Egg-ceptionally interesting finds on the beach

admin
, 07 June 2017
Egg-ceptionally interesting finds on the beach
squid eggs / Sarah Ward

By Sarah Ward

Living Seas Officer

The beach is a fantastic place to explore at all times of the year, but currently it really is egg-cellent!

As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, many sea creatures start reproducing and we see increased amounts of juvenile creatures and lots of different types of eggs.

Eggs found on the sea shore and in the sea come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, often looking like blobs of goo – you’d be forgiven for overlooking them or mistaking them for something else. They’re certainly quite different to the type of eggs you’d buy for your breakfast!

Not only have we been finding lots of strange and interesting things on our Shoresearch surveys, I’ve also been sent quite a number of photos recently asking what on Earth this alien-like blob is. Although there are a few confusion species which can also look like ‘goo-balls’, such as sea squirts and sponges, at this time of year it is very often eggs. I thought I’d share a few of the most common and most interesting…

Squid

These oddities are very often washed ashore during the spring. They are squid eggs and have sadly become dislodged and swept up on the beach with the tide.

Dog Whelk


A fairly common sight, these distinctive capsules belong to the dog whelk, Nucella lapillus. Often you will find the parent nearby, as pictured here. Try looking for these in cracks, crevices and overhangs on a rocky shore.

Netted Dog Whelk


Although they look quite different, these egg capsules are of the netted dog whelk, Tritia reticulata, a relation of the above species. These dainty egg capsules are a little harder to spot, but may be found growing on seaweed, sea grass or even stones on the lower shore.

Green Leaf Worm


Hiding amongst the pink coral weed you will see here a green egg sac. Although it seems no one knows definitively, it is widely understood that these are the eggs of the green leaf worm, Eulalia viridis.

Sea Slug


This is definitely one of the more bizarre specimens we’ve been finding lately, but one that fills me with the most egg-citement (that’s the last bad pun, I promise)! This distinctive mass of pink blobs is the egg mass of a sea slug, a group of marine molluscs which can be somewhat elusive on the seashore. Whilst we may not always see the creatures themselves, finding their eggs is unquestionable evidence that they are there.


Photos by Sarah Ward, Olle Åkesson and Erin Pettifer

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783557810.57920 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783557810.61050.0312Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783557810.61060.0002Server address: 216.73.216.62
1783557810.61070Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783557810.61070Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/egg-ceptionally-interesting-finds-on-the-beach
    [s] => egg-ceptionally-interesting-finds-on-the-beach
    [1] => egg-ceptionally-interesting-finds-on-the-beach
)
1783557810.6110.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783557810.61190.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783557810.61510.0032 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783557810.62230.0072INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783557810.62410.0019 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22802956
1783557810.62470.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22802956
1783557810.62530.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-09 00:43:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-09 00:43:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783557810.62630.0011 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='egg-ceptionally-interesting-finds-on-the-beach')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-09 00:43:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783557810.62860.0023 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783557810.62920.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1349 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-09 00:43:00'
1783557810.62990.0007 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783557810.63070.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783557810.63130.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=44 LIMIT 1
1783557810.63190.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783557810.63210.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783557810.6330.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-09 00:43:00' AND postSlug='egg-ceptionally-interesting-finds-on-the-beach'
1783557810.6690.0361Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783557810.66970.0007 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783557810.67150.0018Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783557810.67180.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783557810.67260.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783557810.67360.001 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783557810.67670.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783557810.67740.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783557810.67950.0021Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783557810.67950 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783557810.68030.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783557810.68080.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783557810.68360.0029 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783557810.68480.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783557810.68550.0008 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783557810.68820.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783557810.68910.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783557810.69120.0022 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783557810.69170.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783557810.6920.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783557810.69270.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783557810.69310.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='egg-ceptionally-interesting-finds-on-the-beach')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-09 00:43:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783557810.69490.0018 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783557810.69540.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783557810.69810.0027Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783557810.69920.0011 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1349 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783557810.79170.0925 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783557810.79190.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783557810.79210.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783557810.79280.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783557810.79340.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783557810.79390.0005 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783557810.7960.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783557810.79640.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783557810.79830.0019 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783557810.79920.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783557810.79980.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783557810.80020.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783557810.80260.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783557810.81040.0078 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783557810.81250.0022 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783557810.81610.0035 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783557810.81680.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783557810.81720.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783557810.81950.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783557810.820.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783557810.82190.0019 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783557810.82420.0023 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783557810.82480.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783557810.82520.0004 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783557810.82720.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783557810.82760.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783557810.82940.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783557810.83070.0012Request time: 0.2551
1783557810.83070Process time: 0.255
1783557810.83070Memory: 1.6253