Country diary: Shrimps, shannies and crabs - these rockpools are alive | Sara Hudston

Porlock Weir, Somerset: In one crevice, a sizable grove of snakelocks anenomes wave their long, emerald tentacles tipped with lilacHalf a mile beyond the narrow harbour at Porlock Weir are some of the richest rockpools in Somerset. When the tide drops at Gore Point it reveals a pavement of stones rammed hard by the action of the waves. Between the cobbles and boulders are a series of shallow sea puddles, silvery pieces of fallen sky, some no larger than dinner plates, others the size of parachute canopies.Here, beadlet anemones cling like blobs of jam among green, filmy sheets of sea lettuce. Stiff fans of tufted coral weed, red edged with white, push against gummy clumps of Irish moss. Blistered skeins of brown bladderwrack drape laxly over damp crevices, crisping and turning khaki as they dry out in the sun. Continue reading...