EnviroKids 38 Marine & Blue Flag Summer 2017

W e i r d a n d w o n d e The South African coastline is one of the most beautiful in the world, with loads of sea life. This can turn every beach trip into a great exploration! Identify these seashore critters by matching each description to the correct photo. (Find the answers on page 23.) 1 Bluebottle

seashore creatures

6 Kelp gull The kelp gull is a well-known scavenger, feeding on anything and everything it can find. This is a large gull and your first clue to identifying it is the red spot on its beak. Hear the call of the kelp gull, or any other bird you’re curious about, at No, not your muscles, these mussels! If you’ve seen a wild mussel, you’ll have noticed its ‘beard’ – these special threads help the mussel attach itself to surfaces like rocks. 0ussels filter seawater for food. 8 Starfish Starfish come in an ama]ing array of colours 0ost starfish have five arms and some species can shed a limb, allowing them to escape a predator. What is even more ama]ing, is that the limb can often grow back over time. 9 Sea anemone The anemone has stinging tentacles that it uses to catch and paralyse its prey. Only a few species are not affected ± like clownfish remember 1emo, our hero in the Finding Nemo movie" . 10 Sea urchin These spiny creatures are sometimes called ‘sea hedgehogs’. The sea urchin’s body is protected by a shell that is covered in hundreds of sharp spines. These are for defence so be careful if you touch them. The sea urchin pumps water in and out its tubed feet to help it to move, usually quite slowly. Look out for the washed-up shells of dead urchins, or ‘sea pumpkins’. www.xeno-canto.org . 7 Mussels

Watch out for washed-up bluebottles on the beach, as the stinging cells in their tentacles can still hurt you! The bluebottle is actually a few creatures living together, and they can’t survive without each other. The float the part filled with air is used as a sail for getting around. 2 Plough snail At low tide on the beach, you may spot hundreds of these little snails. The plough snail uses its large ‘foot’ to surf up onto the beach. There it can smell food, like Seaweed can often be washed up onto the shore after a big storm. There are thousands of different kinds of seaweed, including kelp, which feels rubbery and can grow very quickly and even form underwater ‘kelp forests’. Seaweeds are an essential food for many types of marine life. 4 African black oystercatcher You’ll know this bird right away because it has a black body with bright red legs, beak and eye rings. It can be found running along the beach near its nest or along the rocks looking for food like limpets, mussels and worms. 5 Barnacles Barnacles look like decorative shells stuck to the rocks. They live where the waves break so they have to hold on to the rock very tightly. They feed by waving their legs in the water to catch tiny bits of food floating past. washed up Mellyfish. 3 Seaweed

16 EnviroKids Vol. 38(4), Summer 2017