We had snow, sleet and slush poured down on us yesterday, chased into our faces by a stiff westerly which, by six this morning, was gusting to Force 9 in our, relatively protected front garden. By 9.30 this morning, when the Yeoman Bank came up the Sound, butting into the teeth of a sea which had eased considerably, we were enjoying bright, sunny intervals.
Walking along the beach was a pleasure, with the sun out, the sea a mass of blues and whites and greens, and plenty washed up along the tideline.
These are goose barnacles clinging to a piece of plastic which, judging by the size of the biggest, must have been in the water for some time. According to Wikipedia, they're called 'goose' barnacles because it was believed that, because the birds didn't nest anywhere in this country, geese hatched from them somewhere out to sea. Hence, also, the derivation of the name barnacle goose.
This sea urchin had been smashed and thrown up above the seaweed-line. The urchin, Echinus esculentus, the edible urchin, is quite common in the kelp along the low-water mark. The best way to find them is to kayak close to the shore on a low spring tide, poking into the weed where they live. They're described as 'edible', but there's nothing inside them when they're cracked open.
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