t strong enough for you to feel it through your skin but sit and watch for a while and see how life on the shore is more like we imagine life to be like on other planets.
A beadlet anemone in a rockpool in Derrynane.
Depending on the season and the sea conditions, you might also spot small fish, starfish, and shrimps trapped in rockpools while the tide is out. As always, be very gentle with living animals – it’s better to look and not touch.
Things to Remember
The best place to find life on any kind of seashore is close to the low tide mark. This is where the conditions are less extreme and you’ll find the widest diversity of plants and animals. However, tides can move quickly and some places become cut off by high tides, so always pay attention and check the tide timetables if you aren’t sure.
Rocky shores can be slippery and sandy or muddy shores can suck you in, so be careful where you put your feet and don’t go exploring alone.
Even though seashore plants and animals have evolved to survive in tough conditions, there’s only so much they can put up with. Never keep animals in a bucket and never put them in fresh water. If you pick up an animal, gently put it back in the same place. Be careful moving stones and don’t pull seaweed off the rocks. And lastly, be careful where you put your feet to avoid crushing animals underneath you.
This tiny Risso’s crab looks fierce but it’s actually quite vulnerable to being crushed or eaten if you disturb it from its hiding place.
If you’d like to learn more about Iveragh’s seashores, there are various seashore safaris and guided walks available locally.
For more information on the many life forms you can find around Ireland’s coastline, or to download identification guides for these species, visit: Explore Your Shore! - Explore Your Shore
