Rockpooling destination: Shetland September 2014

The shore comprises a small sheltered bay of cobbles and pebbles into which a river flows. A quay provides a further anthropogenic hard substrate.

Habitat classification:

Substrate	LR (Littoral rock)
Habitat	LLR (Low energy littoral rock)	LR.FLR (Features of ilttoral rock)
Biotope complex	LR.LLR.F (Fucoids on sheltered marine shores)	LR.FLR.Eph (Ephemeral green or red seaweed communities
Biotope		LR.FLR.Eph (Ephermeral green or red seaweeds (Fresh water or sand influenced)

Below are images of organisms that you may encounter whilst rockpooling in these habitats:

The rocky shore is comprised of cobbles and pebbles. The swathe of green marks where ephermeral green seaweeds grow under the influences of the fresh water influx from the river. Habitat classification: LR.FLR.Eph (Ephermeral green or red seaweeds (Fresh water or sand influenced).

Ephermeral green seaweed - 'Gut weed' (Ulva sp formally Entomorpha sp ) grows prolifically on the shore where there is fresh water influence.

Barnacles grow on the quay side.

Barnacles and  Gut weed (grow on the quay side.

Pebbles and shell fragments make up the substrate in the middle of the bay.

Beyond the bay are fish farms that are marked by bouys that become covered in mussels, which is turn are scraped off and end up as part of the substrate of the bay.

Rockpooling destination: NW Shetland, September 2014

The exposed rocky shore consists of a steeply sloping cobble cove surrounded by cliffs and caves.
The cobbles support little wildlife, that which does occur is concentrated within the strand line.
The stable cliffs support a community typical of high energy environments with barnacles, limpets, periwinkles, dog whelks and anemones.

Habitat classification:

Biotope complex	LR.HLR. MusB (Mussel and/or barnacle communities)	LR.FLR.Lic.(Lichens on supralittoral and littoral fringe rock).		LS.LSa (Littoral sand)
Biotope		LR.FLR.Lic.Ver (Verrucaria Maura on littoral fringe rock)	LR.FLR.Lic.YG (Yellow and grey lichens on supralittoral rock)	LS.LSa.St (Strandline)

The rocky shore is made up of  an exposed cobble beach and surrounding cliffs. Habitat classification: LR.HR (High energy littoral rock)

Waves on this exposed shore have created the steep inclination of the cobbles and created a succession of strandlines that mark a succession of high tide marks. Habitat classification: LR.HL (High energy littoral rock) and LS. St (Strandline).

The power of the waves can also be seen on the cliff bases which have become smooth and 'cut into'  by the waves throwing cobbles and boulders at their base. Due to this continual process many organisms live within the refuge of crevices. 

Several communities occur on the cliffs. At the top of the cliff  is a community of yellow and grey lichens, below which is the black tar lichen (Verrucaria maura) and then a community dominated by barnacles. Habitat classification: LR.FLR.Lic.YG (Yellow and grey lichens on supralittoral rock), LR.FLR.Lic.Ver (Verrucaria Maura on littoral fringe rock) and  LR.HLR. MusB (Mussel and/or barnacle communities).

Yellow and grey lichens cover the splash zone of the cliff, below the black rock marks the community charecterised by V. maura and is where the rough periwinkle (Littorina saxatilis agg) and small periwinkles (Melarhaphe neritoides) begin to occur, further down where the black gives way to brown marks the transition to the barnacles dominated community which supports the periwinkles and limpets.

Small periwinkles (M. neritoides)
within the V. maura community.

Rough periwinkle (L. saxatilis agg) and small periwinkle (M. neritoides)

Rough periwinkles (L. saxatilis agg.) seek refuge within a crevice.

Barnacles and rough periwinkles (L. saxatilis agg.) with in the barnacle community.

Barnacles

Common limpets (Patella vulgata) and barnacles

Dog whelks (Nucella lapillus) and barnacles with patches of V maura

Dog whelks (N. lapillus) and barnacles

Beadlet anemones (Actina equina) and barnacles.

The strandline is made up of old seaweed, drift wood, plastic bouys and birch bark from the North.

Rockpooling destination: Walls, Shetland September 2014

The low cliffs around Walls incline steeply toward the sea and are covered by lichens, in this sheltered inlet a distinct transition has formed between the yellow and grey lichens of the supralittoral and the tar lichen of the littoral fringe. Below the lichens are bands of barnacles and then fucoids.

Habitat classification:

Biotope complex	LR.MLR.BF (Barnacles and fucoids on moderately exposed shores)	LR.FLR.Lic.(Lichens on supralittoral and littoral fringe rock).
Biotope	LR.MLR.BF.FspiB (Fucus spiralis on full salinity exposed to moderately exposed upper eulittoral rock)	LR.FLR.Lic.Ver (Verrucaria maura on littoral fringe rock)	LR.FLR.Lic.YG (Yellow and grey lichens on supralittoral rock)

The low cliffs slope steeply and are characterized by lichens. Habitat classification: LR.FLR.Lic.(Lichens on supralittoral and littoral fringe rock).

Yellow and grey lichens occur with sea pinks in the supra littoral zone, below which tar lichen forms a black covering over the rocks. Habitat classification LR.FLR.Lic.YG (Yellow and grey lichens on supralittoral rock) and  LR.FLR.Lic.Ver (Verrucaria maura on littoral fringe rock).

Sea ivory (Verrucaria maura), grey, orange and brown lichens are commonly encountered within the habitat yellow and grey lichens on supralittoral rock.

Yellow and grey lichens occur in the supra littoral zone, below which tar lichen forms a black covering over the rocks in the littoral fringe with barnacles and fucoids below . Habitat classification LR.FLR.Lic.YG (Yellow and grey lichens on supralittoral rock),  LR.FLR.Lic.Ver (Verrucaria maura on littoral fringe rock) and LR.MLR.BF (Barnacles and fucoids on moderately exposed shores).