Rock pooling competition held to find rare species

Volunteers have waded through cold water to compete in finding the most species in rock pools.

The Rockpool Project held its first Somerset competition at Kilve Beach earlier, where participants raced against time to identify wildlife and score points for the species they discover.

The project hopes to gather valuable data on biodiversity in rock pool beaches.

Athene Allen, volunteer leader for the Somerset Rockpool Project, said: "Rock pooling is something a lot of people have childhood memories of but we try to add an element of science to it."

Loretta Kwok, south west lead of the Big Rockpool Challenge, said the event was "basically a citizen science experience".

"I, personally, do not like the cold but actually, at the end of the event, I really enjoyed it," Ms Kwook said.

"When you actually take the time to slow down, you find a lot of species in our rock pools."

Ms Allen said the event was good for people's mental health and for them to connect to their local area.

"Even the common short crab, it's really interesting to get a close look at them. And you can learn about what lives on your local shores," she said.

"It's a lovely coastline. It has amazing rock formations and is quite famous for fossils.

"It's a great place to go looking for animals."

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