By: Blonde Two
Since getting to know my new bunch of outdoor swimming friends I have realised that most of us have quirky little sea related phobias. Mine is jellyfish, I will be wearing many more swimming clothes once they appear in the summer, but other people’s fears (all of which make perfect sense to me) include seals, feathers and seaweed.
I don’t really like swimming through seaweed. I remember well summer swims with my Guernsey cousins and their friends when I had to stifle panic at finding myself mid sea forest as we explored the shores. In recent months, however I have realised how beautiful and varied seaweed is. If you find the right rocky area, swimming through seaweed is like exploring a slightly overgrown formal garden. The plant life is diverse as is the fauna.
On Sunday morning I was supposed to be joining some friends on a training sea swim but we were all so tempted by the clarity of the water and the below depths sea garden that we spent a very happy 40 minutes or so exploring. It was wonderful to see the viridescent sea lettuce floating carelessly past the feathery upright fronds of (name unknown) and over the solid opaque bubbles of (name also unknown). I also spotted some seagrass, which looks like grass growing out of the sand and sea spaghetti (also called thong weed but not recommended for such purposes).
As you can see I have a lot to learn about seaweed (I have found out that they are algae) but I am definitely making friends with it. I even took a little bit home for breakfast but that is a story for another blog post!
I recommend Collins Guide to the Seashore.
The seaweed with the thin fronds and really big bubbles will be bladder wrack.
The one with the flattened fronds, small bubbles and crinkly edges is Fuccus serratus, but I cannot remember the common name just now except it is another of the ‘wracks’
There is also a lot of the wire weed appearing, it’s an invasive Pacific species.
The Marine Conservation society on-line also has very good identification guides.
If you are wanting seaweed to eat I would suggest not taking it from in the bay the water quality is quite poor (especially the sea lettuce). The area around Mansands is good however. Either of the kelp species the many fingered one (laminaria digitalis) or the single wrinkly frond ‘oar weed’ laminaria sacharina (but I think it has recently been renamed in the latin form) are both very good and slightly sweet.
There is a Facebook page UK Wild Food Larder which is useful and I do try to put sea related stuff on there.
Thanks Chris will make a book purchase I think. I enjoyed my sea-spaghetti with no after effects but I was a bit wary!