Here in east Northants we are a bit lacking in coastal habitats and my nearest coast is muddy and sandy rather than rocky. If I lived at the coast I would love to explore the wildlife making its living, or temporarily made captive in the pools between the tidelines. As the author explains here so well, this is a different world with a very wide range of different creatures, and it’s an edge world, a narrow ever-changing strip between the terrestrial and the marine.
The book is organised as if it were a three-part walk down the beach from the upper to middle to lower intertidal zones, and in each part we are introduced to some species which make their lives therein; from the sandhoppers and Shore Crab through the realm of the Cushion Star and Dog Whelk to that of sea squirts and sea slugs.
As the author writes, ‘You know you are encroaching on the underwater world when you meet animals that seem to have nothing in common with any land animal‘. The five-fold symmetry of echinoderms and the water-siphoning tunicates are cases in point.
The species are well-chosen to illustrate the ecological diversity of this salty borderland and are introduced with stories from the author’s own growing fascination with rock pools.
And all you need to explore this fascinating world is a pair of wellies or sandals, perhaps a net and a magnifying glass, and an enquiring mind. Oh yes, and an occasional wary glance to make sure that you aren’t beng cut off by a rising tide.
I must go down to the sea again, and I’d take this book with me.
Rock Pool: extraordinary encounters between the tides by Heather Buttivant is published by September Publishing.
Remarkable Birds by Mark Avery is published by Thames and Hudson – for reviews see here.
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