Stormy Waters

The recent stormy weather has had quite an impact on the beach.

There are dozens of mermaid’s purses washed up with the seaweed.

And last Sunday we saw a seal swimming just off the shore. He was too far out to get a good photo and every so often he’d bob under the water and reappear further along. There is a colony of seals not far from where we walk Dusty, but this is the first time we’ve seen one.

Sea foam blows off the sea and rolls along the beach in little fluffy clouds. That’s quite unusual too.

But most of all, there have been dozens of cuttlefish bones washing up. It’s never been unusual to see the odd one here and there, but right now they’re scattered all over the beach. And there are tiny ones too, which is sad, as they would be babies and it’s very unusual to see baby ones.

The bigger bones all have teeth marks.

Cuttlefish have several predators including sharks and seals. I think the teeth marks look as if they belong to seals.

A little further down the coast around Mersea Island and Brightlingsea, a pod of pilot whales has been spotted.

Sad sight though this morning of a Harbour Porpoise on the beach. I crossed the creek to check if there was any possibility of it being alive, hoping to be able to get it back into the water, but it was dead. Poor thing had injuries to its tail and fins.

Dusty will take his last antibiotic on Tuesday – then we wait and see if the infection has been beaten or whether it will be another trip to the vet.