Rockpool School

Very much looking forward to our SEND exclusive rockpooling session this Sunday with The Sensory Place OPEN PAGE. Do follow their link to book 😊🦀
https://www.thesensoryplace.net/book-online

A lovely little morning with Nursery and Reception!! You guys did so well listening all about rockpool life and so very gentle with our animals. Thank you for having us 😊🦀

A lovely time today with the after school STEM Science Club at John Spence Community High School

Thanks for listening to me chat about being a Marine Biologist, habitats within our seas, rockpools and their inhabitants and some of the important different types of jobs you could carry out!! 🐋 🧪 🌊 🪣 🦀

And of course you all met our rockpool friends! 🐚
Dear me though those crabs kept us busy today 😂😂

Nice to be back and thank you for having us 😊🦀

THE SEA GOOSEBERRIES ARE BACK!!

Time to pop up a post about these beautiful little beings as a lot of you guys are starting to spot them again on the beaches!!

This sea gooseberry (Pleurobrachia pileus) has most likely ended up on the beaches due to winds. They tend to be in high abundance at this time of year in any case due to the increased amount of plankton (their main food source) in surface water in the spring and summer, when the days get longer and the sun is higher in the sky.

We’ve had a bit more sunshine in recent weeks, just a tad 😂, which has probably increased this even more and hence why we are starting to see them.

So what is a sea gooseberry? Well they are jelly-like but they are not true jellyfish, so the good news is they don't sting (hence why I have one on my hand).

Sea Gooseberries are, however, voracious predators. They can eat up to 10 times their own body-weight a day. And they are happy to munch on each other 😯

They grow up to about 2.5cm long. Although they have two long, feathery tentacles, they actually use a sticky substance to catch their prey.

They are common in open water all around Britain and Ireland, especially in the summer.

Another fabulous species to keep your eyes peeled for!

Oh feel free to pop them back in the sea of you so come across any 😌



https://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/rank/1248/Ctenophora

https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/sea-gooseberries

The most lovely morning with the Reception children of Whitley Lodge! It will always be such a special visit for me as this is where it all began!

My not so little man was in Reception here and we did a kind of trial run. Such lovely comments and encouragement from the teachers gave me the guts to go for it and here we are today!

Thanks guys! Forever grateful 🥰🦀

📚🐚 A magical seaside adventure came to Reception on Monday! White & Turquoise were so lucky to welcome our special visitor, Nicola from @rockpool_school, who brought the wonders of the seaside right into our classroom 🌊✨ Nicola read us the story ‘Sharing a Shell’ and taught Reception how to carefully and respectfully hold the amazing creatures she’d brought along. Everyone had the chance to hold a crab, starfish, hermit crab and shells – such a hands-on, unforgettable experience! 🦀⭐️🐚 Reception got creative by making their very own rockpool paper plate crafts and colouring in all their favourite under-the-sea creatures 🎨🐠

Another gorgeous morning rockpooling with the lovely The Sensory Place OPEN PAGE gang this morning!

The sun was shining ☀️ and was anemone highway, I’ve never seen so many 😂.

We were also very lucky to be able to see a freshly molted edible crab and see how much bigger he had now become!

We were also very lucky to spot a female shore crab holding onto her eggs before they are released into the water column!

We also spotted sticklebacks, shrimp, the smallest pipefish I have ever seen, dog whelks, limpets, barnacles, sand mason worms so many seaweeds and the remains of a small lobster who you were all absolutely fascinated with 😂 🦞

Oh and of course we finished it off with a wee spot of sea glass hunting!

See you in the morning 😊🦀

SEND Rock Pooling Session | The Sensory Place Educational hands on experience with marine biologist Nicola

Thank you for another fantastic week allowing me to share how fantastic and important our coasts are with all your little ones and inspire them to get out there and explore the natural world for themselves 💚

Little Tinklers Corbridge, Ponteland and Hexham your were just a joy as always (see you soon Choppington!) and Barnes Infant Academy Nursery what little superstars!! Well done everyone 😊🦀

Now that’s a limpet shell if I ever did see one 😮. Mahoosive!!!

A place very close to my heart! How fantastic! Do go check it out 😊🦀🐚